Shop Tips

This information is not intended to be a book, but as I am working in the shop, I sometimes think of things that might be helpful to other blacksmiths - particularly those new to the craft. These tips typically are the result of the processes and tools I have tried. If time permits, I write the thought down and enter it here.

The information contained herein, one way or another, almost always originally came from other blacksmiths. As blacksmithing is so very old, there is not much that is new. Almost every basic method or process has been tried before someplace or sometime. There are about as many ways to blacksmith as there are blacksmiths. Each blacksmith has to process the information he/she receives and try to make it fit their situation.

Please accept these for what they are - mostly the things that work for me. They may or may not work for you:

Some of My Thoughts on Blacksmithing

**Disclaimer: There are web site links noted below and are listed as a convenience to our visitors. If you use these links, we take no responsibility and give no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of these third-party sites. Shady Grove Blacksmith Shop, LLC is not paid or employed by any of the other sites mentioned. They are listed only as a matter of convenience.

Anvils

See also: Care and Maintenance of Anvils

A shop anvil of 150 pounds or more is usually preferred for a lifetime of blacksmithing. The late Francis Whittaker, a famous USA blacksmith, used a 150 lb. anvil all his life according to George Dixon who wrote “A Blacksmith Craft”. A larger anvil can have both advantages and disadvantages. A larger anvil has more mass, doesn’t move around or wiggle as much as a smaller anvil. A larger anvil has bigger work surfaces, which can be advantageous for most forgings, but can get in the way of more intricate forgings. A larger anvil usually has bigger and longer horns which extend out and away from the base/stand. That facilitates making big scrolls and bending long forgings.

The sooner in a blacksmith’s career he/she can acquire their lifetime anvil, the fewer times he/she will have to make hardy tools. A one inch hardy hole seems to be the most common today. Even though specified as 1 inch, hardy holes can vary a little in size depending on how the hole was made (punched, core box, broached). Punched hardy holes generally taper.

In the older anvils, smaller anvils (80 to 120) pounds generally have smaller hardy holes (3/4 to 7/8 inch). It is easier for the lone and or younger blacksmith without power equipment to make hardy tools for smaller anvils. It is also easier to find the steel used for the hardy tools, as it too can be smaller.

The smaller anvil also usually has smaller round horns which facilitate more intricate forgings.

For safety reasons, many blacksmiths dull the sharp points on shop anvil horns.

A long lasting anvil face depends on several factors:

The quality of the face steel
The thickness of the face steel
The hardness of the face steel
The toughness of the underlying anvil body
And the care taken by the user.

If an anvil is used that does not have any good square edges (possibly an older anvil), then a square edged block that fits into the hardy hole is useful. Any size will work, but could be as small as 2” X 2” X 1”. Mild steel will work in a pinch, but a harder steel will last longer.

Hard anvil faces (HRC 58-65), of sufficient thickness, do not dent easily with the errant hammer blow; nor do they become saddle shaped, nor do they have edges that get pounded down or become rounded. Typically the bigger the anvil, the thicker should be the hardened face and 1/2” should be minimum for any anvil. There are anvils sold today that have a flame hardened face. Flame hardening results in a face hardness of only approx. 3/16” thick.

For economic reasons, all quality anvils made today are cast of various kinds of steel except for the Peddinghaus now owned by The Ridgid Tool Company. The Peddinghaus is a drop forged anvil made from a medium carbon steel C45 (1045). Several well known brands of modern cast anvils are made of cast ductile iron (not steel).

Neither dropped forged anvils nor cast steel anvils have the face grain oriented along the face as did the old anvils with a forge welded rolled steel face plate. Grain orientation can be one component in determining toughness in an anvil face.

Some modern anvils have flame hardened faces and flame hardening is a very shallow (typically less than 1/4”) hardening process. The face might be relatively hard HRC54 to HRC56, but with use, the thin face will depress into the anvil body over time especially at the anvil edges.

Older anvils with fire welded face plates sometimes had problems with the face separating from the body of the anvil. When these anvils were the common anvil being sold, there were companies that specialized in forge welding new face plates to the anvils when the face plates came off or broke. Unfortunately, today I do not know of any companies that weld face plates to anvils in the USA. The Ernst Refflinghaus Co. in Germany still does, but it is expensive enough that most blacksmiths buy a new cast steel anvil instead.

