Cast iron for upsetting block?

[falsevacuum]

Hi all,

A few months back when I was just starting, I picked up a 55# cast iron, made in China, anvil shaped object. I have since gotten myself a nice Mousehole anvil, and the ASO is kicking around as a hot cut hardy holder. (mostly since I haven't gotten around to making one for my Mousehole)

When I make myself a hot cut hardy for my new anvil, would the ASO be any good as an upsetting block if I move it to the floor? I haven't successfully done any substantial upsetting, so I don't really know what to expect.

Thanks!

For some odd reason I feel the need to place this anvil topic thread into the anvil section, go figure. 

[swedefiddle]

False Good Morning, unlike a Real Good Morning,

Sometimes you want a surface to do a special job and you don't want to do it on your good Anvil. Don't be in a panic to bail out on it, it helped you in your time of NEED.

Neil

[ThomasPowers]

Well we once made one of those cast iron ASOs into a propane stove for our group's campsite at Quad-State.  Drilled like butter.

[Frosty]

A piece of thickish steel plate on the floor will make a FAR better upsetting plate than the ASO. I scrounged a piece 2"x10"x12" from the scrap bin at work some years ago and it's a DANDY upsetting plate. 1" thick is good and won't dent like an ASO.

Don't give up on it, it'll make a good solid base for various bottom tools, especially bending and scrolling forks or shears. A good heavy bottom tool holder is ALWAYS a good thing to have. Even if you don't have room in your shop, paint it and keep outside under a tarp or old grill lid so it doesn't rust up too badly.

Frosty The Lucky.

[falsevacuum]

False Good Morning, unlike a Real Good Morning,

Sometimes you want a surface to do a special job and you don't want to do it on your good Anvil. Don't be in a panic to bail out on it, it helped you in your time of NEED.

Neil

I wasn't aware there were good mornings! They're all a groggy haze to me... I'm also a CS student, so I suppose 1AM is a good morning.

> Sometimes you want a surface to do a special job

Hmm... so instead of messing with the marred step, I suppose I could use the ASO for chiseling, too.

Well we once made one of those cast iron ASOs into a propane stove for our group's campsite at Quad-State.  Drilled like butter.

So not recommended, except over dirt? (which is currently the ground)

A piece of thickish steel plate on the floor will make a FAR better upsetting plate than the ASO. I scrounged a piece 2"x10"x12" from the scrap bin at work some years ago and it's a DANDY upsetting plate. 1" thick is good and won't dent like an ASO.

Don't give up on it, it'll make a good solid base for various bottom tools, especially bending and scrolling forks or shears. A good heavy bottom tool holder is ALWAYS a good thing to have. Even if you don't have room in your shop, paint it and keep outside under a tarp or old grill lid so it doesn't rust up too badly.

Frosty The Lucky.

Right now, the thickest thing I have is some 1/2" mild steel. I'll keep an eye out for thicker. I haven't had much luck getting scrap. The local scrap yard and machine shop have not proved very useful for getting scrap. Is there anything from an auto salvage yard that might be useful? There's one about 35 minutes away, but they fetch everything for you, so you have to know what you want up front.

> Don't give up on it, it'll make a good solid base for various bottom tools, especially bending and scrolling forks or shears. A good heavy bottom tool holder is ALWAYS a good thing to have. Even if you don't have room in your shop, paint it and keep outside under a tarp or old grill lid so it doesn't rust up too badly.

Good point! Currently all of my stuff is outside, and both anvils under a tarp so not too much work to do there! (aside from making bottom tools)

 

 

EDIT: Also, sorry if I posted this in the wrong section. I wasn't sure where exactly to post it... upsetting blocks are technically anvils so I thought here would be best, but please move the topic if it's in the wrong spot.

Edited July 21, 2015 by falsevacuum

[arkie]

That ASO might also be useful for punching.  That way you won't be as worried about damaging the face of your good anvil.  Steel plates on an anvil have a way of sometimes bouncing around, even the saddle types.  The ASO would be a solid, stable (?), heavy surface.

[Frosty]

Look to heavy truck repair shops and companies, a busted 5th wheel might just be scrap to them but to you it's a nice heavy piece of steel plate.

Then there's the whole upsetting thing. I find if the steel is long enough to make a floor plate useful for upsetting the piece is heavy enough to make upsetting across the anvil a good option. Upsetting is one of the more skill intensive processes and takes longer than the others to learn to do well. Once you do though it's a really handy skill to have.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

bulldozer repair place should have tons of heavy chunks of steel in their bone pile.

Also fork lift tines as the beasts seem to be endemic over much of the USA.  Note that in sourcing such things used/damaged one must assure the vendor that they will *NEVER* be used as a fork lift tine and in fact you would be happy if they cut them up before you took possession (give dimensions if you can!).   Liability issues in the USA can make the vendors hesitant to send damaged items back into the wild.

[falsevacuum]

That ASO might also be useful for punching. The ASO would be a solid, stable (?), heavy surface.

Good idea! That's another skill on my long list of things I have yet to learn but want to. The ASO is on a stable stand, so it is a stable surface. I'm mostly just trying to perfect leaf making as a way to learn hammer control, right now. Also getting used to the idea that some of what I'm doing might be considered "art" to some people. Strange concept for me...

Look to heavy truck repair shops and companies, a busted 5th wheel might just be scrap to them but to you it's a nice heavy piece of steel plate.

Then there's the whole upsetting thing. I find if the steel is long enough to make a floor plate useful for upsetting the piece is heavy enough to make upsetting across the anvil a good option. Upsetting is one of the more skill intensive processes and takes longer than the others to learn to do well. Once you do though it's a really handy skill to have.

Frosty The Lucky.

bulldozer repair place should have tons of heavy chunks of steel in their bone pile.

Also fork lift tines as the beasts seem to be endemic over much of the USA.  Note that in sourcing such things used/damaged one must assure the vendor that they will *NEVER* be used as a fork lift tine and in fact you would be happy if they cut them up before you took possession (give dimensions if you can!).   Liability issues in the USA can make the vendors hesitant to send damaged items back into the wild.

Hmm... so maybe get a busted 5th wheel, forklift tine, etc., stand it to about 10" below my anvil and call it an upsetting block like those fancy Peddinghaus anvils have? I can look around see, maybe my university's maintenance department can give me a broken tine? It also looks like there are a few truck repair places nearby. It looks like there may be a forklift rental company nearby, too. I'll give them a call during my lunch break tomorrow. Though we'll see what happens with the maintenance department since I recently sent them an angry email after they stole cut the lock off of and removed my bike...

With a forklift tine, though, I might even be able to get two in one: if I cut it down, raise it up, and stand it like an L, the base of the L could be the upsetting block and the vertical of the L could be a "sharp" edge anvil and a second anvil for when I have guests over.

Thanks for the help!