[TheForge] How bad are the HF cast anvils?

[Mike Linn]

Chuck Patrick makes and sells a custom "blade" anvil. Its made from a piece 
of 4"x4" and about 24" long. It sits end up in a stand he makes from either 
square tubing or 4 pieces of heavy angle. The anvil has "ears" welded to it 
and the stand has slots cut into it for the "ears" to sit in. There are 
probably 4 or 5 levels of these slots so the height of the anvil is 
adjustable. I know quite a few bladesmiths who use this exclusively for 
forging blades.

mike


At 09:57 PM 12/28/01 -0800, you wrote:
> >
> > I know a kid who makes damascus swords on a 55# HF anvil, so who knows.
> >
>I dunno- I've always wondered if there's a use for a large hunk of
>relatively soft metal in a shop. What if, for punching or something, you
>needed to really whang something, cold, with the ten pounder? Come to think
>of it, I had a job this fall straightening out a little arbor. Too big to
>work hot any practical way, so I took an old Trenton that needed face work
>and put it on the ground and had my son thump the trellis with the biggie
>whilst I turned it this way and that. Sure would have preferred to have an
>old hunk of something that even a POTENTIALLY nice anvil...lots of chunks at
>the scrap yard for less, though. 100 # @ $.22 = $22 instead of $100.
>OTOH, a platen table might have been better anyway, and now I have one.
>
>Andy

         Michael Linn
       Artist Blacksmith
      McCalla, Alabama
       AFC Webmaster
http://afc.abana-chapter.com