Forging your own anvil

[theLumberSmith]

Just wanted to hear other's thoughts on forging your own anvil. I know that would be more of a "pride project" but I am enamored by the prospect of making my own tools. Also, many new blacksmith tools are actually cast and not forged.

[Geoff Keyes]

This would be a seriously difficult undertaking.  How big an anvil are you thinking?  What kind of equipment do you have?  A hand forged anvil of any size, say 50lbs and up would require a team of smiths swinging big hammers, not to mention the problems with heating and moving 50lbs of steel at heat.  What would you forge it on?  A bigger anvil would require a big hammer or a huge press.  How would you heat treat your product, once you overcame all of the other issues?

 

Some of the best anvils are cast steel, there is nothing magical about a forged anvil.  A good process could get you a good one, but a bad process will just net you junk for all of your effort.

 

Geoff

[eseemann]

LumberSmith,

 

If you look on YouTube you should be able to find a few videos of 4-6 guys wrestling a glowing (yellow/white) of anvil with a chain hoist. One look at that should tell you what it might take to forge an anvil.

[Rainbows]

Depending on whats available you could weld together an anvil rather than forge it

[Dodge]

There's always flame cutting from plate steel

[theLumberSmith]

I was thinking more of pieces of forged steel that are welded (forge or other) together. I was thinking 2 pieces: base being one piece and the hammering face with a hardy and pritchel hole & horn all in one piece. I also thought of making the base have a female "X" in it and the other half having a male "X" then welding those two together. 

 

As for equipment I am limited right now- I do have 2 decent used anvils, small coal/charcoal forge.

 

Now that you all have helped me think of how involved that would be I am less inclined to do it.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance.

 

I think you're doing what most of us did when we got into the craft, shooting for the moon without realizing we're flying a hang glider. for instance the prep steps you describe aren't forging steps unless I completely missunderstand your description of the male, female joint. A box/pin joint isn't appropriate for forge welding unless they're indexing pins and even then they can cause cold shuts. A box/pin joint is more suitable as a fabrication joint instead.

 

Don't sweat it, most of us have done this kind of thing, designing what we think are ideal tools and  equipment before we know what we really need. If the gang really wants a laugh you ought to see my first treadle hammer designs. <rolling eyes>

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

At Quad-State this year, Patrick had a 1050# double horned anvil that he had constructed by arc welding up 3 pieces cut to shape and then hardfacing.  It was used for his demo on forging 16# sledges.  (I nearly required an IV for fluid replacement I was drooling so heavily...).

 

I myself forged a T stake anvil using another smith's 100# LG and 200# chambersburg air hammer to forge out the yard long shaft from 2.5" sq stock and then used an old RR spike driving sledge head for the crossbar---I tenoned the shaft down and then hot fitted it to the hammer's eye and riveted it in place.

 

One thing to remember that a "one person smithy" is pretty much a modern perversion; historically a small smithy would have 3 to 5 people in it at a minimum---when you didn't have power tools you used power people!