The best $195 I've spent-so far

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Doug Lester

Well-Known Member
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Above is my new(ist) anvil. It's an 87lb block of H13 that I purchased from a steel warehouse that was selling it's cut-offs on Ebay. The deminsions are 8.25X7.25X4.25". I was a little worried when I got it because it seemed a little soft and didn't have a ring. I'm sure my neighbors don't mind that last part, though. It's rebound wasn't all that bad but not quite as much as the 110lb anvil that's now sitting on the floor to be used as an upsetting block.

I knocked off the sharp edges with my angle grinder this afternoon and decided to start a new kitchen knife that I had planned. I couldn't believe how much faster I moved metal with the new anvil. I thought that I would only have enough time to forge out the tang before it got dark but I got the whole thing forged, straightened, and normalized to relieve stress. Looking at the 110lb anvil I realised that if I took off the horn, the heal, and the feet I probably wouldn't have much over 50lbs left.

I have a 30 kilo anvil that holds my hardy tools and if I need a horn I can use it.

Doug
 
Don Fogg uses a rectangle anvil much like your new one and does fantastic work on Japanese swords. If you think about it the horn doesnt do a bladesmith much good. He mounted his very high so he can see what he's doing rather than the tradional knuckle hieght. His forge is tiny too because he can only work on a small section at a time.
 
I do use the horn of my other anvil to work on points and to put curves into blades but that's very little of the blade shaping. I even have a bick tool for smaller curves but with that block I see why the traditional cutler's anvils were little more that blocks of steel.

I also use a forge with a small fire chamber; 7 inches to be exact. It's deep enough to heat all the steel that I can work in one heat but I can still heat treat 10 inch blade with care.

Doug
 
I built a mold with a 4" diameter piece of PCV to form the fire chamber and cast it out of castable refractory and built a metal frame around it. If I do it again I think that I'd keep the sides, top and botton 2-3" thick at the minimum and cast the hole for the burner tube into the side. Hogging it out with carbide masonry bits and other tools wasn't fun. I use Insboard for the front and back doors. I have the outside of this one lined with insulating brick but will probably have to replace it on the side that the burner tube passes through with some scraps of Inswool that I have so that I can access the side to patch with furnice cement when needed.

Doug
 
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