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Not too long ago I found an old cast steel bar buried near a house. This bar is about 5" square and 20" long with a loop at the end and a broken section at the rear. I asked around about what it was and the best answer I've gotten is that it's some sort of counter weight. I've used this as an ASO without much issue. Is there someone who may know what this piece actually is and wether it's safe to use while forging?

I stopped at the scrap yard today to see if I could find an anvil or piece of metal better than my one inch stainless plate on a stump. I found this injection die casting mold set that I believe is solid tool steel and weight about 150 pounds. I’m torn between just standing on end and using as is, or cutting it up and welding in a different orientation. I also grabbed a couple bars that I think were fork lift tines. I grabbed them figuring I could either use as a horn on the tool steel, or make a smaller horned anvil. Would I be better off cutting a slab of the tool steel and attaching to a mild base, or leaving it solid? The hammer is for size reference and is 8 lbs. I will mostly be making knives but I want to get into more traditional iron work, and any input and ideas as to what to do with these blocks will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

How did you find your first anvil?

I bought a 72 lb piece of steel plate from a scrapyard yesterday. It's about 12 x 10" and roughly an inch and a half thick. The corners are very sharp. It has 3 one inch diameter holes bored into its face, spaced along each of the two long sides. I was hoping to make a makeshift anvil out of this. Should I put it on a post? Stump? Weld a some steel tubes onto it for bending? Just interested in some ideas. My experience is limited.

Finally found a decent anvil. Its an unmarked antique primitive nohorn. It has a strange oval shaped hardy/pritchel hole. It has a chip or two but I dont plan to refinish it so it doesnt lose any value. I cant find a name or weight on it but it doesnt matter to me. The price was right and it was local. No telling how many times i have stumped my toe on it in my woodshed. I used it a bit tonight and it was really pretty sweet. Its actually way better than my RR track.

Saw this on YouTube. Easy to notice these fellows know little about anvils... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXtDj0eGhtw check from minute 3:35

My grandfather bought this secondhand about 35 years ago, my Nana is now selling most of her things to move into a smaller house, this has been living in the garden as a patio ornament all that time. There doesn't seem to be any maker's mark, though it's exposure to the elements has left the surface pretty rough (it's obviously iron) I'm not sure how heavy it is but I regularly carry a 17kg dog and this thing I barely managed to get a cm off the ground for one second. All my Nana is interested in is what we should advertise it as (anvil or ASO) and how much we can get for it but I'd just like to know a bit more about it if anyone can help, a friend of mind believes it is probably cast but as I said, the weather has removed any seam lines that may have been present. Also I hit it with a hammer and it dings, on the middle, the horn and the back

Just starting out on sourcing objects to start a setup that will progress with time and dive into smithing. Ive always had the idea to start up blacksmithing but just never had the time (work, kids, funds) I'm a long time lurker of many forums and video content on youtube. I just thought i might start documenting my start-up for constructive criticism and possible slaps to the face while i make some dumb mistakes. Here is what ive sourced so far 1 - 14" x 18" 2" thick plate (120lbs roughly) unknown low quality steel. possible laminated anvil setup for knife making and who know possibly a short sword or two. 1 - 7" diameter x 24" (180lbs roughly) hydraulic hammer bit for breaking rocks. most likely my starter anvil and possibly a cold steel hammering surface for misc Armour making once i build my plate anvil. 1 - 18" diameter 3/4" thick 26" (from dome to dome) wall pipe with 1 welded dome end cap and one loose dome end cap. once i build the burners (thinking more like hybridburners type of setup) i was thinking 2 burner setup with 3 inch total thickness insulation (1" kawool ) and a firebrick strip laid down for metal running across. i will start building burners soon and will post pictures as i go.

I got 12" of railroad track given to me as a gift, and I intend to make it into an anvil. Now, before y'all start cringing, I understand that RR Track is not the ideal anvil material. But I'm trying to start blacksmithing as part of a project for school, and I want to be show that you don't have to drop hundreds of dollars on an actual London Pattern anvil. That being said, I want to make this piece of rail as useful as possible. I've seen several drawings of RR anvils that are turned on their end; which I don't think is for me. Being very inexperienced at smithing, I'd rather not limit myself to such a small 'whacking surface' like the ones shown Link removed So, in discussion with my shop teacher, I've been looking into welding a piece of steel onto the face of the track, which I have already flattened. This would allow for a stronger piece of steel to become the main surface of my anvil, and also creates a table. See the (badly rendered and not perfectly accurate) image below for what I mean. First- is this a good idea? And if so, what kind of steel should I use? I don't know a ton about metallurgy, and there are a lot of big terms out there like Rockwell C, air-hardening, and other stuff... too complicated for me. Should I use tool steel? If so, will A2 will be sufficient, or should I put out the extra money to get a piece of A500 Steel? Any other suggestions are welcomed. Anvil fire does not allow hot linking to it's site

So I just recently was given a railroad track anvil, shaped quite nicely and i believe a serious upgrade from my 30# cylindrical lump of mild steel i had previously been using, mostly just because someone somehow cut a beautifully straight hardie hole in it, as well as the fact that it has a horn. The only problem is, its only 10 pounds. The first problem I see is someone mentioned a "1/20 hammer to anvil ratio", which would imply I should use an 8oz hammer.. Is there any way to get around that? Set the anvil down in a wood stump to take stress off the center post/beam/thing? But aside from that, I've read the stuff on here about bolting it down to something big and using silicone/chains/magnets to quiet the shrill ring, but Im just wondering.. Im hoping to learn the basics of welding in the next few months, so when I do.. would welding the railroad track to the iron lump be something to consider? Or could it help to simply bolt the lump to the same stump the RR track anvil is bolted to? I'm considering continuing to use my 30# lump and use the RR track one just for its hardie hole and horn, but the face of the 30# lump is deeply pitted all over, and half of one face is angled down 20 degrees or so, as if it was dropped from ten feet up.. I know I wont need a nicer anvil for many months, I'm sure, but it'd be nice to be able to use the RR track one, so long as I wouldn't permanently hurt it by doing so. Soo I guess I didn't say all that the best, but essentially: how likely would I be to hurt the 10#er while working 1" thick round stock (much of the scrap ive found is about that size) or RR spikes, and would there be a way to prevent that? Will using a hammer thats more than half a pound hurt it? And how viable would welding/bolting the cylindrical iron lump to the RR track be? Oh and might anyone have ideas on bolting down the cylinder, were I to continue using it as an anvil? Without welding feet on it that is, though I'll probably do that when i have the skills/tools. Heres the lump: I'll upload a pic of the RR track anvil when i can Thank you:)