My first anvil build - looking for advice

[stromam]

i LIKE IT! :D

 

 

What is the rebound test show at this point?

 

The answer may be relevant to many to exemplify what happens when one uses the hard facing rods on "regular" steel.

 

There were postings of that information but I would like to read your input and results....probably others too.

 

 

 

Carry on

 

 

A 5/8" pritchel is good for jamming a bent hold-down made from 1/2" round stock.  3/8" is good for supporting the surrounding metal when punching a smaller hole.

 

Were I you, I'd strongly consider a series of holes in increments up to an inch, if you can.  They'll come in handy some time.....

 

This is a test of the multi quote system.  I'm going to try to make a new thread with just the build posts to make it more concise.

[aessinus]

That surely turned out beautiful.  I'd be handsawing a stump over the weekend.  Wouldn't take too many barleypops.

[Rhettbarnhart]

so you annealed but didnt harden it?

[David Gaddis]

Consider making a three legged stand. There are many threads on IFI about their properties. Make the leggs from heavy wall 2x2 square  tubing...with generous sized feet with holes to mount to ground or concrete. For you anvil the necessity to attach to concrete would not be paramount...however preferred. Simply drill the concrete and insert regular bolt into the hole. Remove them to move the anvil...easy. 

 

Fill the legs of the tripod base with oil and sand to reduce that horrible rebounding sound.

 

With a good base on the tripod you can step up really close to the anvil when necessary. And there is an easy to add base to create tool holders. An example is hammer holders in the shape of rings, etc.

 

You project is very attractive. Many would question the true economics but I think you have learned some additional skills. You also own a project that others are jealous of.

 

Carry on

[Aljeter]

very nice work! Even though I have a few anvils I have been thinking about building one myself, if I can ever come across the right sized metal.

[switchjv]

I may have missed it somewhere, but did you quench the face of the anvil to harden it?Otherwise wouldn't heating the anvil to temperature you achieved and letting it cool slowly, softening or annealing the anvil as a whole? Otherwise it came out beautiful! Great job.

[DanielC]

Very awesome indeed. I commend your zeal to get this project complete.

[Toadstone]

Quite an impressive feat of do-it-yourself determination, sir! I can't wait to read your report on how she performs.

[VaughnT]

Fantastic!

 

I'm genuinely impressed with your work and can't wait to see you using it.  Like others have said, consider making a tripod stand out of metal or build a "stump" out of pressure-treated lumber.  Cutting a stump level can be a pain, and then you have to worry about rot and insects.

 

And, imagine the satisfaction of not only having made the anvil, but also the stand that it sits on!!!  

 

Tell us more about that burner?  What brand is it?  Looks like it would give off a nice even heat in a small forge, kinda like a ribbon burner.

[CleetisMorgan]

I agree with everyone-- that is a sweet anvil. And great pride in a job well done!!! Sometimes hard work is it's greatest reward...

[Nick Esposito]

Wow that really came out great. You could probably make these for a living!

[Ridgewayforge]

I am going to make an assumption here: You annealed it becuase the face is work hardening welding rod, and you wanted to stress relieve the other welds, which is why you did not harden it. Am I correct?

[stromam]

Consider making a three legged stand. There are many threads on IFI about their properties. Make the leggs from heavy wall 2x2 square  tubing...with generous sized feet with holes to mount to ground or concrete. For you anvil the necessity to attach to concrete would not be paramount...however preferred. Simply drill the concrete and insert regular bolt into the hole. Remove them to move the anvil...easy. 

 

Fill the legs of the tripod base with oil and sand to reduce that horrible rebounding sound.

 

With a good base on the tripod you can step up really close to the anvil when necessary. And there is an easy to add base to create tool holders. An example is hammer holders in the shape of rings, etc.

 

You project is very attractive. Many would question the true economics but I think you have learned some additional skills. You also own a project that others are jealous of.

 

Carry on

 

Just finished rough cutting my anvil stand, I'll post pictures on here tomorrowish.  I did do a "3 legged" stump stand, with a little extra meat on the far side for tool holders.  I'm also going to do a couple hold downs for the horn/heel to reduce the ring.  I'm also planning on just silicon gluing the anvil to the stump to eliminate the need for fasteners.  I think the silicone over that much surface area will be very unlikely to release.

 

I may have missed it somewhere, but did you quench the face of the anvil to harden it?Otherwise wouldn't heating the anvil to temperature you achieved and letting it cool slowly, softening or annealing the anvil as a whole? Otherwise it came out beautiful! Great job.

 

annealing did soften the whole anvil, but not the hard facing on the top.  Well i guess technically it did soften it, but only down to 20-30C, but since it is work-hardening manganese steel it will harden back up to 50ish with use.

 

Fantastic!

 

I'm genuinely impressed with your work and can't wait to see you using it.  Like others have said, consider making a tripod stand out of metal or build a "stump" out of pressure-treated lumber.  Cutting a stump level can be a pain, and then you have to worry about rot and insects.

 

And, imagine the satisfaction of not only having made the anvil, but also the stand that it sits on!!!  

 

Tell us more about that burner?  What brand is it?  Looks like it would give off a nice even heat in a small forge, kinda like a ribbon burner.

 

So far I've had no problem leveling my stump out, and with 3 legs it sits VERY stable on the ground.  I am curious how I should protect it from rot/insects.  I was just planning on coating the whole thing with boiled linseed oil.  Is that enough?