Most anvils made in the USA today and Eastern European anvils have a face that is soft at HRC44 to HRC52 and can be easily filed with a file. A few modern anvils have a face hardness of RC 54 to RC 55. I am aware of only 2 anvil manufactures that still make anvils with a face hardness of RC59 or harder. Those are the Ernst Refflinghaus Company of Germany and Vaughans of the UK (New web site doesn’t look like Vaughans has maintained the quality of their anvils). Most of the older anvils with forge welded hot rolled steel plates on the face were hard at HRC 58 to HRC 65 and often could not be cut with a file (these anvils are no longer made primarily due to the high cost of labor). That high hardness was desired by blacksmiths. The high hardness was typical unless the anvil was made on Friday afternoon or had been in a shop fire. Today, manufactures say they keep anvils soft for safety reasons which may or may not be true. Generally a soft anvil is the result of keeping the manufacturing cost down. It is more difficult and expensive to make a good quality cast steel anvil with an overall hard face.

One way to determine if an anvil face is of adequate hardness is to test it with a file. Most modern files are HRC 60 to 61. File testing is a comparative test. Testing several steels of known hardness is the best way to estimate hardness. If a file can easily cut into an anvil face, the face is much softer than the file. It the file can not cut into the anvil face, the anvil is as hard or harder than the file.

Another way to test the anvil is to hit the face moderately hard with the peen end of a modern quality hard ball peen hammer. If the hammer makes a dent in the anvil, the anvil will also become dented with normal use. An anvil of RC 59 or harder does not dent with a normal ball peen hammer blow. Keep in mind that hitting an anvil directly with any kind of hammer is not recommended, but it might be useful to test anvil face hardness if safety precautions are taken.

The harder the anvil edge the more susceptible it is to broken/chipped edges, particularly if the hammer is too hard. The quality and kind of the steel used in the anvil face has a lot to do with susceptibility to edge chipping. A few, but not all, cast steel anvils made in the mid to late 1900’s have had problems with edge chipping. Most cast steel anvils have no more of a problem with edge chipping than anvils with a hard fire welded face plate. Some anvil makers such as Vaughans (HRC60-65) temper their anvil edges so they are softer than the rest of the face, but most modern anvil makers just make the whole anvil face softer.

Soft anvil edges typically just dent, with the errant hammer blow. Often a damaged soft edge can be hammered back close to its original shape. Refflinghaus relies on their tough steel to help keep edges from chipping.

When purchasing a new anvil, about the only way to determine how susceptible the edges are to chipping is to look at the anvils in use and or talk to purchasers of those anvils.

Today, there are low cost cast iron (not steel) anvils being made, which are much too soft and break too easily for general blacksmith use, but might be OK on a bench or in a shop that is not a blacksmith shop.

Today, several well known anvil manufacturers are making their anvils out of ductile cast iron, rather than cast steel. Unlike grey cast iron, ductile cast iron has proven to be a satisfactory anvil material as it can be as hard as many cast steel anvils. If there is a downside, it is that they are not as tough as the typical cast steel anvil. Nevertheless, they can be a serviceable anvil particularly if care is taken. If the manufacturer of the anvil does not specify that their anvils are made of steel, there is a good chance they are made of ductile cast iron. At least one major anvil manufacturer sells ductile cast iron anvils and calls their anvils steel anvils.

When manufactures heat treat a steel anvil it is difficult to overcome the tendency for the greater mass in the center of the anvil face to cool slower, in the quench, than the rest of the anvil. When the center cools slower, the result is steel that is softer in the center of the face. Also the smaller the anvil the faster it cools which is why, historically, some small anvils had very hard faces. By the same token, the bigger the anvil the greater the tendency was for an overall softer anvil. The best of the modern anvil manufactures have the steel composition and heat treating technology necessary to keep an even hardness over the face of the anvil no matter what the size.

There are many methods of hardening the modern made anvil i.e. flame hardening, induction hardening, heating the entire anvil in a forge, heating the top 1/3 of the anvil in a forge, etc. Anvils are hardened by heating the anvil to critical temperature and quenching in either water, oil, or air depending on the kind of steel used in the anvil. The kind and quality of the steel used and how the anvil is hardened results in how hard the anvil is, the depth of the hardness, and the evenness of hardness.

Anvil height is always a compromise. Ideal height depends as much on hammer technique, hardy tools used, size and shape of the iron being worked, as it does on the blacksmith’s height and arm length.

