Picked up a makeshift anvil

[Graham Gates(Ionic Muffin)]

I found a nice round steel bar with some nice ring to it. Looked like it was some kind of axle shaft or something like that. I skipped the forklift tine this time because I did not have the money to get it. There are so many cheap pieces of steel there Ill have to make another run to get more scrap for beating on. For 10 $ I got a 22 lb bar at 2" diameter and 2x 1 1/4" steel bars about 5 lbs each which I plan to make some nice hammers out of them. I should also be able to make some other tools from another scrap run.

[VaughnT]

Sounds like a win, especially if it's an axle. 

[ThomasPowers]

Remember to test the "possible hammer steel" for hardenability before doing the work on making a hammer from it---though having a soft hammer around is a handy thing too.

[Graham Gates(Ionic Muffin)]

How do I do that? do you have a link to some guide or video showing or explaining how?

[the iron dwarf]

here is a way to try it if you want

 

cut off a thin slice of the bar, file it a little to see how hard it feels.

with a center punch just let a hammer fall from a pre determined height to mark the surface

 

heat to bright red and quench ( you might want to do a couple of pieces to compare oil and water quench )

when cool try the same file, hammer and center punch and compare results

 

to see if it is brittle compare an unhardened piece to a hardened piece clamp a disc the size of a large coin in your vise with just over half protruding above the jaws, hit it with a hammer once to bend it, now try a hardened one

[ThomasPowers]

Spark testing will give a very general carbon content but the gold standard is the "Heat Quench Break"

 

Remember that higher carbon alloys are only used when they are absolutely needed by manufacturers as they are more expensive to buy and work.

[Graham Gates(Ionic Muffin)]

Here are some pictures of the anvil all set up. Its been used a bit and the surface is a bit dented but it will function as is until I want to start making knives. 

http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/38192-anvil-face/

http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/38193-whole-anvil/

[Dylan the Bruce]

Simple and effective. I like it!

[ThomasPowers]

If twice a year you ground of a 1/16th of an inch how many years before it became too small to use?  Compare that to your statistical lifespan estimates.  Times a wasting---get to pounding!

[VaughnT]

Yea, I don't see anything wrong with that face.  Hammer hot steel on it and you'll have it polished smooth in no time at all.  You certainly won't see any scars in your work!

[Graham Gates(Ionic Muffin)]

I've been wondering if its worth my time and money to weld a chunk of forklift tine to this anvil to make a greater striking surface and maybe add a horn and a hardie hole. I would gain square edges and the horn I'm sure would be nice, but I don't know if its worth the effort and if it will be effective. I'm just thinking ahead because although I don't need it now and may never need it, it still would be nice.

 

[turbo7]

if you do get the forklift tine i'd just wack it across two post, until then if you need a square edge how about grinding a square side on the axle?

[Graham Gates(Ionic Muffin)]

if you do get the forklift tine i'd just wack it across two post, until then if you need a square edge how about grinding a square side on the axle?

thats a good idea, i think ill do that.

[VaughnT]

There's nothing wrong with your anvil.  Vikings were making great works of art with anvils that were far less than what you have.  The london-pattern anvil that you seek to emulate has only been around for some 200 years, and there's zero reason to think you're limited or handicapped because you don't have similar features on your post anvil.  Look at the youtube videos of third-world smiths making great blades with nothing more than a sledgehammer head for an anvil.

 

It's the singer, not the song.

[Frosty]

All I'd do to modify your anvil is grind a radius on ONE side. Other than that it's a perfectly fine anvil, I've worked on much less anvil like things.

 

London pattern is over rated, I use the horn on mine most often as a bottom drawing die. I turn rings, scrolls, etc. on the edge and face. I rarely use the horn on the Soderfors to true up a ring if there isn't a piece of shaft handy. Yeah, I use a piece of 2+" dia shaft instead of a horn almost all the time.

 

Frosty The Lucky.