Frugal anvils...

[bae]

I've been equipping a blacksmith's shop recently. It's not a very frugal enterprise, the equipment is expensive, heavy to ship, and requires the correct space.

Here however are two gems for very light-weight or in-the-field smithing operations:

This anvil is a 4"x4" 20 pound piece of 4140 tool steel, heat treated and ground smooth on two sides, with the other sides nicely rounded. You can use this at a workbench, or out in your tool shed, or out in the field, and really get a surprising amount of small work done on it. I use it for minor tool repair.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v3SmJq90oUE/Tyx5RaHPsZI/AAAAAAAAEoQ/bTvHqOKo_6s/s640/IMG_0483.JPG

These are really old-school. A stump anvil and stump fuller. You simply drive these into a heavy stump out in the field, and you have an instant surface for repairing tools/saws, or heck, making most anything if you have the patience - guys in caves in Afghanistan use these to make all sorts of goodies.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kTNPe50Sdm8/Tyx5KP4VixI/AAAAAAAAEoI/og6t4RbWbz8/s640/IMG_0484.JPG

Cost of these is next to nothing compared to a new "real" anvil, and might be enough for your tasks.

[early morning]

very cool, bae! I have my grandfather's anvil - a short piece of rail. All I use it for is to crack walnuts on.

[SiouzQ.]

Cool stuff! I used to date a blacksmith a few years ago; it was really interesting to watch him work and to learn about the different tools. I have a metalsmith/jewelry design degree so it easy to appreciate all manners of metal manipulation!

[bae]

Ha ha, the UPS man finally arrived with the upgraded not-so-frugal anvil today.

Very frugal packaging though!

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SHhnH8LNdrM/TzA4eoCp-RI/AAAAAAAAEpA/Lqhy0BS6Zzo/s640/IMG_0485.JPG

[razz]

Not to be nosy but what area of blacksmithing are you choosing to work in? Modern art, fuctional creations or repairs?
One of the most discouraging aspects to local blacksmithing lately has been the arrival of mass produced Chinese products that undercut the home produced crafts so too many have shut down their blacksmith shops.

[bae]

Knives, spear heads, arrow heads, axes, swords, armor, scythes, small tools and tooling, small repairs, and blackpowder firearm lockworks and fittings. Our local junk-exchange-recycle place is just full of things begging to be repurposed.

I'm also hopefully going to be doing some research into the real-world-use properties of bronze weaponry and tools, which will require a fair bit of casting as well.

I don't think there's any real income in the practical side of the craft, at the moment, though things may change if we run out of petroleum. My great-grandfather was a blacksmith, and told me he had a significant upturn in his business during the Great Depression, I guess more people were repairing or repurposing items.

[razz]

Sounds interesting and fun!

[Mrs-M]

A little present from me to you, Bae, to go along with your new anvil.

http://creattica.com/uploaded-images/0006/9544/forklift_small.jpg

[larknm]

I love what you're doing.

[bae]

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-y1Vrzo52qNo/TzHRXX5ue1I/AAAAAAAAEpU/1OKmZFjRqF0/s640/IMG_0492.JPG

Super lazy anvil stand prototype - metal garbage can with a plywood reinforcing layer on bottom, 300 pounds of sand, anvil on too-short stump. Infinitely adjustable for height, pretty darned heavy, soaks up sound nicely. Now to find a better stump, and put something on the bottom of the can so I can move it around with a dolly as needed. Total cost - nothing.

[Gadget Guy]

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-y1Vrzo52qNo/TzHRXX5ue1I/AAAAAAAAEpU/1OKmZFjRqF0/s640/IMG_0492.JPG

Super lazy anvil stand prototype - metal garbage can with a plywood reinforcing layer on bottom, 300 pounds of sand, anvil on too-short stump. Infinitely adjustable for height, pretty darned heavy, soaks up sound nicely. Now to find a better stump, and put something on the bottom of the can so I can move it around with a dolly as needed. Total cost - nothing.

Very nice! I'm building a similar stand this week. I'm just going to add a round plywood disc on top of the sand and call it good.