If you usually work on small (such as 1/2’” & under ) iron/bar your anvil can be as high as wrist high which might help save the back.

I began blacksmithing with wrist high anvils, but over the years I’ve lowered my anvil to knuckle height which is the height suggested in many old blacksmith books. I think my lowering the anvil is a result of my own hammer technique and the type of material I work on most of the time. Many other experienced blacksmiths like wrist high anvils, therefore I attribute that to their methodology and type of work they do.

If you often work on large iron (such as over 1” bar) a lower anvil is preferred. Also if a striker is used a lower anvil is preferred, unless the striker is particularly tall.

If you like to hammer on or near the far corner/edge of your anvil while standing perpendicular to the length of the anvil (common stance), or if you like to pound iron using the front corner/edge of your hammer, a lower anvil is handiest.

If you have to frequently raise your shoulder when you hammer, it could be your anvil is too high. An anvil that is too high results in shoulder aches and pains, while an anvil that is too low can potentially result in back problems.

If you have a high anvil, you can also use the anvil’s far corner/edge without raising your shoulder by standing at the end of the anvil rather than at the side.

If your anvil rings loudly, tightly fastening it down to the base usually eliminates the noise (some anvils ring louder than others, but don’t assume yours is a loud one until it is tight to the base). The more anvil bottom surface that sits on the block/stump/stand the quieter it will be. Some blacksmiths put a lead sheet, piece of leather, piece of tar paper, or silicone caulk between the base and the anvil before tightly fastening it to the anvil base. Also, a chain around the waist of the anvil will dampen noise vibration. The chain can be used as part of the fastening system holding the anvil to the base, or just wrapped around the waist of the anvil.

It is well known that fastening a large magnet to the anvil will dampen sound. Unfortunately, whenever I tried it the magnet frequently fell off due to the vibrations of the pounding etc.

If your anvil base sits on 3 (three) small feet (roughly 6” to 8” diameter and at least 1/4” high) routered, or otherwise manufactured, into the bottom of the base it usually sits much better on an uneven floor. see: Preparing a Stump - Base for an Anvil.

American Elm is a great wood for anvil bases as it is heavy and typically doesn’t split under the stress. Nevertheless it is not easy to find given the Dutch Elm Disease that killed most of the old elm trees. Talk to your local tree service as many still take down diseased elm trees. Honey locust and walnut also make good heavy anvil stands.

Oak stumps are usually heavy but they do split easily. Stumps subject to splitting can be hooped with iron around the top and bottom. The iron bands can be shrunk to the stump like on old wagon wheels, or a tightening bolt can be used.

It is very handy to have your anvil stump buried 2 or more feet into the shop floor. If the stump is solid and doesn’t move, and if the anvil is solidly fastened to the stump (typically with chains) then bending forks etc. can be used in the hardy hole and larger iron can be bent. If the stump just sits on the floor, then when bending, the stump and anvil can move too much when bending iron. To bury the stump in the floor, the desired height of the anvil must be known, and the shop large enough so that the smith can work around the anvil. The blacksmith shop at Colonial Williamsburg has their anvils stumps buried 2 or more feet into the ground.

Anvils used with strikers should be fastened to the ground. For striker use, the anvil stump should be buried. If the stump can not be buried, then it should be designed to be bolted to the floor (if it is solid), or pegged to the ground/earth.

If the anvil stump is the same size as the base, then it does not get in the way when forging. A base that is large enough so that it extends under the horns can be a problem when forging larger or longer pieces. Also, a base that is too large might result in the blacksmith standing too far from the anvil.. Heavy and sturdy metal bases usually allow for the feet to be close to the anvil, although a round wood stump is more than adequate from a standing close standpoint.

There is good series of articles on anvils at: http://www.anvilfire.com/FAQs/anvil-0.htm, http://www.beautifuliron.com/gs_anvils.htm, and an 1890’s article @ http://pages.friendlycity.net/~krucker/Anvil/HowAnvils.htm.

Coal & Fire:

Coal Suppliers can be found at: http://www.anvilmag.com/cs.htm and http://www.appaltree.net/aba/coal.htm. Coal can be found in Nebraska at the Little Giant Inc. in Nebraska City http://www.littlegianthammer.com/.

