Working on my first anvil

[JOptionPane]

What do you guys think about this for a anvil set up?
Is the beam a little to light?
or do you think it will be alright with the round piece welded on top?

The round piece 10" Dia and 3" thick and weighs 67lbs
The guy said he was not sure what the steel was but he was almost positive it was cold rolled high carbon steel

The beam is 10" tall 5.5" across the top and 26 inches long
The top and bottom of the bean is .4 thick and the center is .25 thick
& weighs 48lbs
And the guy at the fabrication shop said i could beat on it a life time and not mess it up

I still need to make a horn some how any ideas?





Thanks
Kyle

Edited December 2, 2009 by JOptionPane
Forgot to say thanks

[Dragons lair]

Stand the beam on end. Weld the disk on top. Set in a bucket of concrete. A piece of 4"
round or a cone about 8" long welded to the edge of the disk for a horn.
Ken

[ThomasPowers]

Work on the disk and throw away the beam. "Cold rolled high carbon" is almost an oxymoron in my experience.

There is a fellow at sofa who demo's with a disk anvil, he's chiseled his stump to hold it both flat and on edge to give a good drawing surface.

[arftist]

Your disk is a good start, and Thomas is right, I beam is very poor to hammer on. Simply not enough mas and too flexible. Use the disk on a stand for now, later it will become a floor anvil for upsetting.

[Dragons lair]

arftist, How much flex do you see in a verticle beam? Yes a horozintal beam flexes.
however If a piece of track is OK standing on end.Whats wrong with a beam standing on end. Most of the newbies can't afford 2 H-Bs 1 Trenton 1 Fisher and a track anvil. How much mass is a stump with a disk compared to a disk welded to a beam in a bucket of concrete? Sorry I get cranky after 12 and after a few.
Ken

[JOptionPane]

Thanks for the input guys.

if i use just the slab what would i use to flare or make round bends?
I was lucky enough to day to find a 12 to 15 inch piece of railroad track i haven't measured or weighed it yet.

Because i ran down to a buddies place after work who has a big engine lathe thought we would be able to to turn the 4.25" down to a cone or add-least take most of the hard work out of it WRONG! well not anytime fast after 2.5 hours which included changing to a 4 jaw chuck it is a 4.25" piece of round bar add-least 12 inches long we had only took .05 off of it and faced the end wow way slower that i thought.
i guess i could set up the rail road track to have a horn easier.

Dragons lair could you explain more on what you meant by
"A piece of 4" round or a cone about 8" long welded to the edge of the disk for a horn."
is their a place i could get a cone at? my small cnc is only 3 axis and you would relay need forth axis to make a cone.

or i could chisel out a spot to lay different size radius bar if i go the wood rout.
What do you guys think?
Thanks
Kyle

[Dragons lair]

Kyle, If you have access to a cutting torch you can rough shape then grind.
I replaced a missing horn on my 88lb hay budden that way. I drilled and tapped the round
and the anvil for a 3/4 inch stud. Screwed it together.V grooved it.Welded it. torched and ground. Nobody yet has been able to tell which of my 3 was hornless. Click on the
user cp and add your location. One of us might be close.
Ken

[pkrankow]

You don't need a cone horn till you are getting into more advanced work. Dressing the edges of the plate from cleaned up sharp to about 1/2 inch round over 1/2 circle, then repeating so the same dressing is opposite each other (for convenience sake) and carve a stump of some type to cradle your now round bar and flat plate. You won't need more sophisticated shapes till you have skills to use them.

The only thing you may also want is a 1 inch square hardy, fabricated or drilled/milled into the plate. The hardy can wait a bit, but it is quite useful.

Phil

Edited December 3, 2009 by pkrankow

[ThomasPowers]

I've bent hundreds of S hooks without a horn. Stick the part you want the bend in over the edge of the anvil and hit it down some then take it and lay it on it's "back" on the anvil and hit the end of the bent section toward you to make a smooth curve.

Or just get a couple of pieces of pipe to use for curves. (A nesting set is very handy, esp if the smallest one can have one end squared to fit in a hardy hole or vise.)

[arftist]

arftist, How much flex do you see in a verticle beam? Yes a horozintal beam flexes.
however If a piece of track is OK standing on end.Whats wrong with a beam standing on end. Most of the newbies can't afford 2 H-Bs 1 Trenton 1 Fisher and a track anvil. How much mass is a stump with a disk compared to a disk welded to a beam in a bucket of concrete? Sorry I get cranky after 12 and after a few.
Ken

Ken, didn't make to imply that your idea wasn't good, it is good in fact, but it limits the use of the plate more than a stump with the possibility of vertical or flat mounting options carved in. Additionaly, most who start this craft with a makeshift anvil and get hooked find a way to aquire an actual anvil eventualy. That is when having a nice three inch thick disc on the foor of the shop is a good thing. I have one, and am glad for it.