Pulsepushthepopulace

Link to anvilfire image removed at the request of Jock Dempsey You have the materials for this... The guru of anvil fire has the complete write up on how to.. Basically, you'd cut the top of the rail off at the web, set the excess off to the side for hardy tools... grind the bottom (web side) of the track flat to use as the anvil face, make the hardy hole, then weld it to the end of the vertically positioned (long piece)... center it on the mass... I did this with the available track I had, and recommend it... There's a sweet spot, a horn, and extra material to use for tooling... The key to it all is mass under the hammer blow... So, a vertical orientation is the way you accomplish that... it's not the traditional long linear surface that comes to mind, but If you plan on a horizontal orientation, you're not going to be able to move the hot stuff as easy as if it were vertical... Link to anvilfire image removed at the request of Jock Dempsey <-Click here to read the literature behind manipulating RR track into a diy anvil...

When it comes to testing them out, I've never struck an arc in my life... I understand the process, but as far as understanding whether or not it's running right would be beyond me... Any hints? Dead giveaways to whether it's behaving as a stick welder should? I'm looking for a transformer type welder, not an inverter... Are those sears/craftsmen ones inverter welders??? I just assumed they were not...?

Good point Dave. The only one on the fritz as far as being name non-named brand would be those sears welders... lol, but then the two of them have those other elements that the named brand ones don't like HF tig box, and the other with the $100 asking price... I just don't know enough about them... Sureweld, from what I understand was just a miller painted yellow with a new name... Can anyone verify this???

I'm going to be purchasing a stick welder here in the next few weeks and I'm scouring the local CL ads for used AC/DC stick welders. I figure I would gather a list of what I think are some "good deals" and have you gents/ladies point me in the correct direction. I'd rather have your experience and input, because this is relatively new territory for me. Isaac is going to lull the economic trafic, so I'm almost positive that the ads I post will be here for at least another week. My budget is $500, with a little wiggle room. Things I'm looking for prioritized; 1. Quality (bullet proof) I want something that lasts... Archaic technology always seems to pay off if repairs are needed... 2. Good solid range of welding, from welding thick plate (forklift tine anvil) to something that could accomplish ornate and pretty. 3. easily adjustable (retard proof as they called it in the army) 3. Smooth and steady arc (more of a machines reputation than anything) 3. + capabilities for other types of welding (tig) *** I'm not located in an area that has 3 phase infrastructure *** don't really know which welders are 3 phase though $250 http://orlando.craig...3171504838.html - Craftsman/Sears 230 Amp stick welder with a high frequency box for Tig Welding. $300 http://sarasota.crai...3180613916.html - Miller 180 P $500 http://sarasota.crai...3163493050.html - Miller Dialarc 250 $300 http://sarasota.crai...3174457498.html -Sureweld AC/DC 300amp $100 http://tampa.craigsl...3199466590.html -Sears Craftsman AC/DC 230/140 There are Lincoln AC/dc tombstones all over the place, They exist as an option, and they fall in the $300 range... Thanks guys!

That is gorgeous Joe... absolute beauty.

Jeebus :blink: That's a lot of steel.... Yeah, A brazeal type striking anvil would make way more sense, but I'm a bit left of plumb... :D One more question for you guys while I'm shopping for a welder, when it comes to laminating the plates together, what's the preferred method for making these individual pieces an entire solid? The "guru" show examples of laminating the plates with beveled/welded edges and plug welds.... Or can I weld the plates together in a homogeneous type weld, just like I plan to weld the top plate on...? If I prep accordingly, like jigs, spacers, layout etc.... I could see this as being the better of the 2 routes...? What say you? Almost done with all the necessary cuts... I still have about 3 days worth of grinding and fitting, grinding and fitting, and then some more grinding... Anywho, some updated photos of it mocked up... still a rough fit though, did I mention the grinding and fitting part? ...to show the progression... Middle section showing 1-1/4 hardy hole... I'm pulling the bottom center section forward for the hardy hole.. will be about a 1/2" more off center... This has evolved away from a double-horn to a heel/horn English pattern anvil, due to using every bit of the material possible... and the heel... mocked up... This is the rough overall shape of the final product... Take note that the face plate is absent, and the buildup material for the horn sits in it's place... That excess will build the horn up to be nice and robust... That's my 3# cross-peen there in the center, to give you a gist of size and scale...

Thanks for reiterating that point, I got lost in the sauce there... because if it wasn't, the radiant heat would migrate away from ground zero?... But once the mass is at preheat temp where will the heat migrate? to the face? Or to the waist of the anvil... This is the variable that leaves me with the thought that It's going to be quite difficult to keep the face at <500oF... I'm seriously thinking about taking you and and Mr. fluidsteel up on your offers... The dimensions of the forks you guys have given are beyond whats available locally... I would just feel bad burdening you guys with all that cutting and driving to the post office...

