Good day,

Being a a starter at this questios of blacksmithing and not having a lot of money i've managed to get in hand of two pieces of RR track with 1.2m heach. I'm now proceeding to cut one of the pieces in half to make an anvil but i'm finding it very dificult to cut due to it's hardness. I'd like to know if I can anneal it and once made to retemper it and how to do this process.

Thank you for all your help.

Guerreiro

Make your cut from the bottom and it will go a lot easier as the top will be work hardened.

Finnr

Guerro don't be so quick as to cut it straight away; rail anvils work better vertically than they do horizontally. You can then weld a plate if you want/can, or just use as is. The working face may be small, but it's bigger than any hammer you're likely to use and so is big enough. The other surfaces on the end of the rail can be ground into tools such as fullers and hardies, or cut away a little to provide better clearance around the 'face'. A square tooling hole can be welded onto the 'foot' of the rail. A bick/beak/horn/pike (the pointy end of a 'real' anvil) can be made as a separate part -- mounted in the square tooling hole, in the vise or mounted in a stump or stand. This was very common through the entire ironworking world until just a couple of centuries ago, and still is in much of the world.

Sometimes antique tool dealers will have "rail cutters" for sale. These cutters look like large handled chisels, and were used for cutting wrought iron rails.

Have you tried using them at their current lengths?

Good day

I'd like to thank to everyone for their help and tips. The tipe of anvil I'd like to do are the two pieces of 0.6 m each welded together. The horn will be "carved" from one of the ends and to do the "table" of the anvil I will weld a flat piece of steel (about 12 cm x 40 cm by 2 cm tick). I'll try to put a scheme of the litle beast.

Miguel

Yes they can be annealed and re-heat treated. "The Complete Modern Blacksmith: by Weygers has instructions on how to heat treat a rail anvil. With your design the top plate is what needs to be heat treated not the rail, the horn should work as normalized or if heated and quenched should be drawn back substantially blue at least!

Remember to pre and post heat the rail for the welding and do full penetration welds. Try to use a suitable top piece that will not pop off the rail when being heat treated.

Does the rail have any identifing letters or numbers on the web? This will suggest what the chemistry is as it can vary considerably from .4%C to 1.0%C. What is the width of the base and the height?

One problem with your plan is the plate you want to use for the face is likely to be less suitable than the rail itself. I made the same mistake when I made my first rail anvil.

Since then I've changed how I make them. they don't look like a "traditional" anvil but work a lot better than most any rail anvil that's been made to look like a london pattern.

The attached pic is the end view and how I stack the rail to weld. This leaves surprisingly little voids between the rails. The flange makes a fine face. To make the horn and heal you just leave one of the right side up rails long and shape it, leave the other one long in the other direction for a heal or different shape horn.

The last and best advantage is it's much heavier in the same space.

If you don't have a torch saw the rail from the flange (bottom), the rail face is induction hardened and will eat saw blades with hardly a mark.

Frosty

Good day,

The plate I'll use for the face is made of high C steel, comming from the pins of the track of a caterpillar. This round piece of steel is beat and heat treated, by a blacksmith friend of mine (is father and is father's father were also blacksmiths, maybe someday I'll take some pictures of is shop and post it here), until it acheaves a flat form.
The rail track as some numbers and letters on it and I'll check it and post it here, or maybe I'll just take some photos.
I was thinking that maybe the best way to cutt thru it will be with an Oxyacetylene torch, what do you think?

Miguel

YES! O-A makes it *easy*!

Ok
I allready checked the sayings on the rail and it goes like this:

-> hay ws VII 54 O CP

I spent about 60 hrs making a 37lb track anvil. Round tapered horn,table, pritchel and square hardy,tapered heel,polished face and horn,hourglass shaped base. Its a great anvil for jewelry or 1/4 stock. Not enough mass for heaver stock. Frostys adds mass or weld a couple of track ties. I lucked out just after I finished I found 6 real anvils. Still have 3 other 3 went to new smiths all local. Bottom line do not build a nice one unless
you just like doing it.
Ken

Ok
I allready checked the sayings on the rail and it goes like this:

-> hay ws VII 54 O CP

You have yourself an antique. The code may not be complete but the first blush is a rail made in February 1954 of Open Hearth Steel to a Canadian Pacific Specification although this doesn't mean it was sold to CP or even in Canada The carbon content is likely .6% to .7% with some Chrome and it would not be heat treated or hardened. The "ball" or head will likely be hard due to work hardening.

Welding should be done after preheating to 600F until soaked thru and then post heated for 1 hr at 600F and allowed to slow cool. E7018 electrode is a good choice, but E6011 or E6013 willl also work while pulling the carbon in the weld diffusion zone down slightly. The rail may be Heat Treated by heating to 1675F for 1 hour per inch of thickness and quenched in light oil. The quenched rail should be tempered quickly at 600F to 750F.

Free advise so just remember what you paid for it.

Edited July 30, 200916 yr by nitewatchman

Good day,

Well "nitewatchman" I'd like to say thank you for the info but the thrue is that I don

Edited July 30, 200916 yr by Guerreiro

If you go to the user CP ( control panel ) you can update your profile with your location. IFI is world wide.