Ok not really but found this at the scrap yard and had to buy it.

Some one really put in a lot of effort to make it






Mild steel plate from what I can tell. Looks like it might have been for a hardy hole but it must have been a monster anvil it it was.

I'm thinking of making the point more pronounced for making socketed tools - arrows and such like.

Just wanted to share

Andy

carve a hole in your stump to mount it and it looks like it'll work great.  it's a nice little score

what size is the shank?

It's about 1.5" square. Just doesn't quite fit in either of my anvils. Certainly looks quite useful.

Andy

Interesting hunk .   I kinda like it.  If it were mine I would clean it up, profile the horn, and paint it up like Woody the Wood Pecker.  Well maybe not the last.

 

A while back I saw an interesting thread on an adjustable stake holder .  If I can recollect where I will pass it on.

 

If you have a swage block you might have a look at the square holes that it provides.

Have a look at this universal stake holder.  I would likely mount it up a different way but really like the idea.

 

http://www.metalartistforum.com/maf/index.php?/topic/6248-universal-stake-holder/?hl=%2Bstake+%2Bholder

Have a look at this universal stake holder.  I would likely mount it up a different way but really like the idea.
 
http://www.metalartistforum.com/maf/index.php?/topic/6248-universal-stake-holder/?hl=%2Bstake+%2Bholder

Cheers for the link knots! That's a very well thought out idea! I'm not sure that I'll do that with this thing but it looks a useful thing to know about.
Andy

It could also be a candidate for some hard facing rod and a nice flat grind.  It could be made very functional with only a few hours of work.

I am probably preaching  to the choir on this subject, but just in case ----- .

 

When I really want something flat and it is not convenient to throw it on the mill I use a regular ole wood working belt sander to mark the high spots of the surface, grind with a wheel or cup, touch it with the belt sander again to mark, grind with a wheel or cup, etc, etc, etc until I get the surface where I want it.  

 

Special metal cutting belts are nice but not absolutely necessary because you are really only using the belt sander to mark the high spots.  

 

Edit:  But I doubt this would work well with hard surface rod.   

Hmm; I have several anvils with 1.5" hardy holes....and one with 1.25" (and a bunch with smaller ones...)

 

 

If it is mild steel think about perhaps putting some swage depressions in it for special use.  (a few tapered ones could be handy for starting arrow sockets for example)

 

Got a friend with a power hammer?  Fastest way to get a nicer horn would be to FORGE IT!

That is the way to go I think Thomas. I don't really have much use for it as an actual anvil, but it would be very useful for forming arrows.

Cheers
Andy

Very nice bit of metal, and one that I would dearly love to have.

 

At the very least, I'd shave down that shank so that it did fit in your anvils.  That way you could use it in the anvil or vise.

It will need a lot of grinding or a decent bit if forging to fit. I hadn't checked if it will fit in my swage block. Fingers crossed.

The hole is a tad small, I might enlarge it slightly to use it as a gauge for sizing the sockets. And part of me wants to split the horn into two with a finer point for forming arrows with a larger one for larger sockets obviously. There should be enought meat in the horn for that.

Cheers
Andy

Naw, make a Bick for that hole for the finer horn.  If you do forge it, think about drifting the hole sq for hardy hole tooling.

I'm with the general group on this one, I'd make it into a specialty tool and either forge the shank down to fit my anvils, use it in the vise or more likely make one of those stake holders Knots was so good to link us to.

 

This little hunk of "somebody else's" work has a lot of potential, I wouldn't be in a big hurry to adapt it, with my history the perfect use would become obvious right after I'd modified it to something else. <grin>

 

Were it mine, I'd bring it here and brainstorm it with you guys. I've already picked up something really useful.

 

I'll be back,

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Well frosty nothing is set in stone. The tapered grooves is an excellent idea I'd not thought of, I'm more than open to other suggestions.

It's another project on the back burner as I've several things I need to do which are far more pressing. Currently fixing my welder is top of the list.

The shank is definitely going to have to be made to fit in the anvil.

Andy

What size hardy holes do you have in your anvils? You might could use a portaband to cut it down to fit easier than grinding. Especially if it is mild.

I'll probably be chased out of town like a leper spreading disease for saying this but I'd mull over the idea of welding another hardy shank on the top (or on the side, either way you'd end up with North and South facing shanks) for the reason that the underside looks as useful as the top - you've got a nice pre-formed curve in the heel and the underside of the horn could be good for fullering or little scrolls.

Obviously that sacrifices the middle flat area on top of the "anvil"...but you've got your real anvil for that.

I'll probably be chased out of town like a leper spreading disease for saying this but I'd mull over the idea of welding another hardy shank on the top (or on the side, either way you'd end up with North and South facing shanks) for the reason that the underside looks as useful as the top - you've got a nice pre-formed curve in the heel and the underside of the horn could be good for fullering or little scrolls.

Obviously that sacrifices the middle flat area on top of the "anvil"...but you've got your real anvil for that.

I never discount outside the box ramblings of the mind.  Lets just ask ourselves - if we had an extra old anvil with damaged face or edges, and not a candidate for refacing, what could we do with an upright or upside down anvil mounted securely on a stand or stump ?   If it were a forged anvil you would have the beginnings of a hardy hole at the center of the up-turned base.  

 

I am going to have to ponder on this one.   As stated by Krugan lots of different curves, possibly convert some surfaces for swaging. HMMMM

I never discount outside the box ramblings of the mind.

Haha, how generous of you.

What I'm saying isn't quite the rhetorical question you posed though. The reason I put the idea out there is because with this anvil horn it's flat on top and curved on the bottom, so if you had access to both sides you've got 2 for the price of 1. With regular anvils you've got the curved top and bottom so you're not gaining in the same way.

ASO's are fair game for whatever you want to do.

I had a quick going over of this little anvil with my angl grinder. Definitely mild steel, I think the horn will shape up nicely.
I'm not going to split it down I'll just round it as best as I can.

It does fit in one of the holes on my swage block which is good. It also sits on one of the holes horn side down too so I am going to make use of the curve on the back end for starting scrolls and stuff.

The hole isn't actually straight all the way through. It curves off slightly at the bottom. Bit odd but I'll drill it through.

Andy