Actually, I spoke to my father about the "options", and found out he apparently has one hidden somewhere on the other side of the barn... 200 gallons a minute are the specs he relayed... I'll rent another one and we're in business! I'll just use the pond to feed it... I agree phil, back up plan indeed, I just have this nagging feeling that I'm not going to really be able to control the heat that well... In order to get the penetration I desire and avoid HAZ cracking, I have to preheat to nearly 400 and keep it there... One thing mentioned in HAZ cracking is that the mass will suck the heat away from the weld, so I imagine that the mass, in it's entirety, will gradually reach that preheat temp laying bead after bead... So, my fear is that once it reaches the point/temp; conditions for welding will be optimal, but heat control might become an issue... If I burn a rod under the anvil plate, when the mass is at preheat temp, where will all that radiant heat go? will It radiate into the mass or will it move too far into the top plate? Then again, I might be thinking this thing to death... It's good to have options though... :wacko:

If you notice the top pic of post #27 the fork bucket attachment hook is in the center hook facing up, same as the other side... This accomplishes that face down orientation you're talking about... So there's no real alternative... Fire Hose from Fire department... I don't see this happening... Oil... I need 300+ gallons... Errr... not happening How about a pressure washer? I own a very nice high volume honda 3500 psi IIRC... Other option is an air hardening tool steel. Or hardfacing rod.. I take it this quenching pickel is what stops most anvil diy'rs in their tracks... Time to start reviewing options... seriously... errr.

Almost forgot... I put about 5 hours into the work this weekend, 1 1/4" Hardy complete square tube lipped for top plate gap... Two horns are almost cut, round horn will be almost 14" square horn on the Hardy hole side will be 7"... stupid me decided a 28 degree undercut was a good idea... So, I fought the the saw (maxes at 45 degree cuts) and the... saw won... for the most part that is... I have about 2 inches of material to rip through... The soapstone mark is NOT the horn, I was just doodling and brainstorming and got carried away...lol

I wonder if this is a first "Monster" forklift anvil... It's weighing in at @ least 320 from my guestimation... What's another 300lbs ish...??? I could say something about my liking for bigger women, but I'd hate to dance on the lines of being inappropriate... I keep on telling the wife I'm 2 short of a threes...cough!!! So, oil is out... Water.... I have a pond at my disposal? It's about an acre in size 14ft deep... If I elevated 6 or so 50 gallon drums of water on some kinda pull string dump mechanism would that work? Again this seems the more logical route, I just don't know if it would be doable especially if I followed that homogenous weld thread you posted... I figure with the amount of heat generated burning through rods like that, I'd be difficult... I could always lay a bead, wait till the weld reached preheat temp, burn another rod, so on and so forth... maybe put a wet rag on the face??? Niether can I. I've been researching anvils for months now, and I can't come to grips with the idea of paying the inflated prices out there, for something that's a century old as far as manufacturing technology is concerned... not knocking the reputation of older anvils, just feel that paying 4 to 5 dollars a pound is for individuals with way more money than myself.... As a student, I have these priceless commodities called time, gusto, and the desire to make things out of nothing... It's essential for a blacksmith to make his own tools, so why must he/she buy an anvil??? The material is available on the cheap, so why not? Also, this little project is intended to show other noobs, like myself, that you can fabricate a beautiful anvil, on a walmart wishes and double-wide dreams budget... ^ Pm'd good sir...

I'll be running into a tombstone welder here shortly, and I WILL MOST CERTAINLY re-weld this anvil in due time... I'm sure the only real reason why It's a catastrophic failure is because the anvil is relatively small and gets nice and warm on my first heat... Also, I'm also focusing on the sweet spot and not leveraging much work elsewhere... I'll take a picture for educational purposes when I cut and reweld with the bigger welder... It might look right as rain, or it might look like bugger nuggets... Then you can site this thread on how it can or shouldn't be done, with examples explaining why... Learning doesn't really give me a soap box to stand on, so for now all of you whom don't think its a good weld, you're probably right... It'l hold until something better...

I, sir, am a perpetual motion machine... lol you get it though... heat has to go somewhere... would be based strictly on efficiency as opposed to proficiency... sensitive turbo with a small hotside.... like off a smart car or some... regardless if it spools up or not, it pushes air...

I did the best I could with what I had available to me... prep, pre heat. etc... If it fails, it's my femoral artery that's being jeopardized... I know, theres a bit of attitudinal adjustment on account of being somewhat confident that the weld will hold, because I did grind down my initial 1,2, and 3 welds looking for porosity, of which, I found not a bubble... Through watching the puddle I know I dipped into the parent metals as well... It's like going crappie fishing with a buddy of mine, I show up with the decked out $$$ rig, he shows up with a 1970's donald duck Zebco with a braided steel leader... Then HE proceeds to clean up on 'em catching breakfast lunch and dinner, and I get skunked.... I shook my head so much, I got dizzy... :blink: If you guys wanna play swords, just remember it's not a nuclear missile silo were talking about here... I appreciate the guidance, and value it greatly... I just needed something to pound on.... j

