Show me your anvil

[Frosty]

You must make GOOD cookies! Nice score on the anvil. Your English is better than some folk born here. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[CrazyGoatLady]

That's for sure Frosty!

[bas_doodeman]

On 8/18/2019 at 4:46 PM, Old Crew said:

You have a German anvil. The SH stands for Soding Halbach.

David thank you so much.

[GrumpyBiker]

My Arm & Hammers little brother.

Unknown maker , been told it’s a Mousehole or another English make.

Not that it matters I’m just glad to have it in my shop.

 

 

 

[J.L.S]

My "anvil" 
hmm does this count?
its not as fancy as a real anvil or as big or as heavy but I made it all by myself and I love it!...aaand eventually will get rid of the ugly hammer marks from missed beginner blows, yikes.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Of course it counts and it is a real anvil, just not a London Pattern and you have a hardy hole to make a bick to act as well as any horn.

[J.L.S]

Truth be told, it is in fact just a hidden piece of cut and weld modified railroad track 
but thank you!
I've been thinking of making a bick but the only way to get the necessary size of material, would be a lucky find from the scrapyard or...forge welding a billet.

[Rmartin2]

You should post it in the improvised anvil thread. 

[ThomasPowers]

I find bull pins at the fleamarket; the truncated ones would do fine and are a lot  cheaper than the ones with the original long taper.

Leon stop by my smithy in a couple of weeks and I'll sell you one at my cost. (Usually US$ 3-5.)

[Frosty]

There's nothing wrong with a rail anvil, J. I packed one with me on field jobs for years. I lent it to someone in the club probably 15 years ago and haven't seen it since. I filled the space between the web and flanges by welding rail cap into the space. Then I screwed up by welding a piece of 1" plate on top so I'd have a proper face. Still, even with a mildish steel face plate and a crude horn it served just fine for a 65lb. anvil. 

The shape or type anvil makes little real difference, once you develop the skills you can do virtually anything on the face though a bic comes in handy for things like arrow sockets.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[GrumpyBiker]

The little fellow in all its glory.

You can now (though not for long) read the letter of the Mall Tools sign on my shop wall on the face of this anvil.

 

I love seeing a clean old anvil even if they don’t stay that way for long.

[ThomasPowers]

Mirror polish is great for silversmithing. (You can hot forge silver you know.)

Tends to be a bit slick for blacksmithing though.

[GrumpyBiker]

Doesn’t last beyond the first real heat !

But I like to start from a fresh base line with everything I buy / own.

Looks a bit shabby in a very short time! 

[jlawson]

I just dug this old warhorse out of the rapidly deteriorating remains of my grandfather's old shed. Knowing Papa, he found it cheap somewhere back when they were still shoeing horses at the farm - which was before I was born. Mouseholes not pictured. Next step, a stand for it!

[arkie]

On 9/4/2019 at 6:48 PM, J.Leon_Szesny said:

My "anvil" 
hmm does this count?
its not as fancy as a real anvil or as big or as heavy but I made it all by myself and I love it!...aaand eventually will get rid of the ugly hammer marks from missed beginner blows, yikes.

J.Leon, check out GS Tongs on youtube.  He has a similar, small but possibly heavier, anvil setup that he uses to make some quality stuff.  You don't need a "classical" London or German style anvil to have fun forging.

[Sploing]

Hello, I’m new here so I thought I’d start with showing off my (as yet unused) pounding block.

 

Id be grateful if anybody could tell me anything about it (it has no markings I can see but it isn’t fully cleaned up yet

 

 

[ThomasPowers]

What Country is it in?  Looks like a UK coachmaker's anvil---the projecting piece on the side is for making all the clips needed in coachbuilding.

There were over 200 anvil makers in the UK and so without a marking it will be hard to find out which one did that anvil.  Doesn't matter; do the ring and ball bearing tests and if they pass you have a *good* anvil. A bathroom scale will provide the weight and we can even coach you on the CWT system if you want to stamp it that way!

[Sploing]

It’s in the UK, I picked it up a few weeks back but haven’t had chance to clean it.

 

The bounce and ring are superb. There’s no way a set of bathroom scales would help, I’m a fairly big guy but I can’t lift it!

 

i had wondered what the little projection was for so thanks!

[Chris C]

If you will put your location in your profile, you might find someone very near you who could also be of some help. 

[ThomasPowers]

Well using a board, a block, a measuring tape and some simple math I can use a bathroom scale to weight up to 800 pounds. Won't be exact but good enough for smithing!

[Potato-Demon]

This is my anvil that I got for free from the railroad tracks near my house, it was just lying there gathering rust. It weighs about 30 pounds. The anvil stand is made from both scrap and store-bought wood.

[Chris C]

Cool!  But I believe you'll get more use out of it if you stand it on end.

Chris

[Potato-Demon]

Thanks, I’m actually just about to go out and get a smaller section of track to do just that. I made the stand so I can remove the anvil and put a new one on as needed.

[Chris C]

Good idea.  But use the larger piece for your main anvil mounted vertically. You want as much mass directly underneath the blow of the hammer.  Even using a large (largest you can find) sledge hammer head on end will make a good hammering surface.  With the RR track on end, you not only have that larger surface from the face of the track, but you have some good 90 degree edges, though too sharp (but they can easily be relieved with a file........but not too much) to make your 90 degree bends.  You'll want those for example when you make tongs,.

Chris

[Potato-Demon]

Ok, would something like this be good for making bends and holes too? I also have a tie plate that I could use as an anvil too. I’ll modify the stand accordingly and turn the main anvil around ASAP, good idea.