I am currently outfitting my shop with various tools as they find their way to me. Although I have been working on my collections of mechanic's and carpentry tools for awhile I thought I'd share the latest additions to my new metalworking tool collection. About two weeks ago now I was given the anvil by my grandmother, and over the next week built the small, temporary forge next to it. The anvil is (comparatively) small, probaly in the neighborhood of 100 pounds, and though in rough shape appears to be of good quality. The bad news is that the main face is swaybacked (probaly from both use and abuse), and I am in the process of re-grinding it with a belt sander. It is extremely slow going but that is actually good news: The face of the anvil is made of high-carbon tool steel and is EXTREMELY hard; so hard that a file won't scratch it!
I built the forge pictured out of nine firebricks and four standard bricks, as well as the exhaust blower from my old furnace. It works okay, expecially considering it's construction. It's biggest problem is that, with very limited airflow control, it tends to ignite in it's entrety (rather than a small fire just above the air hole). This makes adding additional coal difficult, as it requires dumping coal directly into a fire. The only other problem is an expected one: The smoke. I am converting the blower from my parents' old dryer to vent the smoke, but that will probaly take awhile yet.
Obviously this workstation is temporary; the anvil is mounted FAR too high for me to use it properly, and the shaking caused by pounding the workpiece against it tends to cause the forge to move in a rather disconcerting fasion. I plan to build a angle-iron frame for the forge and make it freestanding, and mount the anvil to an appropriate-length of as heavy a log as I can both aquire and transport.
That's all for now, I'll post again next time I have something noteworthy. More likely than not that'll be the next Aquarium Center update; I am currently waiting on posting as I build a new light fixture for it...
