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Fabricated Anvil


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So I read through this whole thread, and came to a question. Why? Do people really use so much varied consecutive tooling that this would be warranted. Second, why is it not a powerhammer or a setup in a press? Seems that if you are doing that many of one item that requires different tools, it would make sense that should be done on a powerhammer or press. Seems like a case of "because I could" not so much a "because I think this is needed in the market". Maybe I missed something....

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Well Put Mike :D

The Wright brothers was an entirely new(ish) invention, this one is old.

Anvils like this are fairly old designs, used when strikers were the power hammers hence why it was complex tooling for heavy production work but still a stand alone anvil. I am all for "because I could" as I like to have fun too but I am just trying to figure if this anvil has a use outside of "because I could" in modern day non third world blacksmith shops. Any tool it can support it seems my hardy hole on my anvil can accomodate also, and if not, a quick stand alone hardy plate could be made up in about 20 minutes.

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Well, Geesh Sam. Part of it was just trying to produce an anvil by a different method. Why? Same reason as 100 years ago. 350 pounds of good heat treatable steel can be expensive, no mater how you make it. Also, modern heat treating means heat treating the whole thing. So for the same reason they used to weld a face on, I chose to attach one in a different way. Once you have dovetails new possibilities open up. Many people draw on their horn due to the shape, even though it's in a less favorable spot. This one puts that drawing surface in a much more effective place. It also has a nice bolster hole for knocking drifts through. The "face" can be taken out and dressed. Or a different face put in.

The 300 lb burn-outs cost $160.00 each, that's a pretty good start for little money. Unfortunately, it's not going to pencil out, so these two are probably all I will ever make. I did net $1,000.00 though as I sold my old anvil.

I don't think a hardy tool is a very good comparison as they are far less effective than a solidly mounted tool.

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So I read through this whole thread, and came to a question. Why? Do people really use so much varied consecutive tooling that this would be warranted. Second, why is it not a powerhammer or a setup in a press? Seems that if you are doing that many of one item that requires different tools, it would make sense that should be done on a powerhammer or press. Seems like a case of "because I could" not so much a "because I think this is needed in the market". Maybe I missed something....


Why do people try new things? To test ideas, to see if they can improve on a tool or a process that can benefit many or just themselves.

You could ask this question about a lot of different things people do. Like why would somebody hook up an old pedal powered stone sharpening wheel to a belt grinder motor. :P

Jamie
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Too bad it's not going to work out Grant, was it the machining time that killed it?

This thread has been interesting and has got me thinking. While I am not sure I could have justified the cost of this anvil when I have three in the shop and like Danger Dillon I use my anvils with motors connected much more frequently than a regular anvil. I have a several dies for my hammer that are machined for making clevises, as I have no intention of producing lots of clevises, one of these days I am going to anneal a set and make a power hammer die version of this anvil. Either that or I will make the body out of mild steel so I can make it wider, the dies are only 9 in wide. While I have the mill set up to cut the dies I will cut a matching dovetail in a block of steel that I can bolt to my platten table both so I can use dies made for the hammer by hand and also so I can use it for custom made horns. Now to get the 10 or 20 other jobs on the list done first.

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Don't get me wrong, I love the idea and am just trying to glean some benefits of the design from other's input as I cannot see much myself. Like I said, the way I saw it was that it was a human powered type deal, modeled after a tool used with strikers which would be uneconomical today, so I was asking if there was any other things that were good about it other than it being a ton of fun.

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Grant,

Like many others I am saddened to find out that $$$/profit/reality stands in the way of what seemed like a workable idea. It has been great fun to watch the brainstorming and to get some good ideas for our own tooling. Is there a chance you could share a final view of what you have done in it's finished state at the shop?? It would make many of us happy to see your Omniversal under a hammer ... thanks for sharing!

