Not an anvil ! A steel slab 170 kg

[caotropheus]

Greetings gentleman

Since I do not have a real heavy anvil, I bought today at the scrap yard this slab of steel, 170 kg, dimensions, 74 cm X 42.5 cm X 7 cm







I will try to use it as an anvil but the rebound is very limited, probably at the best 15 % (Not like my 14 kg VAUGHAN BROOKS about 90 % rebound) and it rings, rings like a bell! It seems to be mild steel, a small hit from the hammer can mark it easily.


Please guys, I would like to read your ideas on how to transform this slab into a functional anvil

thanks

[MattBower]

You are working on the edge, right? Mount it upright with the shortest face up to put maximum mass under the hammer. That's the ideal orientation for efficiency. Is it 7 cm thick, or 7 inches? (It has to be cm, right?) Either way, that'll be wide enough to make an anvil face. And you alread have pre-drilled holes for bolting it to a stand to keep it upright!

I don't know why you'd say it's not a real anvil. It's 375 pounds of steel. What's your definition of an anvil?

[monty]

turn it on its end, sink it in a stump, get riid of the paint from one end, and hammer on it, the rebound will be greater on end as there is more mass behind it, and if you have a big enough stump, also attach your vaughns anvil, for the use of the horn, i know it wont have the same face size, but the vikings got by with anvils no larger than 6"x6"

[monty]

possibly radius part of the edge as well as you would for a normal anvil

[Dodge]

Not an anvil? By definition, an anvil is just something to bang on. Lots of anvil shaped objects out there that aren't even good for that.
Interesting that it dents easily. Is that on the cut end or the face of the plate? Did you check the rebound there as well or, again, the face? Reason I ask is that its apparently flame cut based on the appearance of the large hole. The stuff we cut always seemed to have a more "flame hardened" surface on the cuts than the rest of the plate. The anvil I cut doesn't have as good a rebound as a "real" anvil but its not bad. As for how to make it a useful anvil, you could maybe square up one corner and even cut into the big hole to leave an over hang like a heel then use it! :)

[trying-it]

You now have an anvil, a solid straight welding table to clamp things to, a sturdy workbench to temperarily clamp power tools to for use, and more uses just lurking for you to discover! What more you want for now, maybe an apprentice that works for free??? LOL

:ph34r:

[Dodge]

writing as others posted but I agree with all :)

[caotropheus]

You now have an anvil, a solid straight welding table to clamp things to, a sturdy workbench to temperarily clamp power tools to for use, and more uses just lurking for you to discover! What more you want for now, maybe an apprentice that works for free??? LOL

Trying-it, you forgot to refer a stable base for a precision scale! ;)

[macbruce]

It would make a great ''little'' table for straightening bars, drilling esp with a mag drill, etc........nice collection of steel rules....

[basher]

170 kg anvil with a new face on every side , as we say round here "quids in"

[Marksnagel]

170 kg anvil with a new face on every side , as we say round here "quids in"

I agree! If one side shows too much wear over the years, simply rotate it to the next side. Standing on end will give you a nice solid piece of steel. For those of us on this side of the globe in the US thats 29.13inches X 16.73inches X 2.76 inches and 374.79 pounds! That is a good size anvil IMHO.

Good find! Enjoy it.

Mark <><

[eric sprado]

Put it on edge,make a couple of nice radius spots,go to work.NICE piece of steel!! I hate to dispel myths, but,as far as work goes,rebound means nothing. Laws of physics say you don't get anything for nothing!!If your hammer rebounds,you've paid for it! It has enough holes in it so that you should be able to stick in some bolts to deaden the ring.

[Old N Rusty]

put legs under it it will be a fine layout , flattening, rosebud,(heating torch) jig table and as said before a magnetic drill will STICK ! and it already has holes for drilling through good find Caot!!

[ThomasPowers]

"How to turn it into a functional anvil?"

Hit hot metal on it!

I'd mount it vertically and use the holes in the base to attach some good sized angle iron to it to make it more stable---you can drill holes in the angle and lag bolt it into a stump too.

Start to look for something to fit in the big hole to use as a horn.

And perhaps you can explain why it's *not* an anvil since the London pattern has only been used about 10% of the total iron/steel age and the other 90% is filled with a large number of different styles from all over the world.

