landrand

Thanks for the info Frosty. My first name is Rob. Eight years ago, I spent about 6 months in Alaska for work. It was the end of February when I left the UP and we had about 4 to 5 feet of snow on the ground. I arrive in Anchorage and as I was driving from the Airport to Wasilla, I was passing fields that had no snow whatsoever. That's when I realized how bad the UP is weather wise. Fortunately, our winters are much warmer than Alaska's. Unlike AK, we may get a week or two of below zero temps during the whole winter. In AK, I recall the temps being below zero quite often. AK is so cold, that rivers and streams freeze solid. That's unheard of around here. As far as the big steel bar I recently bought, I'm going to wait a bit before I cut it up into smaller anvil pieces. I have a good size shop so I'll get a couple of hardwood tree stumps and I'll set/fasten the 8' bar to on each end. I have a shop table and shelving units on wheels. When the 8 foot anvil isn't being used, I can wheel these alongside so the anvil isn't taking up unnecessary space. I don't have a horizontal bandsaw but it is on my shopping list. Perhaps when I get more familiar/educated with blacksmithing and anvils, then I'll make the decision on how best to cut it and/or shape it. In the meantime, I just might have one of the largest anvils in the UP or perhaps all of Michigan!

Ahh, good ole Michigan Tech. I got my Electrical Engineering degree from MTU. We had a saying about MTU back in the days. "MTU, where men are men and so are the women". Somewhat typical of Engineering schools back in the 80's, especially schools located far north and in the middle of nowhere. I haven't yet hauled the steel bar home, but when I do, I have a backhoe and farm tractor at my place so moving it around should be a big issue. I'm estimating the steel bar to weigh about 1,100 lbs and I paid $180. I guess that's $0.16/lb. I need to swing by the scrapyard today and I'll do the magnet test. Thanks for the correction on the difference between an ASO and Improvised Anvil. I'm a bit new to blacksmithing so the basics are still being learned.

I found this big chunk of steel at the scrapyard yesterday. I'm not sure what it was initially used for, but it looks like a cement curb used in parking lots. The steel bar has a 6" wide face, 7" high, and is 8 feet long. Both ends are beveled and there's a convenient 1" square hole on the top face on each beveled end. It weighs about 1,100 lbs and I bought it for $180. Figure I can make a couple of anvils and/or anvil shaped objects out of it. Whatever I do with it, I'm sure it will one day come in handy on my homestead. I don't know what kind of steel it is. I took a metal file to it at the scrapyard and also tried filing a piece of truck leaf spring laying nearby and I couldn't tell the difference when filing the two. When I get it home this week, I can try more tests to see if it is some kind of medium or higher carbon steel; but I doubt it is. If it's only mild steel, any idea's on what can be done to get the face hardened, ie hardened steel plate welded to the face? In my little time researching anvil making, doesn't sound like that is ideal unless the whole top plate is forge welded to the base. Unfortunately, forge welding something like this isn't something I'd be able to do. If you have any idea's or recommendations and making an anvil or perhaps ideas what this chunk of steel could be made into for use in my metal/blacksmithing shop, I'd love to hear them. Thanks!

I'm a newbie to blacksmithing. I retired a couple years ago and started playing around with metal working, welding, and now blacksmithing. I've been stalking up on materials from the junkyard and recently have come across a seller who has lots of new old stock of 5160 steel flat bar in various sizes with most being 0.25" thick. This steel is new and isn't reclaimed material from leaf springs. I would like to stock up on some of this 5160 flat bar stock as the price is very reasonable. I understand it works well in using for larger survival type knives, but what other applications would you recommend this steel be used for? Here's a couple items I would eventually like to make with this steel in the future as my blacksmithing skill level increases: large survival knives, machete, draw knives, wood timber framing chisels, and European scythe blades. What's your opinion on using 5160 for these type of applications? Also, I have several planers to include a 16" jointer, four head planer/moulder and several simple hand wood planers. Would 5160 work as wood planer blades? Any other ideas on what could be made with 5160 steel flat bar stock as I gradually increase my blacksmithing skills? Thank you for your time and I look forward to reading your recommendations.