Tim

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Grant,

Like many others I am saddened to find out that $$$/profit/reality stands in the way of what seemed like a workable idea. It has been great fun to watch the brainstorming and to get some good ideas for our own tooling. Is there a chance you could share a final view of what you have done in it's finished state at the shop?? It would make many of us happy to see your Omniversal under a hammer ... thanks for sharing!

Tim

Yeah, what Tim said. We would like to see it through. Thanks Grant.
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I didn't read the whole thread hehe.. but I like the concept. It has potential.. but I bet you could sell and produce them faster if you just made a simple plate anvil like the Brian Brazeal anvils with all the different shapes cut into the face. It might be a great deal more solid.

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I'm going to make one of these in the near future out of 3" plate. I'll use some S-7 rod again and just weld around all those different sloping surfaces then angle grind and grind till i got it where I want. I got about 20 years experience with the angle grinder lol.. so I could probably sculpt just about anything with it. lol

Here is my 4" below.. absolutely love this thing.. but you guys were right. Without a horn or a hardy it's just great for certain things. I want to build that 3" anvil with all the cuts and a hardy attached for all the other work. Place that anvil right behind me so I can go back and forth using the two anvils. I think it would rock!
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Hello, I’d like to put my two cents worth into this thread. Grants ‘anvil tool retainer’ is an excellent idea and obviously well received. I believe his intention and desire is to make affordable anvil top tooling that is basically designed for hand work. But as he notes the machining and shipping is a deal killer.
I believe there is a need for an affordable, well designed and easy to transport anvil. Today we have the ability to communicate with a large number of smiths and the vendors who wish to service them. We should use this to develop an ‘open standard’ anvil base that vendors can depend on to receive their tooling with confidence. What I think should be required is an anvil base that can be built by modern machining or by simple people power, from what is available in their environment across the world. This ‘open standard anvil base’ can provide a basis for well made tooling thereby making a good starting anvil available to a great many under financed smiths and potentially some wonderful tooling for everyone.
This sounds like a tall order but is doable and we should do it. It may take some time or we may come to a quick consciences. Judging by the interest in this topic and the many experienced and intelligent smiths and vendors in this field I believe it should not take long.
That being said I’d like to offer my ideas to get started. I suppose I should start a new thread in this forum to this end.
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Robert Suter
Grapeland, TX

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Wonderful concept Red! Are the square holes for wedges to pull the parts down tight? The "Open Source" anvil project. Cool indeed!

What did you use to make your drawing? You could store the native file at: http://www.mediafire.com/ so anyone could access it. Depending on what format it is you could maybe convert it to DWG

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Yes,the wedges I believe would work well and will make for quick top tool changing. I got the idea from when I used a Bear frame machine many years ago, they worked a charm. But you could also bolt down tools by placing a bridge across the plates. I'm sure there are many ways to use this simple idea.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Avadon, It's not a big deal to put a horn on your 4 incher.I put one on an 88 lb H-B this way. Find a 4X8 in
rb Drill and tap 3/4". Drill and tap the block same. A 4" stud/all thread. Bevel the edge of rb. Screw toghter
And weld. Shape the bottom and sides with O/A. No one yet can tell which H-B has the replacment.
Ken

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Brian, I thought it looked something like Grant's idea for his anvil of changeable tooling with keyed bottoms. I guess what goes around comes around.


Yep, there's nothing new under the Sun.
I'd like to see the dies they were using in that anvil, and any others that they were commonly making for it.
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I mentioned that in my first posting in this thread. So that makes it traditional, right? Just a modern plate rendition. Saw a guy in Sheffield who had one with maybe six or eight dovetails. He had I'll bet more than 100 dies to go in, He'd set up with the ones he needed and work all day. He made surgical instruments from 300 SS working out of a coke fire.

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no mill option,these are scrap vermeer wood chipper blades the stock is 2by2 inch.the small blade comes from 10 inch chipper the others from a 18 inch chipper.oh yes they come pre drilled for welding.would also work well as tooling for home built power hammer

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