AJAX Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Alright Lets all post our anvils that are rigged together. Post any Anvil that isn't a real Anvil, something that started as something else. I think it would be helpful to all the guys who want to pound some metal but don't want to spend the cash. I'll post mine when i get my camera back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Evers Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Nearly fifty years ago as a starving graduate student shoeing a few horses to make ends meet I really needed something to bend iron over. Went to the scrap yard to get a piece of RR rail and saw about an 18 inch piece of what I recall as 2-1/2 by 3-1/2 bar. whittled a rough anvil shape with an underpowered for the task O/A torch. Added some I-beam for a base, Anvil stand from old "T" posts, channel and rebar and this rough looking ASO made me a good bit of college money. Only about 40 pounds, but got the job done. Picked up a used 85 pound Tyler after graduation that is still my truck anvil, but have a 100 pound and a 280 pound in the shop now. Took a while to get used to a smooth horn, those torch grooves really held a shoe in place while I beat on it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Does the winner get a real anvil? Prepair to laugh... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadmetal61 Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 hows this? 5x5x12 square stock roughly 85lb next to my profile pic that's a bit redundant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewayforge Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 There's my 35 lb railroad anvil. Not great rebound, but it beats a rail baseplate (my original "anvil") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 I think you have it backwards, london pattern anvils are about 200 years old in their final form with pritchel hole added. A big honking piece of metal for an anvil goes back over 2000 years---so which is the "real" anvil! Like Honest Bob I have started doing demos with "improvised" anvils to try to counteract that mindset that if you don't have a london pattern anvil you don't have a "real" one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJAX Posted November 26, 2012 Author Share Posted November 26, 2012 I'm going to try and make this into an Anvil, Any suggestions on how to do that would be really helpful, I put a file in the picture to give you an Idea on the size. Maybe i'll just put it on a stump and pound on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pug}{maN Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 i have 2 or 3... going to make striking anvils out of them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainSpaulding Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Not even started yet but here's what I got today. Long story short, I got 143 lbs of steel in two pieces (70 and 73lbs - the taller is heavier) and I have no idea what they are or exactly what they are made of. I met the nicest stranger I've ever met in my life today and he sold them to me for $30. He was already my new favourite person before he offered them to me. I don't know much about rebound but these things are really bouncy with the hammer. For a horn I have a pickaxe kind of thing that I want to cut one side off so only the ring and one point remain. I want to then use one of those side stumps as a base support for the soon to be horn. I would just keep heating the ring and base and hit it into the corner until it sat perfectly and then heat it from the base up to the point, upsetting it until it fattened out enough that it looked right. I would also 'flare' it from the width of the stump on the bottom up to the width of the top. Once the shape is perfectly lined up I'll have to figure out a way to permanently attach it. I know absolutely nothing about welding but I do know these are different materials so I don't know what that means for weldability. If I can get it welded on so that they become one I'll try my hand at sanding/grinding and clean it up and finish it off. This would be my first project so I'm a little intimidated and I'm thinking I should get used to hitting hot steel for a while before undertaking a relatively advanced project. Maybe if I find myself doing something more than something else I could customize it to my exact needs. I also see a lot of pritchel holes there too, and I really hope there's a way to make one or two of them square so I could have hardy holes too. Maybe turn it into a swage block? Any ideas or opinions are welcome because the only knowledge I have is from watching youtube videos, some very light reading and heating a rebar on my charcoal grill to make a coal rake on that vise anvil. I'm really glad I didn't break it. That white stuff is sticker residue. Obligatory new guy comment: if this is the wrong place for this, please move to proper thread. I can't seem to figure out how to submit more than two pictures so as soon do I'll have them up. Edit - hope this works...http://imgur.com/a/xpR0b#0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 CS: those may very well be a high alloy die block, (something like H13!) If so welding is contraindicated especially as it comes with mounting holes and tooling holes already in place! May rocket a hammer back at you if hit and would make a *GREAT* anvil. Also if already hardened you probably won't want to try to modify any holes to be square---why not make some hardy tooling with *two* round shanks to fit what's already there? If you acquire old hardy tooling you could make a free standing hardy hole for them. I would not put much trust in being able to upset the pick much, upsetting is usually enough of a problem even without factoring in higher carbon steel as was used for picks. Round it into a bickern as it is and keep your eyes open for a larger cone shape to go with it. (you might make twin bickerns one round and one square---like european anvils often have...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainSpaulding Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Thomas, it absolutely rockets the hammer back. I'm afraid to give it a good strike because just the weight of the hammer bouncing on it causes a really quick snap back. I had my wife give it a tap and she thought I was doing some kind of magic trick. She couldn't understand why it came back with almost as much force as it went down with. why not make some hardy tooling with *two* round shanks to fit what's already there? If you acquire old hardy tooling you could make a free standing hardy hole for them. Excellent...never thought of that. I would not put much trust in being able to upset the pick much, upsetting is usually enough of a problem even without factoring in higher carbon steel as was used for picks. Round it into a bickern as it is and keep your eyes open for a larger cone shape to go with it. (you might make twin bickerns one round and one square---like european anvils often have...) A bickern was my second thought so yeah, I'll just go with that. As for it being hardened, when I tap the corner with a hammer it dents very easily. I don't know if that means anything but it's definitely easy to deform. Thanks for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubularfab Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 This is a roughly 140lb chunk of 4150 discarded from the machine shop dad worked for. I ground and polished the top surface, and it's holding up very well. Great rebound! The working surface is 6.5 inches diameter, bottom is over 12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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