Dan C Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Just wondering if anyone has tried something like this or think it would work for compensating for an anvil that does have good edges or a flat surface for when forging a blade? I tried searching the forum for keywords, cover, edge, flat but no luck. I did find multiple hits on using an edge hardy and could do something similar to get a flat area. In the thread below the idea was to use mild steel or something softer to provide a covering for cutting to protect the anvil face. My anvil's edges are mushroomed that hasn't been an issue. What I have found annoying is not having a good flat surface when trying to make sure a blade is straight. What I've been doing is going to another flat surface like my drill press and laying the blade on it to check, but it'd be better to be able to check and correct on the same surface. '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> Here's a stolen picture from that thread that gives you an idea of what I have in mind. So I thought of doing something similar to what was done in the thread above but using a thicker and higher carbon steel for when I get to the point of beveling and checking for straightness. If the plate was welded on the sides when then extended down over the anvil sides similar to C-channel and then attached w/ heavy brake drum springs to eyebolts which are on the base of my anvil stand I thought it might work. Maybe you would need to have a piece of mild steel or something softer between the anvil face to keep it from bouncing around...and maybe it just wouldn't work for reasons that someone with more experience would know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 If you want a relatively flat surface, take a piece of any thick plate, off-cut, old machine surface. The anvils are flat when new. What you have in your picture is what we call a cutting plate, when you are using a hot cutter it won't accidently harm the anvil face. The cutting plate is a piece of whathaveyou, normally mild steel. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan C Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 Hi Neil, Right, understood that in the person's picture above the purpose is to protect the anvil face for when cutting. Just thought that something similar with a thicker plate could be used and snugged down with heavy springs for a flat surface, but thought you might also want some mild steel in between for any various that'd keep it from matching up. The mild steel could be heated to bright orange and then sandwiched into place for fit. I've got a small divot in the anvil face that it would likely fill and allow you to position it each time in the same spot. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 i have seen people recommend utilizing anvil swayback as an aid to straightening things, and it makes sense. the steel will deform(plastic deformation) under your hammer but will always spring back a little bit (elastic deformation). so if you are banging it flat into a flat surface you cannot bend it past straight to get it to spring back into a flat surface. i think the physics changes when the metal is at forging temps, but if you are trying to straighten with the tail end of your heat the behavior gets closer to the same as working cold. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deformation_(engineering) (don't even bring up the Wikipedia-ness, i want the cliff's notes version) as to your indexing over the specific spot in the face, make it a hardy shank and it will always sit in the same place, plus, if you are hammering into your nice flat piece with enough force to forge a piece of mild beneath it to contour to the anvils face, you are probably going to bang the bejesus out of your formerly nice flat surrogate face :) make yourself a nice solid flat hardie block with crisp and varying radii edges if you really want to make a good flat face that will behave more efficiently than a plate strapped to your anvil (IM inexperienced O), make it rectangular and longer on one side so you can lap the part you are working on farther over the waist(thanks rich), you can also weld arms that straddle the face to keep it from shifting if its not super tight at the hardie, and even mount your springs onto those if you make them J hooks. and get yourself a nice stout metal straight edge to eyeball for squareness as you go along. edit for clarity and second thought: you can straighten red hot steel against a flat face because you are forging it into that shape, and manually forcing the structure to conform to the flat face, at the same time you are spreading material and changing the shape with your hammer strikes, versus primarily bending, which just forces deformation along an axis without changing the cross section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I think you are much better off buying some type of steel block and have a second anvil. If you could get some steel plate something 3 or 4 inch thick then stand it on edge. Something around 10 by 10 by 3 would be great. Call your local scrap yards and ask for something like that, also call your local machinist or fabricators. I Think a plate clamped on the anvil would be pretty poor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 methinks he's asking for a flat surface to check his blade making........c channel laid over the anvil face or just on the work bench/table as you are only going to lay the blade on it to check for straight, or a piece of 1 - 2 " flat plate just sitting on the table, or anything that is in fact flat and larger than your blade.....plenty of scrap for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 What I have found annoying is not having a good flat surface when trying to make sure a blade is straight. What I've been doing is going to another flat surface like my drill press and laying the blade on it to check, but it'd be better to be able to check and correct on the same surface. If you are checking for straight, then eyballing it along its length is a good place to start, or the use of a straightedge with a light source behind when viewing, or a surface plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan C Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 My eyes aren't as good as they used to be, probably need bifocals. Unless I take off my glasses and get really close eyeballing for me doesn't work well. I don't detect slight bends until it can be handled later on. Laying it on a flat surface as mentioned does work, though when going back and forth to the anvil takes time and I have to reheat, retest & so on. Rthibeau, yes and no to your comment and thank you everyone for the responses. What I was thinking was, yes something to check for straightness, which by itself would be very helpful but could also be lightly struck to straighten a hot blade to be. It's the minor adjustments which are hard for me to detect that I'm correcting at this point. I have also tried heating and then tightening down in the post vise, but my jaws don't close straight. Another thought would be making something for the post vise jaws that would allow them to do so on a KSO & straighten it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knots Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Some of the cast anvils have sides that are cast pretty flat ( if not horizontal) . Any suitable surface of an anvil is fair game for use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 keep a straight bar on hand immediate adjacent to the anvil IMO, slap it on the face (maybe with a hardy shank for stability, or pritchel shanked so you can spin it out of the way), check for straightness, drop the piece down to the face and hammer your adjustment, rinse/repeat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck in Ms Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 I have to agree with M L Martin. Machine shops I visit have drops saved from big jobs long ago. They never want much for them, even gave me a 3"X7"X10" piece that is now a striking anvil. So find a good drop somewhere, weld some legs on and start forging some straight blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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