mine stamps

[ausfire]

I have a few of these heavy steel blocks lying around and I reckon they would make a very good post anvil. They have quite well cut edges on the square section - much better edges than any of our anvils.
Hard to estimate the weight but I would say they are heavier to lift than a 1cwt block. Perhaps about 150 pounds.
Anyway, I installed one on a block in my smithy (yet to be levelled) and it certainly has a good bounce.
They were used in the mining industry in the crushing plants. I was talking to an old miner who said be careful hammering on them as they contain magnesium and may splinter. I only do light work so I don't think that's a concern.
have any of you used these or similar things and do you know their steel type?

[John McPherson]

I would be totally astonished if they contained any sort of magnesium, a light metal generally considered a tramp element in steel.  I have also never heard of it being placed within a shell, as sodium is sometimes used in engine valves.

 

However, many work hardening steels, such as crushers and RR track, are high in Manganese content. Which would make it ideal for an improvised anvil.

 

Any hardening steel can be made to spall and splinter with enough impacts and no dressing or other maintenance. Witness the many mushroomed chisels, chipped hammer faces, and abused anvils out there.

[njanvilman]

Looking at the mass of those blocks, I would think one would have to do some serious striking to damage them.  What you intend to use them for is an ideal use.   If you could set another one up on its side, it would make a great curved form.

[ausfire]

> John, perhaps I misheard the guy and he said 'manganese' and not 'magnesium'.
> anvilman, Yes, good idea to have one mounted horizontally as a curved form. I may just do that.

[Kal]

Manganese is used in high quanities in the steel that railroad switch frogs are made from.  I don't remember the exact precent but it is enough to make them non-magnetic.  I doubt that there is a splintering issue, those switch parts take the force of the train changing direction.

[ThomasPowers]

Anything used to crush ore is going to laugh at a hand hammer---get to pounding!

[VaughnT]

Why is it that everyone else gets these great finds?  Couldn't I be in the right place at the right time just once?

 

As far as anvils go, I don't think you could get better.  I'd love to have something like that to supplement my london-pattern anvil, and I'd probably end up doing a lot more work on it than one might think.

 

You can use an online weight calculator to figure a reasonable weight for the piece.  It looks like you've got, basically, a cube sitting on top of a cylinder or solid round, so a few measurements entered should get you within a few kilos of the actual weight. 

http://www.onlinemetals.com/calculator.cfm

 

I'd advertise those babies around the community as "post anvils extraordinaire" and sell them for a dollar a pound.  

[Frosty]

Great score. The guy probably said magnesium meaning manganese. Magnesium is a much more commonly known and spoken of metal so in a discussion it is commonly used mistakenly. (I hope that makes more sense than not.)

 

Anyhow, crusher bits are intended to be slammed into stone hard enough to break it into little tiny bits so what do you think you're going to do to it with anything you could swing by hand? Heck, load a shotgun with steel ball and have at it. The manganese is in concentrations to keep the steel from work hardening and spalling or breaking.

 

As to why you never luck into good finds like this Vaughn, we voted and you lost. I'm already out here in the woods suffering great score envy. <sigh>

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Naw Fred Moore's anvil collection is just dimpling the space-time continuum making all the good stuff to slide towards us and away from the coasts... 

[Frosty]

Naw Fred Moore's anvil collection is just dimpling the space-time continuum making all the good stuff to slide towards us and away from the coasts... 

 

Oh curse you evil inlanders!

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[njanvilman]

Naw Fred Moore's anvil collection is just dimpling the space-time continuum making all the good stuff to slide towards us and away from the coasts... 

 

I am doing my part to balance that out on the East Coast.

[ausfire]

 

You can use an online weight calculator to figure a reasonable weight for the piece.  It looks like you've got, basically, a cube sitting on top of a cylinder or solid round, so a few measurements entered should get you within a few kilos of the actual weight. 
http://www.onlinemetals.com/calculator.cfm
 
I'd advertise those babies around the community as "post anvils extraordinaire" and sell them for a dollar a pound.

 
Vaughn, I had a look at that weight calculator. Never knew such a thing existed. I will take some exact measurements and feed in the info. I'll be interested to know the true weight. I would happily give you one, but I don't think freight to the U.S. would be a very practical exercise!

[ThomasPowers]

Maybe we can get Frosty to slide down to Quad-State sometime!

[fluidsteel]

Ummmm. Just weigh em on a bathroom scale.
:)
I would love to have one of those. Not because I need one. But because who doesn't NEED one.

[ThomasPowers]

anvilfire has had a weight calculator for years calculates weight for a wide range of metals too.

[Frosty]

I think most mills have a lb/cu/ft for all their alloys for shipping purposes, so divide the cu/ft number by 1728 for cu/in and calculate the weight of the thing vs volume. Cu/in is easier to use than fractions of a cu/ft/.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[VaughnT]

Vaughn, I had a look at that weight calculator. Never knew such a thing existed. I will take some exact measurements and feed in the info. I'll be interested to know the true weight. I would happily give you one, but I don't think freight to the U.S. would be a very practical exercise!

 

Thank you, sir.  Glad someone's being nice to me here!  :)

 

I'm betting they weigh pretty high just by looking at them.  If the cylinder is a foot tall and 10" in diameter, solid iron, that's a stout chunk.  According to the link above, an 8"x12" cylinder of 4130 weighs 170 pounds.  10"x12" is 265 pounds.  Add another ten pounds for the cube on top and you've got one super duper anvil.

 

If I could figure out a way to sneak it onto an airplane, I'd have my buddy bring one back when he heads that way next year.

[Judson Yaggy]

I always figure weight at around 1/4 pound per cubic inch, or that one square foot of 1/4" plate steel weighs 10 pounds.  Extrapolate from there, not perfect but it'll be close enough for blacksmithing.  

[ausfire]

OK. I have fed in the figures to the weight calculator. The blocks weigh 186 pounds. A little more than I estimated, but definitely a two-man lift. (If you value your back).

[ausfire]

Ooops. Miscalculation - it's closer to 240 pounds.
I'm not sure what kind of steel it is so I just picked a middle one on the alloy menu.
The cylindrical part is 10 inches diameter and 10 inches height. The block on top is roughly 4 inches square, 6 inches high (slight taper). What weight do you get??

[yahoo2]

I make it 0.0144 m³ by 7849.5 kg/m³

 

113 Kg          (249 pounds in old money)

[ausfire]

Yep. 249 pounds. That's what I got. 222lb for the cylinder and 27lb for the top bit. At any rate, you wouldn't want one to land on your toe.

[yahoo2]

check it with a magnet Ausfire, if it is a true high manganese steel 11% or more it should be non magnetic.

High manganese steel like a red kelpie, the harder it works the more it loves it.  needs heavy impact or it will not work harden.

[VaughnT]

249 pounds of awesome!  And you have a dozen top-of-the-line anvils just sitting in the tall grass pining away for a smith to take them home.  Kinda makes a man get teary-eyed. 

 

Some folks truly do have all the luck.

[ausfire]

Tested it with a magnet today. It showed not the slightest interest.