[TheForge] Anvil

[Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer]

To add to the previous good suggestions.
Get any sort of good steel shaft, 2" X 2"or fatter  and 
at least 4' long, and sink it in the ground for a, cheap, 
functional anvil, ( anvils are expensive) .
Vice grips will do for tongs till you can forge your own.
Go to Anvilfire.com and look up " want to make a sword".
That site has a whole smithing education tucked away, 
here and there. " IForgeiron.com is good too.
You will want some sort of grinder.. 4 1/2" Makita is 
very versatile,and with that and some patience you can 
convert a cheap swap meet singlejack or big ballpien, 
into cross pein.
Alternately, buy any reasonable weight hammer and forge 
your own cross pein ( good education).
The 2 authentic roman short swords i've seen in person 
were forged bronze, not steel.
Silicon bronze is expensive but forgiving for forging.
I will say that most beginning smiths underestimate the 
difficulty of forging a decent sword.
The smiths i know with "lots of experience" have been 
learning for 30 years or more.
Good luck..Being stubborn helps.
Matt Gallagher wrote:
> My name is My name is Matt Gallagher, I am a 15 year old guy living in
> Charlotte and I need to find or purchase an anvil. I have alot
> of experience smithing with my Metalworking instructor in Boy Scouts. I am
> attempting to make a Gladius (small sword) for a school Latin Club
> competition as well as a Roman Legionnaire outfit for the same
> competition. The sword will not be sharpened, i just want to be authentic
> and make it properly and have it functional for a
> Gladiatorial demonstration I will be participating in. I just need a
> sizeable anvil, not too expensive, and a 1000 gram German style cross-peen
> hammer. Also, i have a pair of tongs, but they are extremely old and rusted,
> so if you could suggest an alternative I would be most appreciative. I don't
> have a lot of money, but if necessary I can scrape some together. (if anyone
> would like to loan and/or give me these, i would be EXTREMELY grateful) I do
> plan on joining NCABANA but i have not had the time , money, or ability to
> as of yet.
> 
> ~Sincerely and hopefully, Matt Gallagher
>                                      fudgumz at gmail.com
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