Hot Cuts, Anvil devils, metal cutting on the anvil.

I'm new to blacksmithing - took a class at North House Folk School this fall, and when I got home I got busy setting up shop. I have a chunk of railroad track for an anvil, a small sledgehammer to beat with, and I made a brakedrum forge. I'm learning as I go (with substantial help from this forum), and I'd like to make some sort of a cutoff tool. I got ahold of a few old railroad spikes, and I'm considering using one to make a cutoff hardy and mount it to the stump I have the "anvil" on. Any thought or advice will be appreciated.

Was time to upgrade from my older straight cut hardie. I wanted something a little beefier on the cutting edge. Every so often I will make a new piece to replace an older one. So decided this would be a funner way to go.. It was a bunch of fun.. Over the years I am amazed at the level of fit and finish that happens compared to when I started.. Anyhow, before everyone gets in a fit about upsetting this in the anvil.. It's a german anvil with a very thick waist and plenty of meat under the hardie hole.. I do not recommend upsetting with a sledge hammer on the anvil anymore with London pattern anvils with a thinner heel section.. I've included a p…

Need I.D.s

Here is the drawing I'm going to reference for my question: So I want to start making some arrowheads, and I've seen lots of people form the sockets on a hardie tool like in drawing (2). My anvil is a railroad tie plate that I found lying and collecting rust, like in drawing (1). I am thinking of making a hardie tool, made from a rail spike since they're perfectly sized for the hole in the plate. It will slide in from the bottom, and a pin (4) will hold it in place (3). I suspect this will work fine if I only do light work on this tool, what do you guys think?

Will an axe head work decently well as a hot cut? I seem to remember someone on this forum mentioning that they had done it, but I can't find it now despite much searching. The main reason I'm wondering is because I got a Douglas axe head (if Douglas happens to be a sought after brand, please let me know before I potentially modify it irreversibly) for free in a box of rusty tools, that I don't really have any other use for. If there are no problems with using an axe head as a hot cut, what would be a good option for mounting it upright? Would encasing all but the top few inches in a block of cement be a viable option? Thanks!

I'm new to smithing and was advised my first tool I make should be a chisel so I can cut hot steel. Makes sense. I was thinking about grinding a butcher profile on the foot of my vertical rr track I'm using for an anvil. I wanted to get other opinions on the idea. Thanks in advance to anyone who has the time to respond. Your insight is appreciated.

I Reid to make a hardy hot cut today our of a huge bolt I found . Didn’t end badly but I got a lot of work to do. But I had a problem with it wanting to bend in one direction as I as upsetting it . I tried to work it back and forth but it would barely move even when it was yellow . Any suggestions for my next attempt ?

So, I'm pretty new to the craft (less than 6 months serious work) and I really wanted a hot cut hardy tool. I do some steel shopping at my local scrap yard and I was lucky enough to come across some 4140 elevator pins. 1-1/4" diameter. I had a a few extra hours on Friday sooo... I got to bangin... I used an angle grinder to make a square nub on the end so I could grab it with my tongs. I made this with a 3lb cross peen and a file for final profile on the cutting head. I never thought that moving that much steel by hand would be possible. My shoulder still hurts and I broke my hammer but I did it. Hahaha. I heat treated the blade portion but didnt bother tempering as…

So I'm grinding some tools into my vertical railroad anvil I'm shaping. Decided on a brazeal hardie hot cut on the right flange since I already had a straight edge to grinder into. The thing is, I'm not only new to blacksmithing but also using a grinder and I cut too far and may have compromised the structural integrity of it. Here are some pics if you wouldn't mind giving me your thoughts?

