second anvil sample - not as bad as I feared

Any chance there's a surface layer of decarb that didn't fully get ground off?
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Ohh, the delivery guy will love this package. They know that any weird or heavy package is for me and usually leave it on the truck and drive it to my car.
Click to expand...

That LITERALLY cracked me up...................... USPS, Fedex and UPS all do something similar with us. Given the possibility of an itinerant porch pirate swooping in they all have specific instructions on what to leave and where to leave it.

Corey "synthesist" Gimbel
 
Anvil arrived nicely packed in a flat rate box with straps around it. No sign of any damage or contents movement. UPS guy just carried it to the back door and said he knew it was for me. Haven't opened it up yet, but it is pretty heavy to carry one handed.

I will open it tomorrow morning when Steve is there. Nothing like an anvil under the tree to make a fellow smith jealous.
 
Well when your done stacy just send her this way and I'll test it out so you get an expierenced smith and rookie smith perspective. :D;)
 
Steve will probably give it the rookie workout. He swings a mean hammer ... as most new guys do. Us old guys pace ourselves.

I'll make a simple but sturdy stand and make a set of instructions that Charles can send with the anvils once things get going.
Steve and I are hoping for a couple forging days in January, so it should get smacked a lot.

I may not wait that long, and will likely go out and do my Christmas tradition of forging myself a knife on Christmas day. I have a bar of Hitachi white #1 sitting on the forge cart waiting for me. Tanto is my favorite shape, so we'll see what forms when I start hammering.
 
Very nice blade smith anvil, really like the shape. What's the weight? Shame about the heat treat, looks to me like it's in a very close to annealed state from the hammer marks. I did some experiments a while back on building a hornless anvil. I basically welded up a 1/2" 4140 top to a 3" thick mild steel block, left about 3/8" gap and filled with weld. Welded up fine, but the issue was heat treating. Even with a super quench I never got the face harder than about 50 RC, not long after I located a hornless Refflinghaus so abandoned the idea. If you do heat treat it, you will likely need several drums of water to dump over it waterfall fashion. A lot depends on size and weight.
 
Yep, it weighs exactly 65 pounds on the scale. A solid wood base will probably weigh around 65-75 pounds. This will give the anvil and base a mass of around 130-140 pounds. Since all the mass is under the face, it should work well. I didn't get out in the forge yesterday. but set aside some 2X12 to make a base Saturday and test it out.

It seems much heavier when you try to lift or move it because it is so compact. I would swear I can move my 125# anvil easier. I have had three strong guys pick it up and every one said, "Jesus, what is it made out of?".
 
I would call the face 4X8, with the hardie making for a 4X6 work area.

This is a simple and effective size and shape.
No horns …. because we don't make horseshoes.
No bending cleats on the side … because we don't make curls and such.
No overhangs … because we don't bend blades at 90°.
No pritchel hole … because we don't punch holes in knives.
A hardie placed with lots of mass under it for doing any of those tasks with a hardie tool. You can make as many hardie tools as you can dream up uses.

One problem is because it doesn't have places to grip, it is a bit difficult to pick up. You have to tilt it and slide your fingers underneath, then lift. I have come up with a way of moving it about that works very well. I'll take photos this weekend.
 
Personally, I'd prefer just a bit bigger, say about a 6"x8" face, or maybe a 6"x10" with or without the hardy hole. But that's just a personal ideal for me, the 4"x8" would work just great as is. If I didn't already have a couple good anvils, including a hornless then I'd be chomping at the bit to get me one of these. Love the design, it's just about perfect for bladesmithing, and I for one and glad someone finally is bringing one to market.
 
I’m keeping an eye on this! I had made up my mind on a TFS double horn or Nimba Titan, but if these come about in time I could save some more money, have a good anvil AND support supporters!
 
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