[TheForge] Anvil rework, Was reducing fuel costs

K Donahoe flyinpig at go-concepts.com
Sat Jul 31 10:34:14 EDT 2004


Jim,

I've never heated an anvil in a gas forge, but I've burned up a fair share
of stock in 'em.

Kevin

    ------Original Message-----
    -From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
    -[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Steve Smith
    -Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 9:12 PM
    -To: Sponsored by ABANA
    -Subject: Re: [TheForge] Anvil rework, Was reducing fuel costs
    -
    -
    -It took a fair bit of digging, but I found the thread from TheForge.
    -Here it is, in most of it's glory.
    -
    -Steve Smith
    -
    -------------------------------------------------
    -
    -Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 09:41:36 -0500
    -From: Jim McCarty <jimmac at socketis.net>
    -Subject: Re: Anvil Meltdown
    -
    -
    -Clay Spencer wrote:
    - >=20
    - > At 11:55 PM 9/23/96, Bill Roberts wrote:
    - > >Clay Spencer wrote:
    - > >>
    - > >> Hey BAMmers,
    - > >> Is it true that about 10 lbs. of the anvil you were going to
    -replate melted
    - > >> and ran down to the bottom of the forge?
    - > >> Hank and Todd were in California, so who would do something like
    -that without their help?
    - > >> Clay
    - > >
    - > >Clay-
    - > >What are you stirrin' up? Was this one of those " I
    -thought YOU were
    - > >watchin' the fire" things?
    - > >
    - > >Bill
    - >
    - > That's what I'm trying to find out. I hear that about 10
    -lbs. of anvil
    -was
    - > melted in a gas forge while they were preheating it to weld
    -a plate on.
    - > They thought it would take several hours to preheat and
    -apparently didn't
    - > check soon enough. Or they were into the BAMBOOZLE beer that Todd
    -bottled a
    - > few years ago.
    - > I reckon McCarty's fingers are broke and he can't type anymore.
    - > Clay
    -
    -
    -Now there you go with the negative vibes...everyone knows you can't
    -melt an anvil in  a gas forge. Now if you were to take the same
    -preheated anvil outside, for example, and maybe dig a trench in the
    -ground, and maybe put a piece of pipe in the ground and atttach it to
    -one of those Centaur blowers that don't work very well with rheostats,
    -and then just say for example that you were to put three bags of coal
    -over the buried pipe and light it and perhaps get a real hot fire
    -going by running the blower full blast, and if you were to (for
    -example) put your anvil upside down in the fire and maybe settle back
    -for some good stories and some good Free State brown lager beer
    -supplied by one Walt Hull from Lawrence Kansas (that's really good
    -beer, would recommmend visiting that place if you ever get to
    -Lawrence. Did you know that a bunch of Missourians once burned
    -Lawrence to the ground in the Civil War?) What were we talking about?
    -Oh yeah, Clay wanted to know if in theory you could melt an anvil.
    -What a funny thought, but then that's Clay. Always thinking of
    -things...so then say you got to drinking Free State beer and just
    -letting that big anvil simmer, and say you had someone really
    -knowledgeable like Jerry Hoffmann and Tom Clark tending the fire, and
    -say that this anvil had a little bit of the top plate still in place
    -so you know that if you get it too hot it will start sending showers
    -of sparks up into the air, WOULDN'T IT? Supposing all this happened
    -and in addition it was time for the autumnal equinox when everyone in
    -the world enjoys equal amounts of daylight and darkness. Did you know
    -that their is going to be a lunar eclipse soon? You should all try to
    -stay up late and see that. Anyway, yes, I guess it would be possible
    -at least in theory to burn the middle out of an anvil but certainly
    -not in a gas forge like John Murray has and you would probably burn
    -much more than 10 pounds out of the middle (more like 50, at least in
    -theory). If anyone would like their anvil repaired by BAM's excellent
    -team of strikers who have been practicing but have never had the need
    -to actually weld a plate on an anvil (not having one available at
    -suitable temperature and with enough metal left amidships) then let us
    -know and we will do the job for you.
    -
    -No warranty.
    ---
    -Jim McCarty
    -Father Helias Forge
    -Taos, MO
    -Editor Rural Missouri Magazine
    -Newsletter editor, Blacksmiths Association of Missouri
    -
    -Foolish consistencies are the hobgoblins of little minds
    -also see:
    -http://home.gvi.net/~dhoopes/canvil.html
    -
    -
    -Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 00:04:07 -0400
    -From: clay at grove.net (Clay Spencer)
    -Subject: Re: Anvil Meltdown
    -
    -
    -At 5:21 AM 9/25/96, brnzcast at sprynet.com wrote:
    - >>>I don't know which was more spectacular, the burning of an
    -anvil, or
    -the look
    - >on Tom Clarks face.<<
    - >
    - >Sounds as good as the acetylene balloons last year.
    - >
    - >--
    - >Winston W. Harness
    -
    -Or the time Tom instantly painted the inside of his shop black about 10
    -minutes after he set the spray paint can near the gas forge
    -one cold day to
    -warm it up. Glad I wasn't there to witness it.
    -Clay
    -
    -
    -Bob Ehrenberger wrote:
    -> The anvil showed up at a couple meetings right after the
    -repair.  I haven't
    -> seen it for several years.  I don't think that it was Tom's
    -anvil, he was
    -> just in charge of fixing it.  It would have been real cool
    -if things hadn't
    -> gone wrong and they really did forge weld a new face on an
    -old anvil.  The
    -> problem they had was the forge wasn't big enough to bring
    -that much steel up
    -> to welding heat.  So they put together a make shift forge by
    -digging a pit
    -> and burying a blow pipe for the air.  It was just too hard
    -to monitor the
    -> temp.
    ->
    -> With a big enough forge and equipment to handle a hot anvil
    -it should be
    -> possible. Any takers?
    ->
    -> Robert Ehrenberger
    -> Shelbyville, Mo.
    ->
    ->
    ->>I was wondering how long it would take for someone to catch
    -the mistake.
    ->
    -> It
    ->
    ->>would have been nice to let another group carry the shame
    -for a while.
    ->
    ->
    -> Jeez Louise... how embarrassing... I never even noticed.  DUH.
    ->
    -> I'll be down here in the basement eating worms, if anyone needs me.
    ->
    ->>I'll never forget to look on Tom Clark's face when they
    -pulled the anvil
    ->
    -> off
    ->
    ->>the fire and a third of the face was gone. His only comment
    -was that we
    ->>might have to dress it up a little before welding the plate on.
    ->
    ->
    -> I'd have paid money to see that.
    ->
    -> What ever happened to that anvil?  I'd be tempted to trade one of
    -> my good ones for that one.
    ->
    ->
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