Hey everyone! I've done so looking around, and the same person that I'm going to buy my coal and possibly anvil from, also has S7 stock, up to 1 1/4". I heard that S7 is good for punches, as it's durable and hard. I figured why not turn it into a hot cut? I was curious about your thoughts seeing as how I don't know a whole lot about different metal types. Should I run it through normalizing and tempering cycles, or should I just let it air harden? -Josh Semper Fi

Hey all, I have been stalling about making proper tools, and decided to try a hot cut Hardy tonight. This was made from one of the largest crow bars I've ever seen with just a chisel, a 3 lb cross pien from HF, and a 180# Trenton. I had to upset it for a good 20 min to get to be larger than the size of my Hardy hoIe. I so wish I had a striker, as the tapering took so many blows from my 3lb hammer. I would love to see all your hot cut hardies as a comparison! Any and all advice or comments are welcome. Brent

It is my first hardy, actually my first tool. I have started with a 1" round bar 40" long of 1045. I have tapered it down to 3/4" to fit my anvil and it slides in to about 1.5 ". The rod is too tall to upset on my anvil so I need to cut a piece off. Q1. how much do I need above the shank? 3-4 inches or more?

Hot cut hardy from a pavement breaker bit (I like the collar). I hammered (all by hand - my forge is pretty primitive as far as power tools) the shank square from the original hex shape, then cross-peened the heck out of the thing to rough shape. Finished with grinder. It was originally about 3/4" taller (unnecessary, really), until I burned the edge in the forge in the last heat before treating - GRRRR! So I cut off the burned part and realized I still had plenty material to finish. Oil quenched, tempered to deep straw/gold. Rubbed generously with gun oil to inhibit rust. It cut a horseshoe and some 1/2" mild square stock easily without damag…

Has anyone ever used a knife die for a hot cut tool?

Is that a hot cut? It works for him.

So I torched and ground this Drillhammer into to shape. Does anyone have experience with hardy tools made from HSS steel? I made this thinking that a hard and high thermo-plasticity would make it a superior hot cut? (Of course in combination with an anealed hammer) I have also made a plate to keep the HSS from touching the anvil face (contact surface was a bit to small for my taste)

Hi, picked this up at the scrap yard today. does anyone recognize what it is. about 9 inches long, 1.6 inches in diameter, shows a broken end. was in a pile of rail car suspension components. springs, trucks, spring seats and such. seems to have been machined as there are fine tool striations. will it make a good hot cut?

Hello, just wondering if anyone knows what this stamp on this hardy tool represents ? I am assuming the maker of the piece but can't find any info on it. Thanks.

Is it better to use stock that is bigger than the hardie and draw it out for a fit, or is it better to use stock that fits the hardie and upset the working end? My Mousehole has a 3/4" hardie and my Swedish anvil has a 7/8". I thought to use 1" stock for both and draw it out. I believe Lorelei Sims recommends starting with slightly over sized stock and drawing it out so 1" would be slightly oversized for both of my anvils. I will most likely use the 3/4 " Mousehole for hardies though due to the Mousehole being my heavy anvil.

Looking for ideas of hardy tools or anything useful to forge from a 1 1/4 inch torsion bar just made a cut off hardy (works great) and a light radius swage. Was thinking about a fuller next but wanna know if there's any other ideas of useful stuff I can make out of it to build up my tool collection which is very limited

Got this idea on the World Wide Interweb. Sort of a Brazeal profile but made from flat stock mid carbon (4140) measuring 1/4” x 1 1/2”. Rounded shaft in a swage block with no weld at joint. Filed in a very slightly tapered profile for setting the hot cut into a stump. No heat treating beyond 2 normalization cycles. Cuts beautifully....way better than the one I made from a RR spike!

I drilled a 3/4" hole in the web of my rail because a have a box of tow ball hitches and thought could make a bunch of tools. Here is a cut off tool I ground out this morning. Seems to work well. What do you guys think? Frosty does this help your guts thinking? LOL

Received Ford Mustang axle from a friend of mine and forged a hot cut out a piece of it. A problem I ran into was when I was striking to set the bevel the end started to cup. It was like the outer metal was moving but the innermost part of the metal stayed put. I was able to correct it but I was wondering if I was doing something wrong or is this normal This is is he finished project

Made my first hot cut hardy today, Brazeal style. Forged from 1 3/8 4140. First time I made something with a striker before, my striking anvil worked pretty well.

This was made by my grandpa. He is no longer alive to ask. I posted this on another site and some one thought it was a cold cut. Now I'm curious.