Anvils and Rounding Hammer

[Gary_Miller]

I'm looking at purchasing a anivil and a good Rounding hammer. I've been told that I should not purchase anything less than a 100 lb anvil and really like the feel of a 2 to 2-1/2 rounding hammer.

I've been looking at diffrent manufactures and they have something diffrent on the anvils or hammer.

I sure would be interested in knowing what types ,manufacture, of anvils and hammer you gals/guys use?

What do you like about them?
what do you dislike about them?
What are the diffrent benifits?
Would you purchase another one or is there a better one you like more?
Recommedations on what to look for when purchasing?
Which brand is the best in your opion?
What would you recommend for a guy just starting out?

Still a rookie, but I know a little more this week than last.
Class is going great. :D

Gary Miller

[Gary Hill]

I started using a Future 3 last year and really enjoy it! It has an alum base to make it lighter and cuts down on the ringing. I wish I had got it years ago, my hearing might not be as bad as it is now! (Kinda comes in handy as my wife even tells people I don't have selective hearing - I just don't hear good any more! That saves my hiney every once and awhile! LOL!) The broad face helps when your working on heavy shoes. My first, out of school anvil was an AP 95 lb. It only has a 3 1/2 in face and big shoes were difficult to work on and level. Make sure you sand down your hammer handle to fit you hand or it will make your hand tired as you work with a standard handle. Good Luck! Gary

[J.H. shoeing]

Gary

You might try www.flatlandforge.com for rounding hammers. They are good hammers, and the rest of the tools they make are spot on. As far as anvils go find one you can get along with and shoe for a while then buy what you have found that you really want. I have had three or so different anvils and my preference changes from time to time. A good start out anvil is a hundred pound to a hundred twenty five pound. The Certifier and the Journeyman are good and they sell easily if you have a change of heart (want a different anvil). I had one of the Future 2 anvils and did not like the off set horn. But the Future 3 maybe all right looks like a Journeyman but I wonder how it works out when you spend several hours in the fire.

Jeff

[Gary Hill]

I actually traded an old certifier for a Future 2 but all I wanted was a new base for a Future 3. The base of the Future 3 fell out of another guys open bed pickup and tore up the alum base when the car behind him ran over it! I got the top of it for free, I use the old 2 top as a anvil on a work bench. I can work heavy TWH shoes or draft shoes hot on the 3 and it works really well for big shoes. Good Luck! Gary

[calshoer]

I have a 115 pound PCHS ({Pacific Coast Horseshoeing school design).It is OK, not great but it works. It is a bit too narrow faced for my liking. Gene Ovnicek had a Future 2 for a long time I really liked it a lot when I worked with him becaue it worked like a much heavier anvil and was quiet. He now has a brand new future 3. I haven't had a chance to try that one yet but hope to. .
I like the lightest rounding hammer that will get the job done. Mine is a cheap pound and a half model and I can move a cold shoe with ease. With a long enough handle on a heavy enough anvil you can 'whip' a light hammer into the metal with speed and really move it without straining your arm lifting it back up for the next blow. The metal shoe actually will help rebound the light hammer back up even thoigh it moved the shoe. When I went to a lighter hammer and gripped further away from the head, all my previous elbow pain went away. Patty

[Dave Purves]

Anvils
I have a JHM Journeyman in the truck
I have 150lbs Emerson in the shop
I use the JHM in the truck cause I cheat sometimes and use the turning cams. In the shop I'm usually in the mood that if it's not right then it goes in the s**** pile. Plus there is no feeling of wanting to get done, like you have when you're working on horse number 8 and the flys are biting and this is it's first set of shoes so he's not real happy.

Rounding hammers
I used to use the original Jim Blurton 2lb. Big face Easy to hit. Then a couple of years ago I gave myself a birthday present and bought a Flatland Forge 2lb, small face, Wow what a difference, it took a few shoes to get used to but with less force more power. All of the power in your swing is focused in the smaller face and it makes things much easier. The clipping hammer is next on the list for this years B-day. I like the Blurton but now that I'm used to the small face I would stick with a Flatland Forge, or I used a buddies Jim Keith and it was pretty nice also. Like Patty said, get the wieght of hammer that suits you, just cause it's 2 or 2.5lbs doesn't make it better or you more manly, my mentor uses a 1.5 lb hammer and always has. It's what you're comfy with.
These are just my preferences, when your just starting I suggest calling the supply houses and asking about used anvils, many consign anvils and forges for their clients, it's a good way to get a decent anvil at a good price, I know if I would've bought brand new right away it would've been ruined pretty quick. I just hate to see the first chip come off of the face. Don't forget to get good advise on putting a radius on the edge of the face, Maybe thats for another thread.
Dave Purves CF :cool:

