Hi everyone, Im new to the forum and have just started getting into blacksmithing. Right now im working on setting up my own shop, Brake drum forge etc. I've been able to find a nice foot and a half long peice of streetcar track, I plan to mount the track horizontally on a stump, but would it be possible to drill or even torch through the metal to get 4 bolts through?
thanks,

p.s I have access to a fair bit of machinery, so that won't be a problem

first welcome aboard and you can drill through the flange with out to much of a problem the hardes part of the rail is the top

Yes you can drill mounting holes, pritchel holes, even square hardys, you can also shape it with a torch and grinder. Lots of work/time a foot and 1/2 will give you about a 35lb
anvil.
Ken

You'll get a much better anvil by mounting the rail vertically.

Street car tracks may be lighter than RR tracks. I have an old one that is quite slim in profile.

Anyway it makes an anvil suitable for ver ysmall work or jewelry. A large chunk of steel will work better eg: chunk of fork lift tine or broken knuckle off a rail road car coupler

And as mentioned above: orienting it to get the most mass under the hammer impact zone helps a lot!

How you want to mount your anvil is exactly like I have mine mounted. When I got it, it had a horn ground into it, so I couldn't mount it on end. The bolts keep backing out and I have to constantly ratchet them back in. There isn't enough mass under the hammer to give much rebound so I have to hit hard. Which isn't that much of an issue for me, I'm a big guy.

I have another piece of rail that I will mount on end. I feel it will work much better for me. If I had things to do over again I would mount the other piece of rail end up first, and weld a large thick piece of plate to the top.

On a side note. Does anyone know of any anvils in the Fairbanks Ak area. I'm looking for one here without much success.

Have fun with the rail anvil. It's good to learn on. You can beat the heck out of it and not worry about missed blows. But put it on end you will be much happier.