Will this work for an anvil?

[Voldemortism]

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/railroad-ties-and-spikes-douglas-wilks.jpg
 

I have 4 of these "ties", or whatever they are. I was thinking I could just nail it to a stump facing down, so the flat side is upwards. Although the flat side of it is pretty bumpy. I only want to use these because I couldnt find rail where I live, so would these work, and if so, how should I take out the bumps in it?

[switchjv]

i saw some guy on youtube using one as an anvil to make a knife. i guess there are a thousand objects out there that can be used as an anvil. if it works, what the heck. use it. try scrap yards, they usually have segments of rail tracks for sale.

[VaughnT]

Personally, I think they are more trouble than they are worth.  The mass under the hammer is what makes a good anvil, not just that the thing is heavy overall.

 

If I needed a good anvil that was really usable, I would get me a 20# sledge hammer and bury half of it in a stump so I could pound on the other face as my anvil.  Same thing that they do in third-world countries for production smithing..... and they do some great work on them.

[Charles R. Stevens]

I'd have to second the sledge hammer head, as readily avalible, affordable and useable.
Just dress your "anvil" face, as the machining on the face usualy sucks. Blend the edges, take out the swirls and the little tit the middle of the face.

[Ridgewayforge]

I have used those- keep one of them on a stump and use a sledge for the majority of your work- then, when you need a bigger face for straightening or making sure something is flush, then use the railroad baseplate. But, as already stated, the baseplate has no mass and gives zero rebound. So, I'd get a sledge hammer, or maybe just a chunk of mild steel.

[Bigred1o1]

on a side note the the baseplates do make for a not half bad spot to make and use hardy tools until you have a "real" anvil

[LastRonin]

Where do you live Vold? Maybe someone on here could help you better if they knew if you were in their area.

[Voldemortism]

Where do you live Vold? Maybe someone on here could help you better if they knew if you were in their area.

I live in Framingham, Massachusetts.

[Voldemortism]

on a side note the the baseplates do make for a not half bad spot to make and use hardy tools until you have a "real" anvil

I will have to keep that in mind, thank you. Actually while i was looking for track i found a strange chisel, so i took it home and now use it as a hot cut

[Voldemortism]

I have used those- keep one of them on a stump and use a sledge for the majority of your work- then, when you need a bigger face for straightening or making sure something is flush, then use the railroad baseplate. But, as already stated, the baseplate has no mass and gives zero rebound. So, I'd get a sledge hammer, or maybe just a chunk of mild steel.

I'd have to second the sledge hammer head, as readily avalible, affordable and useable. Just dress your "anvil" face, as the machining on the face usualy sucks. Blend the edges, take out the swirls and the little tit the middle of the face.

Personally, I think they are more trouble than they are worth.  The mass under the hammer is what makes a good anvil, not just that the thing is heavy overall.   If I needed a good anvil that was really usable, I would get me a 20# sledge hammer and bury half of it in a stump so I could pound on the other face as my anvil.  Same thing that they do in third-world countries for production smithing..... and they do some great work on them.

I do like the idea of sledge hammer, but i did ask for a block of 4140 steel as an anvil. Still, anything sounds better than my harbor freight ASO.

[Hilt and Hammer Workshop]

 I definately concur with the conclusions that have been made so far. I *attempted* to use one of those plates for an anvil a long time ago, and it was pretty much worthless. Not only the lack of a center mass, but also the intense ringing sound when struck made it ,as VaughnT,far more trouble than it's worth. I actaully had to wear hearing protection, the ringing was so loud. On the other hand,if you can find a small section of railroad TRACK , that is a much better option for a makeshift anvil. All the best ,and happy pounding, whatever it may be on ;)

[PeteH]

Anything that gives you some mass and a reasonably flat surface will do.  When I first got interesting in this pursuit, I used a 200-pound quartz boulder that I'd dug out of the yard.  Then I got a couple of feet of railroad track (old narrow-gauge stuff) that worked for a couple of years, and finally a real anvil.

 

The boulder wasn't much good for planishing a nice surface, but it worked.  And it had some interesting contours that I used for swaging curves.

[ThomasPowers]

My best RR anvil was the broken coupler from a RR car, about 80# I guess and had a flat section and a curved section and worked great as an anvil once I chiseled a stump to hold it.

[Charles R. Stevens]

With some understanding of what you need and imagination you can find something that will work. I think most of us have pressed found items in to use as tools.
Revisiting the sledge hammer head has got my head swirling with ideas on how to hold it down, and on how to dress the sides and faces as working serffaces.
Lol, just what I need is another project. This might end up as a companion to Glenn's 55 forge...