[Bill Adams]

Gary,
Good to hear you're doing it.
Get a heavy anvil with a round horn.
You can do small work on a big anvil but you cant do big work on a small one.
With the horn you can do anything on a round but not as easy on a flat.
I like the JHM 125 pounder on the truck and I have an old 200 pounder in the shop.
As to hammers I've had a Flatland forge for about two years and can say nothing but good about them. A good company, too. I had a small problem and they took way better care of me (and faster) than I thought any one would. I use a 1.5 pound every day 'cause I shoe hot, and a two pound for the drafts.
The trick to all of this is to be smater than an anvil, but **** enough to have one.
Always shoe hot,
Bill

[chang-kuao-lo]

2-1/2#! What are you making, locomotive parts? just kidding. I use a 1-1/2# Jim Poor rounding and cross-pein I really like them, the handle is just the right size right out of the box, and they have stood up to 8 years of use. I have seen a lot of guys take these same hammers and grind the sides down to 1-1/2#. I also use a 3# cross-pein for rough-shaping tools, cheapy one out of a hardware store catalogue. I saw a fellow with an estwing rounding hammer (all steel, top to bottom), I have never been able to find one myself, I'd like to try one out of curiosity.

I can't comment much on modern brands of anvils, other than "you can do small work on a big anvil, but not big work on a small anvil", couldn't have said it better myself. If you are looking to make shoes, stick with a round horn, a flat horn is a pain in the you-know-what. I have a Peter Wright 120# for packin' around, and a 250# Peter Wright for NOT packin' around. 120# is great for field work, not too big, not too small. The bigger the anvil, the less rebound, which means more of the energy you put into your hammer strike goes into your work, not into sending the hammer back at you. Everyone I have met who has a Future anvil seems pleased as punch with it, I have never had the opportunity to use one.

BTW: Peter Wright went out of business a long time ago, however; they are anvils of exceptional quality, if you happen to see one at an auction, yard sale, etc. grab it! Even if it is in rough shape, it's worth the time to re-finish it.

[Gary_Miller]

I think I won't get the 2 1/2 lb hammer. Ive been using my instructors 2 lb'er, and he commented that I need to not swing so hard. Betting up to many shoes (poor things). I always need to file them flat as I get to much metal pinged out on the edges.

I have looked at the Journeyman anivl think I will go with that on. I just need to save my pennies up so I can. My boss (wife) already said I could have one. So that hurdle is taken care of. Boy I sure hate her mottos of "Whats hers is hers and whats mine is hers." and "What momma wants momma gets." It just don't seem fare. Oh, well we have to keep the boss happy if we ant our toys.

Gary
Still a rookie, but almost a Farrier.

Buy the way, when can a rookie call himself a Farrier?

[Bill Adams]

Gary,
What a great question! I think you are a Farrier when you can shoe a horse well, but wonder how you can do better, then go about getting better at it.
I have used the journeyman for twelve years and love it more each day. After you've used it a while, pick a couple of spots on each edge of the face and round them a bit but not the whole edge.
My wife uses the same mottos and I love her more than the anvil. I think in each case you just have to learn to work around an inmovable object.
I should start an ironworking/romance collum.
Bill

[J.H. shoeing]

Bill

Keep shoeing.

Jeff

I meant Dr.Bill

[Gary Hill]

" Dr. Bill," you could write a column and call it "Dear Anvil" Or "Stories from the Heartbar"! I couldn't pass that opening up! LOL! Best, Gary

[Gary_Miller]

The journeyman come in two styles.

One has turning cams the other does not.

Which one would you recommend.


Gary
Almost a Farrier.

[Bill Adams]

Gary,
I have the one with the cams but I never use them for heels. They come in handy for reworking nail holes around clips or blacksmithing projects. What you gain with one you lose with the other.
Get both and cary one under each arm.
My $0.02,
Bill

[Gary_Miller]

Has anyone used Estwings 40oz Rounding Hammer.

I have used their claw hammers and really liked them alot.

What do you think?

Gary

[Double C Forge]

Yes I have one. Its usually the basic standard that they suggest to use in alot of horseshoeing schools because alot of beginners w/out hammer control would break wooden handles.... I don't use it much anymore. I purchased a Jim Keith hammer about a year ago and really love it.........I think the Estwing is 2 lbs I think and I like the 1.5 lb personally.