 

I am going to make an assumption here: You annealed it becuase the face is work hardening welding rod, and you wanted to stress relieve the other welds, which is why you did not harden it. Am I correct?

 

You are absolutely correct.  The work hardening rod is still relatively hard after annealing and will harden further with use.

[Ridgewayforge]

A good heavy chain wrapped around its waist should deaden its ring. Be sure you do, or at least wear ear protection., From personal experience, I can tell you that having tinnitus is not fun, and I would gladly reverse it if I could. Use ears and eyes!

[stromam]

So I just found out when trying to level my stump last night that the face of my anvil as well as the base are slightly convex.

 

I don't care about the base because I'm going to silicone it to the stump, so it doesn't have to be perfectly flat, what I'm worried about is the curvature of the face.

 

It is flat from one side to the other, but from heel to horn there is about a 3/16" difference from one end to the other.  Should I go through all the trouble of taking it back to the shop, re-welding/re-grinding the face to bring it closer to flat?  Is it really that big of a deal?  I do have a couple relatively flat areas to work on, it is mostly a slight curve about 3" in from the step and at the point the heel meets the body.

[Ridgewayforge]

Over the years you might get swayback on your anvil anyways. If you have some flat faces, don't worry about it. You now have more working surfaces to use. Besides, unless it is a large convex shape, I don't think you will have an issue. 3/16 from end to end is not terrible. You probably won't notice it, and I would say it is not worth the effort or regrinding.

[PaulKrzysz]

So what was the final weight once you finished?

[stromam]

What is the rebound test show at this point?

 

The answer may be relevant to many to exemplify what happens when one uses the hard facing rods on "regular" steel.

 

There were postings of that information but I would like to read your input and results....probably others too.

 

 

 

Carry on

 

Finally got around to the rebound test now that it is somewhat firmly seated on the stump.  Something very strange happened.  The rebound of the hardened face was about the same as the rebound of the unhardened step/upsetting area.  I thought for a while that something was very wrong with the manganese steel until i realized there is a coating of shellac on the entire hammer head.

 

I sanded that coating off and WOW what a difference.  The unhardened areas give a light thud and two or three minor bounces.  The hardened face gives a high pitch "TING" with a VERY good rebound (as best as I can tell from my zero years of experience).  The hammer bounces across the anvil face so many times, if I'm not careful it bounces itself right off the edge.  It still has a ways to go on work hardening, because if I don't hit it square with the hammer, it leaves a dent from the corner of the hammer.  I also made the mistake of striking a cold bar of square stock laid flat on the face and it left a nice little bar shaped impression, granted probably not more than 0.002" deep, it still showed up on the polished face.

 

 

So what was the final weight once you finished?

 

It weighed out at 205 lbs.  Just light enough to pick up by myself (although I probably shouldn't) and when mounted to the stump I can still slide it across the floor.  Its heavy enough that a medium swing of a 2-1/2 lb hammer yields ZERO movement of the anvil.

[Ridgewayforge]

You should get a one pound ball pein hammer and just go over the face with light taps for maybe half an hour to an hour, just to get it hardened. You want it to be evenly hardened, not with some dings in it.

[Pulsepushthepopulace]

Dress the edges, might help with the convex face... Also might help prevent future spalling... 

[Zengineer]

Great project and an equally great result. Post some more photos once you get it mounted!

[Clif]

Beautiful work!  Thanks for all the info on how you made such a great anvil. 

[stromam]

Made a stump which can be seen here if you haven't already found it:

 

http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/31887-my-first-anvils-stump-build/

 

Haven't mounted it yet because I'm going to make another stump that's a bit taller.  Right now I'm playing with the height by screwing pieces of 2x4 under the feed to raise it up.  Once I figure out how tall I want it I'll make another one and mount it firmly.

[stromam]

And I finally got to use it!

 

Here is what I made.

 

I wasn't setting out to make that, I just started by drawing out some stock, tapering, rounding, upsetting, bending, cutting, etc.  Eventually I had a piece that looked perfect for a hold down tool so I just made an extra bend, drawed/drew (past tense of draw?) the 5/8" round stock to fit loose in my 5/8" pritchel and flared the end.

 

I've also made a round punch and started on a pair of tongs.  I hosed the tongs up pretty bad, so no pictures yet.  Right now I've got to make some modifications to my forge before I try to do anything else.  I made somewhat of a 55 forge, but made the mistake of having the air pipe come up through the middle of the drum lid protruding about 3" into the coal bed with the end capped and holes drilled around the circumference of the 3" protrusion.  I thought that may do a better job of diffusing the air... which it does... too good.  It burns up TONS of charcoal and has about 4 or 5 hot spots around the perimeter of the pipe.  I went through about 10 gallons of pine charcoal in less than 3 hours and I had a tough time getting the metal heated quickly.  I'm gonna try a side blast bucket design to give me a nice deep 8" fire pit.

 

On a side note, anyone interested in a 1988 Mazda RX7 convertible?  The engine/transmission are in decent shape, just needs interior/exterior work and could use some new shocks (they still work, just a bit rusted).

 

On a second side note, anyone want to come help me organize my horribly messy work bench?  I'm kind of embarrassed by this photo, but the work bench is really cool.  It was my grandfather's and he was a craftsman (wood, metal, engines, boats, you name it!).  There are a bunch of cool old tools in it and the bench itself is made out of solid oak, it weighs a TON!

[Rhettbarnhart]

why do you always have that bar in your hardy hole?