Forgeing

Check out "the $50 knife Shop", by Wayne Goddard. You can find it on Tim Lively's site, linked above.

Pat
 
I bought a 50 kilo Chinese made anvil several years ago, took it over to my cuz's place and left it for him to use along with an antique forge with one of the old hand blowers on it.
I had in mind of doing some forging at one time or another, but haven't got a "round tuit" as yet.
The Chinese anvil set me back $1.00 US dollar a pound.
For another $250.00 I could have bought a top of the line anvil the same weight, except in pounds, with all the bells and whistles at our local Animal Health Supply.
The antique anvils are outta sight while the new ones go waiting.
I could have bought a smaller anvil made in America for about $50.00 more than I paid for the Chinese made one that needed about 8 hours of continual gentle hammering to properly break it in.
But back then I was still under the impression that bigger was better.:(
 
Tom, you are exactly correct. You don't appreciate the skill until you try it yourself.

If I told the kamis anvil prices they would laugh and think I was pulling a tall story on them.
 
The kami's setup looks alot like the traditional Filipino panday setup, though the kami's bellows arent made of bamboo. Im always amazed that what seems to be a tiny little piece of steel used as an anvil can make such a variety of shapes. I use a 80 pound solid round of steel that is about 10" wide and 8" high to pound things straight. Got it as scrap at the local steel yard for $20 since it was pre-cut. They had a $5 charge for cutting. Does pretty ok, should really do some things to it like sanding the top smoother, but then I dont need to pound things too often. If youre gonna go through the hassle of making your own anvil you could try your local steel yard for something bigger than a small piece of rail road track, and if its a decent yard the prices are very good.
 
My first 'anvil' was a 2 foot length of 5" diameter round steel bar that got slung out of our local machine shop; the guys put it up in the mill, tried to take a cut... and then the air was full of tiny pieces of end mill shrapnel. I still have no idea what that stuff is, except that it's hard and tough.

Then I bought a little 55lb farrier's anvil, which was fine for making small knives, but tiring... I mnaged to PX it for a decent 250 lb London pattern, which is plenty big enough for me.

Yvsa, that Chinese made anvil of yours; ISTR from posts on RCM and the blacksmiths' NG that a lot of the imported anvils in the US aren't made the traditional way, cast iron faced with properly heat-treated steel. If it's not, you'll soon tell, by the lack of ring and bounce.
 
The Nepali kamis prefer the 6x6 inch generally about 8 inches high chuck of steel. Some use a piece of rail. I've never seen a real anvil used in Nepal.
 
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