I'm in the process of dedicating a spot near the barn door of my shop to stage a smithing area typical of many different cultures from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. Mine is based more on the Viking age.. but could’ve been used for millenia before that. There will be a non-ferrous casting pit for bronze and pewter and forging/carburizing pit. These will be dug into the sand and lined with firebricks and clay. You can see the double bellows used as an air source (built with the help of my assistant Lucas Brehm) and the anvil block. The anvil will be made from an 18 pound sledgehammer head. There is also a slab of soapstone that serves as the ‘shieldstone’ for protecting the smith and the bellows from the heat. It has a Loki-themed carving in progress. More pictures later!

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by the way... the stack of firebricks seen in the picture will not be a part of this. That is my current method for carburizing wrought iron into steel....

Jeez Scott, you have too much energy. That is a very exciting project- the bellows look great.

I'm curious about your stake anvil- will you just ease the shoulders of the sledge head or grind/beat it more or less flat? The more I read up on dedicated knife makers forges the more I like the stake anvil, but I haven't put one to use so I'm just talking from the armchair (I'm a "speculative smith").

Cheers!
Eric

Thanks Eric... It really helps to have talented help! And keep an eye out for his scabbard work in the future.. especially now that I'm letting him loose on designing and making cast fittings...

As to the anvil... yeah I'm trying to decide on that. My original thought was to just grind the shoulders down... but I really want this thing to look ancient. So as soon as we get a pit going I might just throw it to the fire and forge the top flat. Maybe even let it mushroom a bit... :-) And then re-heat treat. I hate to lose it's re-bound because it is very lively right now.

I'm also formulating a plan for a block and wedge vise to hold pieces over a hot chiseling plate. And why not some parallel rods embedded for scrolling and bending! So much fun....