I have a travel stump anvil that is a 25# cube with a spike on the bottom---it looks just like one in the Roman museum in Bath England. It looks like Viking examples, it looks like medieval examples, it looks like one in the Camino Real Museum about an hour south of me and I've been told by a smith that works at a French and Indian War fort that it looks exactly like the appropriate one for that as well. Shall I say it's not an anvil because it does *not* look like a 19th-20th century london pattern one?

If it's soft work your steel at an appropriate heat! If it's mild steel you could work harden the face---or just allow it to happen through use. If you get a dent, plannish it out!

[Bentiron1946]

Take a look at Brian Brazeal's anvils, your anvil resembles some of his very much and look at all the things he makes with his!

[MattBower]

One thought: are you sure it's steel and not cast iron? 15% rebound is really low, even for mild steel.

[philip in china]

As the guys say it looks fine to me. If you later get a "real" anvil that one will make a wonderful bending bench or something of the sort!! Look around for a slightly smaller peice to set in your floor to use as an upsetting block.

[caotropheus]

One thought: are you sure it's steel and not cast iron? 15% rebound is really low, even for mild steel.

When you hit the slab with the hammer or during the rebound tests with a ball bearing, it rings like a bell. This gives an indication it is not cast iron, right?

There are "cutting to shape" marks everywhere in the edges and not casting marks, but this does not mean much.

Also the slab fell from some height and it scratched one of the corners like modelling clay and did not chip or brake like cast iron.

But this comes to mind, doesn't it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meehanite

[BlissStreet]

I'm jealous as hell! I wish I could have found something that size when I was looking. Set it next to a forge, stand a hammer on it, and it will look like an anvil in no time.

[MattBower]

When you hit the slab with the hammer or during the rebound tests with a ball bearing, it rings like a bell. This gives an indication it is not cast iron, right?

There are "cutting to shape" marks everywhere in the edges and not casting marks, but this does not mean much.

Also the slab fell from some height and it scratched one of the corners like modelling clay and did not chip or brake like cast iron.

But this comes to mind, doesn't it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meehanite

It doesn't sound like cast iron, then. Good. I would use it as is for now. You could flame harden or hardface it someday, if you feel inspired.

[Unforgivun]

I like it! Like these other guys have said, mount it on its side. My little slab doesn't have much rebound either and it'll tire you out much faster than an anvil with rebound.

Heres a link to another thread here called "Brazeal Anvil Rising"





Last one there is my little one. Like Thomas said, perhaps figure out a way to use those holes to slip something in and have some form of a horn. The holes near the corners would make good spots for tools, you could have the "peg" that slips into the holes and then a small bar or something that sits on top of the face and keeps it from turning. Could even do some file work and mount something like this hardy cone. Although I don't know that you could hammer on that like a regular horn and use it as a fuller. Should be fine for bends I would think.

I think my first goal on it would be to ensure it is steel. If it is, talk to these fellas on here and find out how to increase your rebound maybe by hardfacing or hardening or something. I dunno. If the answer is to hardface it I think I would only do a small section, maybe 5 or 6 inches. That would give you a hammering surface of say 2.75" x 5" or something. Plenty of room to work with since the main thing you need is the rebound under the hammer head. That might not be an option if it mars up your work or something though so I don't know I'm just tossing out an idea.

I use my "slab-o-steel" anvil often and the edges have moved a bit due to it being a bit softer than I'd like, but it does work. It moves metal well, it just doesn't have the rebound that would help make it much easier.

Goodluck with it, have fun. If nothing else you have a solution until a regular anvil comes along.

[MattBower]

Put it on edge,make a couple of nice radius spots,go to work.NICE piece of steel!! I hate to dispel myths, but,as far as work goes,rebound means nothing. Laws of physics say you don't get anything for nothing!!If your hammer rebounds,you've paid for it! It has enough holes in it so that you should be able to stick in some bolts to deaden the ring.

If your hammer doesn't rebound you've paid for it with energy absorbed by the anvil. You want a nice, inelastic anvil so the only two (major) ways energy can be dissipated are by deforming the work piece or rebounding the hammer. A soft anvil allows for another route of dissipation. If you get rebound, it's a sign that you're also putting energy into deforming the work piece (assuming you're hitting the work piece). Try forging on a cinderblock. Little if any rebound. Is it efficient? How about a wood anvil? Harder faces are more efficient. They also generate more rebound.