Anyone in the lower Alabama / Mississippi area know where I may get some water jet cutting done. I think that is the only way to get a hardie and pritchel hole cut in this stuff.

As far as a round hole goes. You should be able to drill it. (slowly and with plenty of oil) The hardy hole on the other hand is a different animal.

As far as a round hole goes. You should be able to drill it. (slowly and with plenty of oil) The hardy hole on the other hand is a different animal.

I have nothing to drill it with. A hand drill is out of the question, if the bit skips or stops cutting, it's over. And at 3" thats alot of if's. The holes will be in the smaller anvil anyway. I just thought water jet cutting would be the best route, low heat and very precise.

I am going to make a jig to hold the hardies on the big anvil. The base is mild steel so I can drill it an attach something.

Where is the yard in Vegas or the name at least. I desperately need to get more than the HF Chinese cast iron paper weight I have.

So are you in Ohio? or Las Vegas? If you are in Ohio there should be plenty of forks around there.

The yard was out past Nellis AFB, believe it was Silver Dollar recycling, or maybe Nevada Recycling. They let us wander around, and used the magnetic cranes to haul out our load for us. We were looking for big plates to shoot with an M2HB during a demo.

Been working on my big homemade anvil. Got it ready to start welding. I ground, sanded and filed the base. I never did get it perfectly flat but got it to within 0.010" or so. you just can see light at the very ends. Got a piece of 3-3/8" 1045 shaft to make a horn. I am not sure but 1045 is supposed to harden. Not sure if I will harden it though. What do you guys think? Harden it or not?

Also got me a small anvil in the works. He had enough of the AR400 to cut the entire anvil out in piece. He said it may be a week or two before he can get to it. Total length will be 18" the face will be 3" wide and 12" long. 1" drop to the table which will be 2" long 3" wide the horn will be the remaining 4" or so. The anvil will be 8" tall. I will weld some feet on the side to keep it from tipping over.

Hey guys, got my face welde on today. I must have got it really tight because it sounds better than before it was welded. I use my fish cooker burner to heat the AR400 and base. Then I used a torch to heat the weld areas between passes. Its been over 2 hours and it is still hot. I could have put one more pass on it but I was tired of flipping it over and turning it. It has 3 passes on the sides and 4 on the ends. I painted the base with BBQ grill paint but left the sides of the face bare. Next is shaping and welding the horn to the anvil. It should be well over 200lbs when it is finished.

Hardy hole: have them cut a slot in the heel when they cut it out. Dress it nice---easier to do with the open side! Then weld on a piece to cover the end of the slot creating the hardy hole.

Hardy hole: have them cut a slot in the heel when they cut it out. Dress it nice---easier to do with the open side! Then weld on a piece to cover the end of the slot creating the hardy hole.

Good Idea!

Gt the horn partially welded on, 3-3/8" 1045 shaft. It's a little small but better than nothing. Still have to finish welding and blending. I figure a good days work.

Nice job shaping the horn. I like it.

Thought I would share another pic of the anvil. This one is of it in use. Still have to get the hardie hole and pritchel hole added. I have alot of shaping and still have to harden the horn (some how).

I have a suggestion. Rather than putting holes in that large face, perhaps you can put the hardy and pritchel holes in the older anvil that is shown in the background in the attached thumbnail DSCN2483. I did something similar that and it works well. That way you can leave tools in the holes while you are working without danger of damaging yourself or your equipment.

I have a suggestion. Rather than putting holes in that large face, perhaps you can put the hardy and pritchel holes in the older anvil that is shown in the background in the attached thumbnail DSCN2483. I did something similar that and it works well. That way you can leave tools in the holes while you are working without danger of damaging yourself or your equipment.

That is a very good idea. It would be easier to cut and drill the holes in the mild steel than in the AR plate. Plus the anvil you speak of is the one I now use for my cutting and chiseling.