RR track anvil

[FRODO,]

I have a 18"  peice a RR track,   havent used it yet.   good anvil?    its heavy enoughg

[K.C.]

That was what I used for my first. Served me well. I had mine machined flat at the local shop. It cost me 35 dollars and gave me more flat work space and nice clean edges. Still use it. I actually just set up a new stump for it. Anvil on one side of the forge and RR track on the other.

[jmccustomknives]

I've still got my RR track anvil.  I even take it to do demo events.  It's not as good as my Fisher but it has made a lot of stuff and is great for bladesmithing.  As with most things I do, the configuration is a little different.  I flipped it over and boxed it in using the bottom as the forging surface and welded it on a heavy base.

[Bentiron1946]

You can do a lot with them but like said there are better alternatives, however if it's all you got go for it. Some folk stand them on end and use the small sweet spot on the end, yeah, I know not very big but it has a lot of mass under it and that works to your advantage, better rebound of your hammer and that means less work for you. RR anvil are not meant for forging big stock but are good for 1/2" and down. Half inch is pushing it from my experience but you can still make a lot of neat stuff with 1/2" rod so light the forge off and see what you can make and post some pictures of it, we really like pictures.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Turn it on end and go to town. Bed it in a stump and you can get more work out of it. It's a small serface but the mass is under the hammer. Get sneaky and you can mount it in different positions and use it as kind of a poor mans swage block. I have one mounted upside down like a saw horse I use to chisel on.

[Dan C]

Here's what I did with mine.  Still use it sometimes even though I have a 190# PW.

[Frosty]

Another point for mounting it on end it gives you lots of handy shapes. You don't really need a swage to be laying flat to work, you can use if vertically just fine so long is it's not heavy work. Then you have all that edge stock with the flange and web. A little grinder work and you can have hot cut off butcher, cold cut. Various diameter fullers and a number of swages, say a ball swage.

 

I like placing a piece of light plate, say 1/4" or a little better cut round and fitting in the bottom of a bucket, just stand the rail on end in the center and fill the bucket with concrete. It's to make, stable, easy to move and cheap.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[eseemann]

dcraven, What kind of steel is the plate your hardy is made of and how thick is it?

[Dan C]

I cut out a section from a piece of RR track plate, not sure what type of steel it is.  I used the square hole that was already there and then used spikes as the base for hardy tools.  On the underside I welded a plate which helps hold the whole setup to the post and also wedges the spike or hardy hole into place.

[eseemann]

Looks great, is that TIG or MIG? What did you use to cut the track, that stuff is hard!

[Dan C]

Yes, it's very hard to cut.  I used a friend's 12" chop saw and started from the bottom.  I used a 220 arc welder for all the welding.  I wasn't too sure the welds would hold, but they held up to an 8 lb sledge hammering it down onto the post and hasn't given out or cracked yet.  It's very useful for sharp edges and different dies.  It was what I used until I got the 190 lb PW, which was paid for by things forged on the track anvil.  Now that I've re-arranged my garage & work area I'm going to anchor both anvils into the concrete once I'm sure of the new layout.