About 8 newspapers one at a time loosely crumpled into an 8” diameter ball, the ball placed in the firepot, then mostly covered (not totally covered as the paper needs space to light it and burn) with yesterday’s coke all the while keeping the paper burning by running the blower gently - makes starting any blacksmith coal forge fire easy and quick. Some blacksmiths twist the newspaper, tie the twisted papers in a knot, or make a doughnut of the twisted papers. Using wood kindling is typical in some areas of the country. Using coke/breeze made in yesterdays fire makes for smoke free fire starting.

Commercial coke is hard to start, but if care is taken can be started by the above method. The key is using enough newspapers or kindling.

With a little practice and good technique it should take 10 minutes or less to start and have a coal fire ready to heat iron. Typically as quick or quicker than a gas forge, particularly one with heavy insulation which takes 30 min. to an hour to heat up to a high temperature.

Commercial coke does not smoke much, and is therefore good for use in the city where there are neighbors.

Commercial coke, if used often, requires a fire pot thicker than is necessary for coal as coke burns hotter.

Some commercial coke sparks more than coal. This can be a problem if blacksmithing in a wooden building.

Blacksmith coal, of which there are many variations, is usually bituminous and called metallurgical coal. The most useful sizes are from 3/8” to 1 1/4” pieces. Larger pieces of coal cause cold spots in the fire as it blocks the air from the blower, and they take too long to coke up.

Blacksmith coal usually contains from 14,000 to 15,000 Btu’s per pound (and is very low in sulfur and low in ash). Coal used in coal fired electrical generating plants has only 1/2 the Btu’s per pound, and is generally not suited for blacksmithing - although it is not impossible.

When using a coal forge, each time the smith puts iron in the fire to be heated he/she should consolidate the coals in the firepot under the iron (everything in the firepot under forge table level). This keeps the burning coke/breeze from becoming hollow and allowing excess oxygen on the iron being heated..

Francis Whitaker used to consolidate the coal (preventing it from getting hollow) by using the iron being heated and forcing it downward into the burning coke/breeze each time it was placed in the fire.

The smith can also rake coke/breeze into the fire and press it down with the fire rake/shovel etc. All this prevents hollow fires that allow oxygen to get to the iron and corrode or erode it.

When using a coal forge the smith shouldn’t disturb the coke, coal, and fire in the firepot any more than necessary. Nevertheless, some, but not all coal requires that it be broken up when it sticks together or becomes too solid/crusty.

Rake or push freshly made coke toward/into both long sides of the fire pot as needed to replace burned up coke/breeze and keep the fire from becoming hollow. Refrain from stirring the coke, coals, or bringing up clinker (unless removing the clinker).

Coke/breeze and green coal need to always be kept separated. Burn only the coke. Make coke out of the coal that is on the table along the edges of the firepot.

Peter Ross, a very famous and highly-skilled blacksmith, said (at one of his demonstrations) that he could tell if a smith was not properly managing his fire if there was green coal mixed with the coke.

Perfectly flat forge tables (without a lip around the edges) allow iron of many dimensions and sizes to lay flat and stay at the top of the firepot (where it should be). This keeps 4” to 4 1/2” of coals under the iron, thus the fire is burning the oxygen out of the fire before it hits the iron. This can also make forge welding awkward sized forgings easier when the lip doesn’t get in the way of placing the forging in the fire.

Coal with lots of fines (powdered coal) needs to be mixed with water to keep the fines from blowing away and to help it coke up into a mass.

A now common but not universal practice, for coal without fines such as coal that has been screened and washed (most Pocahontas III), is to not wet the coal before or during use.

Using wet coal does help convert coal to coke, and can help keep coal on the table from burning before it is needed. It is usually best to wet the coal in a bucket rather than on the forge table. As coal varies in it’s properties, try your coal with or without water to see which works best with the coal you have.

Cold water poured on hot cast iron firepots of less than ¾” thickness lead to the firepot having a very short life. If water is to be used, it is best to water down the coal in a bucket before putting it on the forge table. It is a good practice to always ask, if you are using another persons forge, before you pour water on the coal on the table.

Here are two good articles on making charcoal the fuel used for approx. 96% of all the forge fires ever made: http://www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMITHING/MAKING%20CHARCOAL.htm, http://64.176.180.203/charcoalretort.htm

Coal Fires

In a coal fire, the iron being heated should be surrounded by coke or “breeze” as it is sometimes called. The coke is made by burning coal around the edges of the firepot.

