Robar Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I have seen about everything on the net (including here) as far as railroad anvils go. I have sure seen some dandies too, but how would you guys that have experience already tell a newb to build an anvil if I had lots of Rail to use? I have access to about 100' of rail and an old Lincoln arc welder, but sadly no torches. Torches I may be able to borrow if I check with the extended family, but don't have my own. Pictures or diagrams of course are great, but description would be fine. I'm just a newb that wants to build a nice anvil with what he has available- LOTS of RAIL! So please feel free to frivolously use up my steel and help me design/build an anvil. Thanks! Robar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Scrap most of it and take the $$ and buy a real anvil??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robar Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 Scrap most of it and take the $$ and buy a real anvil??? If I could get enough out of it I may have considered it, however the best anvil deal I have been able to find was a 150# peter wright for $350.00 Considering I'm paying a buck a foot or 3.00 for every hundred pounds and scrap is 187.00 a ton I can't even get close. the whole works is worth about 260.00ish, but would cost me 116.00 while a profit could be made its a far cry from buying an anvil I'm afraid... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 This guy is selling RR track on EBay for $3 per inch plus shipping! vtg track train railroad Blacksmith anvil rail per inch - eBay (item 230385114229 end time Nov-04-09 17:54:12 PST) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Put a good length on a stump to give you the biggest face you can get. Put another piece end up and buried in the ground so you can hammer on the end. Use them like that till you find another you can afford and is better. I know lots of people who never have a "real" anvil and manage to use rail for most things. Don't over think the problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robar Posted November 9, 2009 Author Share Posted November 9, 2009 Well not the kind of help I had hoped for, I decided to pass on the rail. Thanks anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragons lair Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 ROBAR, Don't just give up. A track standing up gives more mass. However atleast a few of us like it to look like a anvil. You will need a torch not a welder. It will require a lot of time and sweat to make a looker. Anvil shaped base, tapered heel. hardy and pritchel holes, table and round horn. Probably 50 hrs for an anvil only good for small items. If you wish to try it PM me for more info. Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Weyger's "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" includes an entire section on making an anvil from a chunk of rail---including heat treating it after you finish getting it to shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 This thread gave me an idea. I purchased a 10 inch length of rail road track from a tool dealer that I sometimes visit, and removed the bottom plate. I then rounded two corners so that no matter which way it faced, I would have a rounded corner towards my left-far-side. This results in a welding block that can be used in the vise of my Traveling Forge for when there is a need to do a bit of forge welding in public, while at the same time allowing the smith to use his/her body to protect the public from splatter. The resulting block is shown below mounted in the vise on the stock of my U.S. Civil War era reproduction military Traveling Forge. If I had your unlimited supply of rail road track I would use it to make tooling, swages, work tables, legs for equipment stands, and likely a lot of other stuff especially if the track was old enough to be made of wrought iron. If it turned out to be wrought iron, I would torch cut some (or a lot) of it into bars and then forge the bars into stuff. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russell_smith93 Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 ROBAR, Don't just give up. A track standing up gives more mass. However atleast a few of us like it to look like a anvil. You will need a torch not a welder. It will require a lot of time and sweat to make a looker. Anvil shaped base, tapered heel. hardy and pritchel holes, table and round horn. Probably 50 hrs for an anvil only good for small items. If you wish to try it PM me for more info. Ken if you could get several extra feet of rail, take 2 pieces equal length, weld them back to back upright,& the weld a 3rd shorter piece to the top. wouldn't that give you bouth a larger striking area, & lots o mass under it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWCTool Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 (edited) People say railroad anvils are really not the greatest, and in all honesty they aren't. But in keeping with the oldest of blacksmithing tradition, "make do with what you have", you could make a very effective anvil that could last many years. Everyone has their own opinion and standards, but what you think and what works will matter more than anything at the end of the day. By the way, where or how did you manage to get 100 feet of that precious metal? Also I have heard that the scrap yards will not accept railroad rail from ordinary civilians. They usually have contracts with the rail companies, so that only the rail owners can sell the stuff. This keeps people from pulling up the railroads to try earn a quick buck. Again this is what I heard and I dont know if it is true or not. Edited November 28, 2009 by EWCTool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDonBrewerExperience Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 I found a 2-foot section of rail at a scrap yard on Friday, and they were real glad that I got ahold of it. Apparently a section that long can get caught in their shredder, and it being so hard, it would totally mess it up. They "gave" it to me for $0.10 a pound, or $5.90. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBiggin Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 In the original post you say old arc welder and sadly no torch. the arc welder is capable of cutting ramp up the power and let it blow cuts this way are not as clean as a torch and use a considerable amount of rod but it can be done. This was one of the first things my grandpa taught me when he was teaching me to weld at as a pre-teen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy k Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 One actually doesn't need to be taught that the/a welder can actually cut. As most will recall when first learning to weld, if the amps are set to high - you just blow through the metal your triing to weld - you grumble then turn down the amps a bit till its right. You did the cutting action without realising it, it's just that you didn't keep doing it in a line. Yes - it's not a pretty cut, but with some practice it can be done somewhat controlably so you have less cleanup. Some realise this on their own, others have been told or overheard talk of cutting with a welder - it doesn't matter, you make do with what you have. When you find another use for a piece of equipment that you have - you just say..... "Cool" !!!!. - Metal working is great isn't it? - JK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robar Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 (edited) The rail was owned privately and was used in a fab shop for a trolley from the back to the front of the shop where they received deliveries. The grandson of the original owner was tearing down the building and had it for sale. It was old and I do believe by it's appearance it was wrought Iron. I doubt highly that the scrap yards around here would give a rats tail section about buying R&R steel from an average Joe. Within a fifty mile radius of me there have been hundreds of miles of track ripped out and the rail beds made into public paths, as well as CSX track constantly being maintained. There is no real shortage of track around here if one looks. I drove right to a CSX yard and asked about buying some rail. The road master asked me how much I wanted as he had a couple thousand feet that was just going to go to the scrap yard next door. I bought a 13' piece of 130lb rail that cost me $35.00 However I am currently using a piece of steel that is 3"x4.5"x20.5" up on its end, its 70 lbs of mild steel, but is working fine for now for making blades. I decided to try and save up some money and buy a real anvil to go along with my above mentioned piece that I been hammering blades on and use the 13' of rail for making tools and what not out of. I would also like to try some blades out of the flat base part of the rail. Currently I been making some blades out of some mystery steel??? It's aprox 5/8 square stock and I know its spring steel of some type. They are mud flap hangers off of a semi tractor. My dad was a truck mechanic a lifetime ago and had a few laying around. Something else I want to give a go to is making a hammer or two. I been studying hammers a bit and would like to make a couple. One because I think it would be a great learning experience and because I can't think of a better way to make tools and knives than with tools I make myself. For these hammers I have a couple options the afore mentioned r&r rail or I have an axle shaft that roughly 2" in dia. that came off an old bull dozer my grand dad had years ago. The shaft is probably a bit softer steel than the rail, but I would think either would make serviceable hammers. Well anyway I have rambled on long enough. Thanks for the input. Edited December 6, 2009 by Robar mispellings and clarifications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Another option is to make a pattern for an anvil, and take it with enough rail to a foundry to cast one for you. Make two and sell one to pay for the exercise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robar Posted December 16, 2009 Author Share Posted December 16, 2009 Another option is to make a pattern for an anvil, and take it with enough rail to a foundry to cast one for you. Make two and sell one to pay for the exercise. Hmmmm That is something I hadn't thought of. I wonder if I could get a foundry to do a one off? I know where there is one foundry less than an hour away and I know others exist in the area though I'm not sure if the others are still open. Either way it's a good idea that I shall check into in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbladesmith Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 there's a section in this that might help a little.basic blacksmithing.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steeler Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 there's a section in this that might help a little. Thanks for posting that 'newbladesmith'. Lots of good ideas and info there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 I did a quick look in Michigan and found a 136# Hay-Budden, 140# anvil, 160# Hay-Budden, 162# Kohlwsa, 300# anvil, 500# anvil, and a couple of anvil stakes. They may not be next door, or $0.50 per pound, but they are out there and for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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