Patrick Walley

thanks. i will most likely sell the left overs.

hi jimmi and thanks. welcome to the forum.

im thinkin about making a small steak anvil from a 2 inch cross section of reail road track.

the mississippi forge council fits in to the group of people i get frowned on by. dated one guys daughter she cheated i left she blamed everything on me he talks trash about me to everyone....... that whole bit. but that still comes back to a matter of not having the money to spare so im stuck having to work with what i have. i have seen the cutlers anvils even used one once, and im just not comfortable witht he design. like chevy engines and fords. they do the same thing the same way but some folks are just more comfy with one thatn the other.

but that is only one mans opinion, and i think he may have just been being nice lol.

thanks for the input guys. as long as the lead is poured almost red and the steel is rough it will stick. same principal as soldering pipe... just a bigger gap and more lead solder.i think my biggest issue is going to be cutting the flats on the bottoms of the rails so that the top track sections are snug to one another.im sure the plasma cutter i have access to can do it. i know a guy thats been making blades on the same 1 foot section of rail for 15 years now. i spoke with him last night and he told me an anvile is great for everything else in the world, but there are purpose built anvils for a reason. nail makers, file makers, farriers and such for a reason. each design has its merits for the job it was meant for. he went on to saw that as far as a blade maker is concerned we are limited to anvils designed for every other job in the world, so someone should purpose build a knife makers anvil. he said the flat topped rail he has had for the past 15 years has been the best blade anvil he could have ever asked for. he looked over my ideas. said that it looked like i have accidentally designed the perfect short (less than 14 inches) blade anvil. and thought that adding a T post instead of a horn was a stroke of genious as far as blade smithing goes. he explained why but i cant recall that at the moment. something to do with finish work on metal handle parts.....

all great ideas, but i dont have a truck.. i dont have any scrap. well scrap i either am not using or wont use. im gonna drive a post into the ground pretty deep to fasten it to. and as for the sinker mold ive seen old school molds like that before, and most of the time a small C clamp was used to hole it shut. but thanks for all the great advice guys. pros it will be small with a larg work area. nice and heavy so less likely to move around lead will dampen the ringing. its cheap.. well free plus elbow grease. certainly be one of a kind will have a T stake on one end cons heavy hard to move. will take a ton of work. will take a lot of time. so the work i dont mind.. actually enjoy it. i dont plan on moving it. and ive got the time. besides if i had the money to buy an anvil its would be getting spent on bills christmas or the little woman. lol.

besides lead goes for $10 usd per 100 pounds. so my lead is basically worthless.

lol i live in mississippi. and the area i live in is rife with welders and weldors to match. ive tried to ply that skill for cash and there's just WAY too much competition. its also got a tad bit to do with me being overkill at do it your selfing. but thank you for the information.

you may consider searching some high voltage hobbyist forums. as the nitriding process involves nitrogen plasma... don't quote me on that. im going on a five year old memory of a discovery channel show.

Okay so im a newbie at anvil selection. I've worked on anvils owned by others but never owned my own. so first off, what effect does weight have on an anvil? whats the advantage of a big or small anvil? some extra input is I forge blades and decorative pieces as well as random tools and accessories. i seldom work anything thicker than 3/8" or longer than 14" I've been doing great on rail track, and have recently purchased a 23 1/4 inch tack section, and if i decide to spend the money a six foot section. i've considered cutting the piece i have in half and welding the two pieced back together side by side, trimming the base section so the top edges will sit flush with one another, and welding it together. then since i have rods to burn welding the valley up and grinding it flat. so i would in effect have 6" by 11 3/4" ish working surface. as far as weight if more is better i could weld a plate one end of my doubled rail section and pour this 150 pound slab of lead i have into it for the weight. i dont have enough cash to spare for an anvil at the moment since im in the middle auto repair bills but i do have the rail the lead and tons of other scrap around my house and shop to make one for the cost of a few gallons of elbow grease. and thank you guys in advance for suggestions advice and better ideas than what i already have.

you could always nail it down with some rail spike. a guy i forge with did that and hes been bangin away on it for so long now that he wont buy a real anvil.

that's either the result of a lost bet or... the reason the prosthetic limbs guy has a really nice car. jeez those guys can't possibly be so stupid that they can't grasp the concept of make a new bottom die. or atleast weld something in place so no one loses an eye from the piece of steel that will soon be protruding from their brain.... people wonder why i'm afraid of strangers with heavy equipment.