Glenn Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Let us say you are thinking about buying an anvil but do not know the weight. Put the anvil on a board (say 2x6 for strength) and place a fulcrum (piece of pipe) under the board. Measure center of the anvil to the center of the fulcrum which is say 3 feet. You know the weight of a blacksmith to be 150 pounds. (ok, he has missed a couple of meals for sure). The blacksmith has to stand 6 feet sway from the fulcrum for the teeter-totter to balance. That means 150 pounds times 6 feet equals 900. Move the anvil side distance to the blacksmith side of the equation and divide it into the 900, or 900 divided by 3, which should be a 300 pound anvil. No wonder you could not lift the thing by yourself (grin) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 It's easier to calculate than that Glenn, simply divide or invert and multiply. Say the balance point is 2' from the fulcrum and the smith is 4'. 2/4=1/2, the smith weighs half as much as the anvil 300lbs. OR invert and multiply smith = 150 x 2 = 300. It's the same way you figure gear ratios and is in fact exactly the same, a gear being a lever that goes all the way around. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Use water instead of hot air... "a pint a pound the world round" as the saying goes. So two cups is a line of water or a gallon in 8, now use your fulcrum. (That's a kilo per liter for you doing headed types...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Good one Charles but a gallon weighs 8 1/3 lbs. Mat lab days ingrained some things in my dented head. Using metric is a lot more accurate if you have a measure. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Steel is 40 lbs per sq ft and 480 lbs per cu ft. Easy math. When it comes to scrap or stock, most steel suppliers have data sheets (free) of weight by cross section and shape per running ft. There's probably a PDF for that list and there is also the "metal calculator app" which is free for the less mathematically inclined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Thank you Jerry, lol. Displacement is another way, if you know what it is made of (steel) and one puts, say 20 inches of water in a 55 gallon drum (22-24" depending on the drum) but of math (pi R squared depth) so 3.14x1.66 squared (multiply the sum by it's self) times 2 (1.83 for a 22" drum) now plug in the weight plug in foot (480#) thank you Ivan. #%$!! Won't let me edit! You are only looking at the displacement, as in the difference between 24" ( 2') and the depth after you drop in your anvil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Why not use a photoscale virtualization weights and measures app for your phone? Simply place an object of known size in the picture and select material. Viola, done! You guys really like doing things the hard way.. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 9 hours ago, j.w.s. said: Why not use a photoscale virtualization weights and measures app for your phone? Simply place an object of known size in the picture and select material. Viola, done! You guys really like doing things the hard way.. J How accurate is it? Is there an entry for alloy? I know I'm old and kind of worn but I find sorting through the all too often useless bells and whistles somebody living in Mother's basement thinks are must have is more work than just using a bathroom scale. If it's a viable app, I'm all for it but to many aren't even good wastes of time. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 9 hours ago, j.w.s. said: Why not use a photoscale virtualization weights and measures app for your phone? Simply place an object of known size in the picture and select material. Viola, done! You guys really like doing things the hard way.. J You're someone's leg aren't you? I actually looked for the app and didn't find it so either there's some leg pullin or I'm lookin for the wrong name lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Must be a typo Steel is zero pounds per sq foot as a square foot is 0 in thickness; and so 12x12x0 x density per CUBIC inch is of course zero. I would just do a simple ratio using a simple fulcrum say 1' between anvil and fulcrum and then you find how far out you have to stand to balance it; Not being 150 lbs I figure a 6' piece of 2x12 would handle *anything* I was likely to run into and a piece of angle iron with the legs down would make a decent fulcrum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said: Must be a typo Steel is zero pounds per sq foot as a square foot is 0 in thickness; and so 12x12x0 x density per CUBIC inch is of course zero. I would just do a simple ratio using a simple fulcrum say 1' between anvil and fulcrum and then you find how far out you have to stand to balance it; Not being 150 lbs I figure a 6' piece of 2x12 would handle *anything* I was likely to run into and a piece of angle iron with the legs down would make a decent fulcrum. sq foot has no weight ... you beat me to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 10 hours ago, Frosty said: How accurate is it? Is there an entry for alloy? I know I'm old and kind of worn but I find sorting through the all too often useless bells and whistles somebody living in Mother's basement thinks are must have is more work than just using a bathroom scale. If it's a viable app, I'm all for it but to many aren't even good wastes of time. Frosty The Lucky. The best I've found is from Yoyodyne Propulsion, Inc. They have a Spacial and Dimensional Research department that's putting out some interesting things on the engineering front. It's one of John Whorfin's projects and he's sort of a tyrant for perfection so you know they're going to get it on the money before they release it from alpha testing. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 10 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: Must be a typo Steel is zero pounds per sq foot as a square foot is 0 in thickness; and so 12x12x0 x density per CUBIC inch is of course zero. 9 hours ago, J said: sq foot has no weight ... you beat me to it! 12"x12"x1"=40lbs (sq ft) each sq ft by 1/8" incriments of thickness=5 lbs Cubic foot = 12" x12" x12"=480 lbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Don't you feel loved, TP took the time to pick on you! Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 3 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said: Don't you feel loved, TP took the time to pick on you! Lol I thrive under curmudgeonly banter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Yes sir, I share the feeling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 On March 7, 2016 at 8:11 AM, Crazy Ivan said: 12"x12"x1"=40lbs (sq ft) each sq ft by 1/8" incriments of thickness=5 lbs Cubic foot = 12" x12" x12"=480 lbs Mathematically speaking an Area, in our case "square foot", has zero thickness therefore zero weight. That's true if we're talking about steel, brass, or bananas. Its not until you give it a thickness like 1" , 1/4" etc... Then it becomes Volume, which given the density, becomes weight.... And I think steel is closer to 490 lb/CF 12"x12"X1/4" = 10.2 lb ish now...what were we talking about... . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Well, the fulcrum method tells me that the new anvil stand weighs about the same as the anvil itself, which is marked 1*1*8 for 148 lbs. Thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canada goose Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 On March 7, 2016 at 0:35 PM, j.w.s. said: Why not use a photoscale virtualization weights and measures app for your phone? Simply place an object of known size in the picture and select material. Viola, done! You guys really like doing things the hard way.. J How does the app measure size. Or does it require input from user? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted July 13, 2016 Author Share Posted July 13, 2016 On 3/17/2016 at 0:45 AM, J said: And I think steel is closer to 490 lb/CF 12"x12"X1/4" = 10.2 lb ish 12 inches x 12 inches by 1/2 inch is 20 pounds. Easy for me to remember as it is all 12 12 12 and 20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 If ya don't like a pint's a lb, the world around, Frosty... Came in the railyard with some Mexican Kansas City Engines the other day (don't ask, I haven't figured it out either), and the main tower asked for a fuel reading. So I tie up a couple of handbrakes, go look, and tell them the first engine has xxxx many thousand liters and the second has yyyy many liters. Long pause..... The tower, where they have computers, and calculators, and google... - "ummm, how much is that in gallons?" Me - Well, my electronic devices are turned off and stored in an out of reach compartment in accordance with company policy and the FRA rules, but a liter's kissing cousins to a quart, so if you'll divide by four...." "Oh. Ummm, okay." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 I like a pint now and then though 12 oz. is more customary this side of the pond. . . . what's the exchange on a Lb. now days? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 About .45 kilograms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 How much is that in dollars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 $450. U.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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