Oak Hill Forge

The top and bottom are 1 3/4" thick and it's 17 1/2" X 16". The web is 1" thick. It's 16" high, which isn't far from high enough to be knuckle high with my 140# Peter Wright on it.
I'm pretty stoked about finding it. It was $40.

The top and bottom are 1 3/4" thick and it's 17 1/2" X 16". The web is 1" thick. It's 16" high, which isn't far from high enough to be knuckle high with my 140# Peter Wright on it.
I'm pretty stoked about finding it. It was $40.

Saw this piece of steel for sale on the side of the road today. Looks like an Anvil stand too me ! Calculated weight 342 ponds. Picked up this post vise last weekend for $35. It's marked CT Tool Limited, Pittsburg.

Does anybody know what type A/C motors the old forges with the 100 ohm
rheostat used ? I don't think this type control will work with the modern capacitor start 110 V A/C motors of today ? I understand how to do speed control with 3 phase motors and DC motors, but I'm puzzled how these worked ?

Yeah I think the springs would be the most difficult to make. I wonder how much "spring" that spring steel has after it's heated ? I have a lot of old buggy spring stock and a few old model "A" springs laying around. I looked at some trapping supply places and they seem to have all kinds of parts and mods for coil spring parts, but didn't find much for leaf spring stuff

Yes, it's a part of American history, not in use today (I'm sure in most states they are illegal to use) but they are also highly collectable and make an interesting display on the wall of your log house or camp. Most people have them welded in the open position for safety reasons. many have springs so strong that you have to use C-clamp looking affairs to collapse the springs to set them. I've seen them bring as much as a nice anvil at auctions. It doesn't look like it would a real difficult blacksmithing project, although I'm just a beginner. Thanks for all the support on the thread and I'm looking forward to the pictures Ted.

Has anybody forged a bear trap ? If so do you have any picyures, notes, drawings ? I saw a blacksmith forged trap at an auction today.... it was impressive !

On my Lincoln 225 (which is an AC/DC ,machine, but pretty much the same set up, I added jacks in the panel so I could run different length leads. You could also add inline connectors in your existing leads. The regular 7018 rods won't work well with only AC, but as someone already posted they make a 7018AC rod. 7018 are also prone to pick up moisture so if they haven't been sealed up tight, they are probably toast anyway. They are good little machines though, you will enjoy it !

Check out the one I'm currently building. I started a thread here yesterday. Mine is an old disc harrow blade !

Here in Va, it's :


Monger Coal & Oil, Inc.

Mailing Address:
600 Mount Hermon Road (Which is US 33 west of town)
Elkton, VA 22827-3028

Local Phone: (540) 298-1256
Toll Free: 1-800-700-6133
Monger Coal & Oil, Inc. Home

I'm not positive but I believe all their coal is from WVA.

the coal I use is the pea / stoker coal / Soft (Bituminous)

it's $7.50 / 40 lb bag and $348.00 / ton right now, but changes

GOOD PEOPLE by the way.

The saw in the picture used regular hacksaw blades, so if you have blades heavy enough to cut track with, you are looking for a lot heftier saw. By the way, I build that same saw when I was 13 ! The plans were in Popular Mechanics if I remember correctly.... back when magazines like those actually had PLANS to build reasonable stuff ! It was always fun for me. I have a large reciprocating hacksaw about like you are thinking about building , but right now it's burried in the garage with no motor on it. It was build in the early 1900's so it's a beast. Pobably weighs 1000 lbs. A farmer friend gave it to me.

I do see one typo, by the way... the band will be 3/16" x 1 1/2" ... the 3/18" stuff is WAY to hard to find

I have a Rivet forge like in the thumbnail ... so I have some experience cranking the blower, and I agree when you are doing it by yourself, it's time consuming. I wanted to make the forge portable with hopes that as I gain some experience maybe I can do some demo work at a local 1900's farm homestead near me on the Blue Ridge Parkway (hence no electricity)

I have a picture from e-bay with an extension table, but it's small. If I added that I would make it the full width of the disc. Good idea though.

This is my first attempt at forge building, so please post your comments and offer your experience and helpful ideas. Well here's my forge project so far. It's built from a 24" diameter farm disc harrow blade 1/4" thick. The firepot is 6" in diameter and 3 1/2" deep. It's formed from a 6" X 3" industrial pipe reducer. The clinker breaker is 1" thick mild steel stock, shaped to the contour of the 3" reducer bottom. The clinker breaker operating rod is 3/8". The legs are 3/4" pipe and will get threaded pipe caps to finish off the ground contact end. I have a 3" industrial tee which will finish the ash dump and allow access for the blower system. I'm going to make the blower mount so I can switch between my Champion 400 hand crank blower and an electric blower. A 3/18" X 1 1/2" band will be rolled and welded around the edge of the disc. More pictures will follow as I progress. We had great weather here after Christmas ( temps in the 70's !) good for fabrication ! Thanks Sam in Va, Oak Hill Forge

The long ones are for when your Doctor says "stay away from work for a while"......

Does your rental have a dryer outlet ? Run a temp cord made of #10 copper wire and you could weld away with your 180 amp welder. You just can't weld and dry clothes at the same time !

My Dad bought an old "Will-Weld" 50's vintage welder in about 1962. Our first project was a lawn tractor from Popular Mechanics. We finished it and I wrapped my leg around the axel on it's madien voyage to the gas station to get gear oil in the transmission. When I healed up he came home with a pile of scarp metal and said "WELD" ... we only had one sheild, so I never saw a weld before I did one. I was 11 at the time. I have since taken dome advanced welding classes learning how to O/A weld as well as TIG. I now have O/A, a Miller Econo TIG, Miller Syncrowave 300 TIG, a Miller BIG 40 portable machine and a Lincoln 225 AC/DC machine that's at my Dad's. He's 84 and still welds frequently !!!

I am using the MILLER ELITE auto darkening helmet. It has a larger lens than most of the AD helmets out there, plus it's fully adjustable for shade and speed. It's battery / solar both which is handy for me since the helmet spends most of it's life in a dark garage. I have had the helmet for about 18 months and my only complaint is the head gear (ratchet adjust) is already stripped out. I don't think I could weld with a fixed shield anymore. Welding is challanging enouugh for me with my "getting older" vision.

Even in the economy class welder, I would try to find one that's AC /DC. At some point in your welding ,you will be glad you did. There are many more electrodes to chose from if you have DC capibilities. They make AC/DC versions of the Lincoln and the Miller. I actually used my Lincoln AC/DC machine with an air cooled TIG torch and Argon tank / regulator to do scratch start TIG welding years ago.

Hi to all from Waynesboro Virginia. I'm new to blacksmithingand ready to learn.
I have been a mechanic of one sort or another most of my life, including metal fabricating, gas, arc, and TIG weldor. I have just purchased a Peter Wright 140 lb anvil and a Champion 400 blower and am looking for ideas on building a forge,
something a little more refined than a brake drum model. Any ideas ? Thanks Sam Gamble :)