So, 1) low hydrogen electrodes, surface prep to remove contaminants. 2) heat the steel in taking into account it's mass alone can absorb heat too quickly... 3) toss in the oven @ 450F- broil 1hr for every 1" thickness involved to diffuse residual Hydrogen... Skimming the Craigslist and Ebay for another set of forks. The problem that presents itself with doing a top plate, the face of the anvil is now approximately 5.25"X12"... The current width of the blades in my tangible possession are 4" so that leaves 1/2" on each side uncovered by a top plate... Also, I had the initial intentions of hardfacing and didn't account for a top plate... If I were to use the existing material, I would lose the material for the second horn... Now I'm looking for 5 1/4" to 6" forks... 4140 top plate of lesser dimensions would run me close to +$85 shipped, so why not just get another pair of forks? + I can add feet, tooling features, etc + 100 to 200# of additional mass Waiting on some school money, so I foresee fabrication to be complete and ready for heat treatment by mid September.... Questions are many, so why not get a few more off my chest; When I have completed all of the welding, should I... A) go straight to heat treat/harden?, or... B ) should I anneal in the oven @ 450- 500 to reduce stressors and diffuse hydrogen, then heat treat/harden, then throw in oven to reduce tension??? Also, How much of a quench medium are we looking at for this, I have about 5 gallons of used motor oil saved up... Hopefully this will suffice? Is there a spec on volume to mass being quenched... The guru on anvil fire explains fabricating the anvil of creation with decorative elements of hex bar for punches, upsetting dishes, etc... Any good ideas out there? Figure nows the time to implement useful features into the lump...

Honestly, I ended up doing it myself, just as hillbilly described... tacked, pre-heat... ran a bead, brushed of the flux/slag, then ran a bead on the opposite side... so on and so forth... I've been working the hot stuff on it since... no issues as of yet in spite of using larger hammers... That Guru guy knows what he's talking about when it comes to making RR track into a suitable anvil... I'll post pics soon to close the thread off... Thanks to all!!!

I wonder if you could harness the heat/exhaust pressure of a forge enough to moderately spoolup a turbocharger? Just enough to push fresh air...

You know I read that a couple of times before, not truly understanding what the heck he was talking about.... lol, 4th time I FINALLY GOT IT!!! This seems like a very promising option Phil Question is what kinda top plate would be best? S7? H13... Air cooled...

General mock up, so the idea is coming together... How does one heat treat wood?

Just now... After surface grinding the paint off the forks, I'm seeing GS54 (or52??? i**t's knicked)... That's conflicting with last nights research via the manufacturer... Well, off to more grinding... I'll figure that little curve ball out tonight...

Thank you very much Mr. Powers, I'm the "do it the right way..." type of personality, and anything in regards to specs on weldability, hardening, annealing, etc. will be of great value to me... Annealed @ 1526°F Normalized @ 1598°F oil quenched, fine grained, tempered at 401°F for Rc 50-51 This seems to be the right info, but what welding rods to use? I know it might be a stretch of imagination, but the nipping question in my mind is how to not jeopardize the integrity of the anvil face where all the laminated plates meet... Options are 1)HardFacing (the steel itself is already hard) so Redundant Option? (wouldn't this kinda nix the HT/tempering for the face?) 2) trying my best to keep the gap tolerances to a min> HT/temp 3)beveling gaps and welding them together as an entire solid face with the right rod, then HT/tempering... might be over thinking all this....

A Lot of good points have been made... Tombstone ac/dc seems to be the ticket... One final cut, and we're on to grinding and mock up... Oh, and I was able to get the exact specs on the fork steel composition by looking up the manufacturer, make, model... 40cr ~ 5140 steel... Anyone know any tips and tricks regarding this steel? I've had 4140 on the brain... 5140 is a monkeywrench messing up my day...

I'm kinda torn between the two choices here. I'd love the convenience of not having to push 1/8" rods, but I'm also desiring something a little more ornamentally diverse that big bad mamma rod jamma... It would be an easy decision if... spool gun... wasn't... included.... lift tig.... errrr.... See I'm into bikes as well, so stick, while effective, doesn't have the "fineness" I'd desire after this anvil is done.... 4140 flavored pizza.... Scrumtulescent!!!

There's definitely a lot of work ahead of me, but I really enjoy the process of fabrication... It's my zen, my sweaty heaven... Thank goodness I had a friend offer me a horizontal band saw today... I did all but 2 cuts, in half the time it took me to make one cut with a grinder.... Now, it's time to go out and purchase myself a welder that's gonna do the job. I've been seriously considering that northern tool hybrid (mig/spool gun/ stick/ tig) inverter welder for $599... My little 135 aint gonna cut it on this project... Might spring for a used ac/dc tombstone for a cheaper option... I actually know an veteranarian, through my father-in-law, that trained dolphins in underwater explosives/ordinance, he got picked up by the CIA for a few years, now he's working with seaworld rehabilitating and observing that orca that killed that woman a few years back... Interesting life, no doubt...

the forks are 4x1.75... X 60"... with a 20" or so taper... All of those rectangular like pieces are cut sections of fork laminated together... The center section (including horns) of the anvil, as pictured above, is the only horizontal piece of fork, diagonally slash cut at the ends to make horns... So in this case, the face of the anvil, not including horns, will be 12"x 5.25"... Not a bad surface area for pounding... That's awesome man, I'd hate to stare that tuition in the face though... Betchya it's a meaner than my wife's scowl...