norrin_radd

I went out and got a pic of it, cropped it to the cutouts:

It weighs about 129lbs. Funny story about the cutouts, when I paid for it I didn't know it had them nether did the seller, it was on the bottom of a stack. The guy felt bad about it and gave me a dozen 3/4 x 4' round stock, about a 20" piece of I beam and 2' of 4" angle iron. Lesson learned but at least we got some stuff to beat on.

I wasn't concerned about it and was just going to put that end down. This may sound stupid, but then I got to thinking if that fine zig zag cut would have some adverse affect when striking. I wouldn't think so but then you read things about "harmonics" and such so I don't know.  But if I can use this shape in some way that would be cool too. What do yall think?

I like Jerome's idea of the "saddle" style hardy tools for that half round too.

And thanks for putting up with such a lame post. I'm just trying to avoid spinning our wheels as much as we can so we can start making stuff .

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  When was the last time you saw an anvil being used as a lower die for a power hammer? Power hammers  hit harder and do far more work in a day than any human can. If you intend to make something I`d personally go with something based on the lower section of a power hammer. If nothing else something more adaptable like this would allow you to change out and yet securely hold dies that better fit the work while retaining your more versatile heavy supporting base. One of the other things I like about tooling designed to fit a power hammer is that it is usually secured with a  simple bolt/socket combination welded to the side of the die holder rather than incorporated into the body of the die and allowed to dance around like a hardy will do in a well worn hole. If the bolt/socket becomes worn or damaged it`s far easier to repair or replace than a conventional hardy hole.
  ...

I get your point. But I am not familiar at all with power hammers. Are you suggesting something along the lines of what was mentioned in this >post by macbruce? Cut it and "laminate" into more of a pillar? I 'm not familar with the "simple bolt/socket combination" either I will research it.

I appreciate the replies. I need to post a pic of actual slab, maybe I can tonight. Its actually about 28" long but it has 2 rectangluar cutouts toward one end about 2x4 each, with a fine zig zag starter cut if you will, from the edge to get to them. I wonder if thats an issue and if I should cut it off square? It would still be plenty heavy, and I could use the drop to fashion a horn if I wanted too.

I had acutally thought about looking for an old rail road spike sledge hammer and cutting it in half to use as a horn on either side with a hardy hole through the handle hole.

I think I will stand it up this weekend and see how it works the way it is. I'll have to smooth it out a little and dull the edges some, but I'm looking forward to it.

Hey thanks for the quick reply.  I like the idea about welding the structural steel for the hardy hole. I was set on using the 2x9 end for my striking surface then I started to second guess that after looking around some more. We'll probably start using it that way and see how it does, that would be the quickest option too. Now I just have to engineer a stand that will hold that monstrosity up!

thanks

Hey All,

My son and I are just getting into blacksmithing as a hobby. We've got access to a decent shop with welders and we modified a forge from a homemade hand crank deal we found, we just added a bathroom vent fan and it seems to work pretty good. The thing we really lack is an good anvil. We have a small cast hobby anvil, a 8" piece of rail, and a chunk of steel that looks like this its about 10"x6" maybe +/-20lbs. It has a hole in it and it works ok I just havent taken the time to mount it right, I just have it wedged on a 2x6. I have no idea what its original purpose was.

Anyway, all that to get to my question. I bought a 2x9x24 slab plate steel drop with the intentions of just standing it up lengthwise and using the 2x9 surface(I'll make a base out of wood) untill we can get something better. But after more research I wonder if I should cut in two and make somthing like this with a 1" plate sandwiched and gapped for hardy hole?

The other option is to make one of the striking anvil (Brain Brazeal style?) like I have just learned about.

I just wanted get some educated opinions about what we might be better off doing with what we've got and how hard it would be to fabricate.

Thanks for ya'lls time.