[cowboy_bc]

Hi all,

I started out with 1.5 diamond even before I went to school. I made a pile of shoes with it and now it's become a spare that I carry in the back of my truck with some nordic clinchers, diamond nippers and assorted junk that I have used to stick a shoe back on in a pinch. I found that the small hammer just ain't no good for forging shoes because the head doesn't cover enough of the shoe and I believe after useing one that you work much harder. Of all the handles I have replaced I have yet to find one I didn't have to rasp, sand and clear coat to fit my hand. I made my brass hammer and a cross pien myself and I don't know if it was worth the time but they sure work well. Differant people have differant tastes. Craig Trinka who is a big man and a killer guy in the forge, his rounding hammer handle is long and isn't much bigger than a broom handle. I think he said he like's the "snap" of a smaller handle. I know guys who like the really small driving hammers with skinny handles and I guess the "snap" makes up for the smaller head and does a better job of driving nails than a heavier head. Anyway I wouldn't buy a hammer I couldn't customize.

[cowboy_bc]

Hi all,

I think you need to buy the best you can get without getting ******. My first driving hammer was a Nordic and then I went out and splurged on a diamond both would be great for driving carpet tacks. I have a calvery now 12oz?? and I was going to buy a smaller one but I listened to another farrier who had one and has since gone out and bought a smaller one.

[Mike Ferrara]

I stopped in a junk/antique shop the other day on the way home from picking up coal and got 5 or six hammers for about $10. A couple of nice cross piens a top fuller and a couple of ball piens. I recently found a nice 3 pound cross pien in a hardware store (believe it or not) for lke 6 bucks. By nice I mean that I'm happy using it without ever having dressed the face. For about everything except turning shoes I've come to use cross and ball piens more than rounding hammers.

I carry a little 70 pound NC anvil in the truck that I baught new when I first started. It's easy to move around and I used it for years and was happy enough since I had never spent any amount of time using anything else. These days I do more forging and it's just too small. I lucked into a 173 pound Peter Wright pretty cheap and ground the face...it wasn't too bad to start with.

[cowboy_bc]

Hi all,

You can luck out. A friend of was in a farrier shop that was going out of bussiness and was selling everything 80% off and bought 4 pars of good nippers etc. I have a huge unmovable shop anvil 350 lb + I learned on and a valley anvil thats about 80 lb's that I have customized a lot to make it useable. I ground the back clip horn square. cut an extra groove to finish clips, ground the end of the table, rounded the horn, grooved the hardy hole to turn heels and ground measuring notches.

[Jack Evers]

My Estwing rounding hammer is quite old and perhaps they have changed, but both faces are identical and it mostly gathers dust hanging on the wall until I want to abuse something and really don't care what I hit it with.

Jack

[Gary_Miller]

Is there anything you should do to a new anvil before you start using it?

Purchased a new journyman and want to make sure I get started right.

Gary

[fairweatherforge]

If you just spent good money on an anvil, you'll probably want to find a soft hammer. If your learning to scarf or draw clips your gonna ding your new anvil up if you have a hard hammer. One way or another, until you learn hammer control, your gonna ruin something. Either you hammer or your anvil. But then again once you ruin something its alway fun to try fix it. There's always something to do to every tool you get. Just try it and see how it feels. The best thing to do (in my opion) is go to an advanced farrier school. All these guys that have been on the american farriers team that offer there services to work with you on building shoes and anything else you want to learn. They're worth there price in gold!

[Bill Adams]

Gary,
You will want to round off a couple of spots on the edge but wait till you "know" it a bit better. You can always grind more off later.
Did you get the one with cams or not?
Bill

[Gary_Miller]

Bill, I got the one without the cams, I like the long wide surface and my instructor taught me how to turn heels over the horn so I figured I did not need the cams.

As for rounding the edges the guy at the farrrier supply shop (use to be a farrier tell he hurt his back) told me to lightly bevel the sharp edges so I don't chip them off. But I know your talking about something else could you post a picture of what you mean and explain what the modification is used for.



Thanks
Gary

[Bill Adams]

Gary,
I can't post a picture, my puter won't let me, but here's the thing.
Good idea about SLIGHTLY beveling the edges, but I've put a 1/8 and 1/4 inch radius on a couple of spots (about an inch and a half long) to push the bubble out with my pointed ball pien for a clip, and for nicer bends when I'm making straight bars or smithing something. It is nice to have a sharp edge on there somewaer to cut stock real quick.
You'll know when and where and if you need to.
I droped my hammer a while back and the client picked it up and found a good use for the turning cams, she hung the hammer in them and it looked so cool.
Bill

[Gary_Miller]

Bill
Thanks of the advise. Like you said I know when and where I need to do modificatioins as I go along so I will just wait and see what happens.

I really enjoy you advise, help and encouragement.

Thank You
Gary

[Mike Ferrara]

I like a good sharp edge someplace for getting nice square set downs which isn't something you often need to do making shoes. I use a chisel hardy for cutting stock...I make from angle iron. For the rest I like a smaller radiu toward the horn and a larger one toward the heel.

[Bill Adams]

A good sharp edge makes nice rocker toes, too.
Bill