Iron should not be heated by burning green coal which is not as hot as burning coke. Iron should always be in contact and near “breeze” or “coke”. Iron near burning coal is affected by and degrades due to impurities still in the coal. Therefore green coal should always have the impurities burned out of it by first making it into coke. Making coke is a continuous process and part of managing the fire. It is not made separately.

To continuously make coke there has to be enough coal on the table to keep the process going. I usually have a 6 inch to 8 inch high pile on both the long sides of the firepot. That coal is frequently raked toward the fire to keep the coking process working. Less coal on the table results in not enough coke when needed as when doing big iron or when forge welding.

In the typical coal fire, the iron bar is place horizontally at about table height (4 1/2 inches above the air inlet) and is surrounded by coke. On the forge table is green coal. In the firepot is coke and as the coke in and over the firepot is consumed by the fire, green coal is pushed to the edges of the fire, thus making new coke.

A general purpose coal fire has a trench down the middle where the iron being heated goes. The bottom of the coke trench is at table height. The iron bars being heated are generally flat on the table. Iron is surrounded by coke piled at least 2 inches higher than the forge table and/or iron bar. The green coal is piled at least 6 inches high (8 to 10 inches is OK) on the right and left side of the firepot. It is waiting to be pushed toward the firepot to make coke as needed.

In a coal forge, when heating iron it is best to have 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 inches (preferably 4 1/2 inches) of coke under the iron and approx. 2 inches of coke on top of the iron. This is the generally accepted system used to best eliminate oxygen from getting to the iron. The oxygen forms scale which degrades the surface of the iron and also makes forge welding difficult.

When heating for forging, it is necessary to be able to see the heat color of the iron in the fire. The iron must be seen either through the glowing coke (preferred method), or frequently the iron must be pulled out of the fire long enough to see the color. There are very experienced blacksmiths that just keep their iron on top of the coke and seem to prefer that method even when forge welding, but that is not necessarily the best way to begin learning to forge weld etc.

Forging

Please accept these for what they are - mostly the things that work for me. They may or may not work for you:

SOME OF MY THOUGHTS ON BLACKSMITHING:

There are web site links noted below and are listed as a convenience to our visitors. If you use these links, we take no responsibility and give no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of these third-party sites. Shady Grove Blacksmith Shop, LLC is not paid or employed by any of the other sites mentioned. They are listed only as a matter of convenience.

ANVILS:

See also: Care and Maintenance of Anvils

The smaller anvil also usually has smaller round horns which facilitate more intricate forgings.

For safety reasons, many blacksmiths dull the sharp points on shop anvil horns.

A long lasting anvil face depends on several factors: (1) the quality of the face steel (2) the thickness of the face steel (3) the hardness of the face steel (4) the toughness of the underlying anvil body (5) and the care taken by the user.

Soft anvil edges typically just dent, with the errant hammer blow. Often a damaged soft edge can be hammered back close to it’s original shape. Refflinghaus relies on their tough steel to help keep edges from chipping.

When purchasing a new anvil, about the only way to determine how susceptible the edges are to chipping is to look at the anvils in use and or talk to purchasers of those anvil.

If you usually work on small (such as 1/2’” & under ) iron/bar your anvil can be as high as wrist high which might help save the back.

If you often work on large iron (such as over 1” bar) a lower anvil is preferred. Also if a striker is used a lower anvil is preferred, unless the striker is particularly tall.

If you have a high anvil, you can also use the anvil’s far corner/edge without raising your shoulder by standing at the end of the anvil rather than at the side.

It is well known that fastening a large magnet to the anvil will dampen sound. Unfortunately, whenever I tried it the magnet frequently fell off due to the vibrations of the pounding etc.

If your anvil base sits on 3 (three) small feet (roughly 6” to 8” diameter and at least 1/4” high) routered ,or otherwise manufactured, into the bottom of the base it usually sits much better on an uneven floor. see: Preparing a Stump - Base for an Anvil.

COAL & FIRE:

Coal Suppliers can be found at: http://www.anvilfire.com/gazette/index.htm, http://www.anvilmag.com/cs.htm, http://www.fholder.com/Blacksmithing/coal.htm, http://www.artmetal.com/project/TOC/COALCOKE.HTM, http://www.appaltree.net/aba/coal.htm, and http://www.penncoal.com/wst_page4.html. Coal can be found in Nebraska at the Little Giant Inc. in Nebraska City http://www.littlegianthammer.com/. Information about coal can be found at: http://www.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints/BP0051Good_Coal/BP0051Good_Coal.htm