I have a question concerning upsetting blocks. I work in a machine shop so I have access to odd hunks of metal which I think might work well for an upsetting block. We have a lot of drops and bar ends of 4130 steel 5" in diameter. I plan to use one of these in my anvil stand which is a stump. I thought of inletting one on end into the wood alongside the anvil between the feet. I could go with one 8" and bore a hole for it to sit in say about 4" deep. OR I could go through a lot more work to sink in a 14 incher. Should I bother with the bigger one or would the 8 incher prove sufficient for general use? Dan:)

I have 3 upsetting blocks, the top of the anvil, the side of the anvil and an 8 inch round 1 inch plate laying on the floor for extra long stuff.

I Use the flywheel out of an old engine for an upsetting block, its about 80 lbs. It's nice big flat surface works great and I couldn't beat the price ... Free

Jens

go for the 4" thick one by the anvil and the 14" one on the floor for bigger jobs!

Thomas "Marry them both!"

I have a couple for the floor, 12"x12"x2" and a monster 12" dia x 14". I guess what I was after here was whether I should bother inletting the longer billet into my stump or would the smaller one provide sufficeint mass, it's hefty but the longer size is HEFTY. Dan:)

How much upsetting do you do and of what size stock? With the large floor pieces available I'd still go for the smaller one up close.

Thomas

i have upseting blocks set in the floor the on that gets used the most for small work is set under a swage block stand and the job is dropped through a hole in the block and worked on that way ,make sure the hole has plenty room, for heavy work i sling it in a chains and ram it against a hammer anvil .

How much upsetting do you do and of what size stock? With the large floor pieces available I'd still go for the smaller one up close.

Thomas

I have a supply of 1/2" by 80" stock that i've been making some beautiful scrap out of as I learn. Upsetting is one more of those fascinating wonderments to a newbie like me. I got the idea for an upsetting block alongside the anvil for small/short pieces from german anvils I've seen with a block built right into them alongside the base, so being new I figured I just gotta have one. Dan:)

Notice the lack of upsetting block on american and english anvils? You can live without them unless you do a lot of it...

With a big anvil you can take the hot piece and swing it into the side of the anvil the piece horizontal to the floor

Thomas

Short stuff- upset in a vise or on the anvil face
Long stuff- a have the balance wheel off of an old chopper with a 1 inch thick plate on top that sits on the floor. Not sure how much it weighs...probably in the fifty to sixty pound range...
-Aaron @ the SCF

Some of those drops you could USE AS AN ANVIL! Ask Tyler, he uses that weird square anvil for blademsiths. Just mount it up on a stump or something.:)