lanchie76 Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Heres a few pictures of the avil my dad and i have just put together. total cost was spending a day having a good old laugh with my dad. the reason its the size it is was that's the length of the metal that i was given and we didn't have an oxy to cut them. please leave comments and please have a dig at it so we can all have a laugh:D ps the picture is of my dad and yes you can have a laugh at him too:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Any time havin fun with dad is good time spent, and a big flat metal surface? well it's more than some smiths have had to start with, did you peen the welds to harden them from all the abuse they are gonna get?? happy hammerin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Basically what your hammer "sees" when it hits the anvil is the ammount of metal directly under the hammer. As constructed your anvil has very little metal directly under it and so will tend to be very loud and not as effective as one made from smaller but thicker metal. So use it while looking for something like a piece of fork lift tine---and mount that vertically so *all* the metal is under the "strike zone". Also investigate dampening the sound before your neighbors dig out the pitchforks and torches! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 A good day with your Dad is worth a lot more than things. Like Thomas says you need the mass under the hammer and your anvil lacks that for almost it's entire face. If you have a truck shop close by see if they don't have a broken or twisted drive axle you can have or buy. Then bury it or stand it in a bucket of concrete flange up. A little grinder work to flatten the center of the flange and you'll have a dandy improvised anvil. RR rail, forklift tines, drops from machine shops, etc. all will work better than what you built. However, it's what you have right now so use it while you keep your eyes open for something better. That part will never end, you'll always be looking out for something better. Heck, you'll be doing screaming stops on the highway to run pick up a piece of rusty scrap. This IS highly addictive you know. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 You can stick one or two "cow magnets" on the underside to help deaden noise. Cow magnets can be found at farm stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 When banging on that one make sure you have some ear plugs in or you will never hear the complaints. Any days spent with your dad is worth its weight in gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quenchcrack Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Welders alignment magnets from Horrible Fright work very well and you need not worry about attracting those pesky cows. As Thomas said, good time with Dad but it is likely to be a horizontal bell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanchie76 Posted April 27, 2009 Author Share Posted April 27, 2009 thanks guys for your comments as you all have guessed yes its just a starting anvil and i wont be using most of the face only where the I beam is. i was going to use some wood screwed across the C beam to try to quieten it down (dont want the whole town thinking the bells are tolling for them) but never thought of magnets. as for "always looking" i know that one all too well (much to my wife's disappointment) and i'll most likely turn this into a general work bench so she wont just be thrown on the crap heap (that because its way too heavy to throw at all) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 I would investigate some really good ear plugs. hehe That baby will probably rattle your teeth, but I wouldn't be so quick to lose it either. That thing would make an excellent stand for heating and welding or even setting things for cooling. I woud weld some feet on it with some holes so you can bolt it down. Never hurts to have an all metal surface that you can heat on or set hot metal on that you know won't catch anything on fire. As for really cheapo anvils I suggest going to your local steel yard. Nearly every town has one, or has one within decent driving distance. You can get something like this brick I mounted to a large log. It is 2" thick by 6" wide by about 12" long. I'm sure you could probably even get 3" or even 4" thick. They always have cut-off stock that is dirt cheap and it should be easy to find a rather large billet you can hammer away on for a good age. Granted it's not hardened material, it's just A36 mild steel, but it will still hold up to plenty of bashing for a good while. Then when you get the bug, and I bet you will hehe, then you can drop the big money on a serious anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quenchcrack Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 It would make a dandy work surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Even on the "brick" I would have advised to stand it vertically rather than horizontally. Take a look at this one that was done for $25 total: Marco/Krieger Armory - Rapiers and Accessories Of coures I have to admit to being the Thomas mentioned that found the forklift run off a bluff and abandoned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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