IRTim Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 I've been looking online at many different striking anvil builds. It seems I'm seeing two types of metal being used. S7 & EN9. I was wondering what might be the best choice in steel? I am going to go order a piece of something soon and have the shop across from my house water jet it for me. Does anyone find one better than other for this build? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 Brian Brazeal uses a chunk of 2" thick mild steel plate for his. Old forklift forks are in the 4xxx series of steel and they would also work for this. Don't over think this, yellow hot steel is softer than mild steel. Price out a chunk of S7 with heat treating, then price a chunk of steel the same size at a scrap yard. Even if you had to resurface it, or replace it a few years from now you would be money ahead big time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 I used s7 for mine but I do not suggest it for anyone who is less than advanced as a weldor. S7 is a real bear to weld successfully and also overkill as a striking anvil. I just got lucky and found a perfect piece of it for mine and had the skill and knowledge to make it work. I have a thread of the build on here including drifting the hardy holes. "s7 striking anvil WIP" is the title. It turned out awesome but its definitely not anything I would recommend as a standard. As Biggundocter said, mild steel will work just fine in a thick enough cross section and forklift tines are great as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRTim Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 I tried using A36 but it's so soft it's a total waste of time. The scrap yard by me isn't big on selling anything but there is metal dumpsters everywhere. There's shops everywhere where I live. It's just a matter of finding something thick enough to use and hoping it's not A36 steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 If your steel is hot enough A36 should work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 50 minutes ago, IRTim said: I tried using A36 but it's so soft it's a total waste of time. The scrap yard by me isn't big on selling anything but there is metal dumpsters everywhere. There's shops everywhere where I live. It's just a matter of finding something thick enough to use and hoping it's not A36 steel. I've made hot cuts out of a36 and used it to cut a 1 1/2" thick round bar of 4140 steel and it was still sharp afterwards. If I can cut medium carbon alloyed steel with A36 without it deforming, it will be fine for your anvil. If you work at a proper forging temperature and don't strike the anvil with the hammer (you shouldn't anyways) then it should be fine. Brian Brazeal and Alec Steele among many other accomplished smiths CHOOSE A36 for their striking anvils. If it's good enough for pros, it ought to be good enough for you. 50 minutes ago, IRTim said: I tried using A36 but it's so soft it's a total waste of time. The scrap yard by me isn't big on selling anything but there is metal dumpsters everywhere. There's shops everywhere where I live. It's just a matter of finding something thick enough to use and hoping it's not A36 steel. I've made hot cuts out of a36 and used it to cut a 1 1/2" thick round bar of 4140 steel and it was still sharp afterwards. If I can cut medium carbon alloyed steel with A36 without it deforming, it will be fine for your anvil. If you work at a proper forging temperature and don't strike the anvil with the hammer (you shouldn't anyways) then it should be fine. Brian Brazeal and Alec Steele among many other accomplished smiths CHOOSE A36 for their striking anvils. If it's good enough for pros, it ought to be good enough for you. Btw, I just looked at your location. Your right down the road from me. Every single scrap yard around me sells willingly. I'm going to my tool steel scrap yard near Redding tomorrow to pick up some h13,a2,4140 and s7. Same place also has MASSIVE steel in their yard. It's called MOSES GLICK. Another good one is Saads in Columbia and there is also Rubin Steel on Fruitvalle pike in Lancaster. They all sell to the public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRTim Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 A36 worked fine with the hot metal it's just me being new at it and missing. When the hammer hits the a36 it marks the xxxx out of it. The scrap yard down the street from my house is called CSR. Actually my roommates uncle is high up with the company and I tried getting him to find me a anvil but was told they no longer sell to the public because employees were taking stuff and selling it without paying. Mostly automotive parts from he said but there's a place called PAZ I still need to check out. I really don't know enough yet to figure out what type of metal I'm looking at but I did find a junkyard cheat sheet says what car parts are made of. I really need to make myself a rounding hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoxFire Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 20 hours ago, Crazy Ivan said: I've made hot cuts out of a36 and used it to cut a 1 1/2" thick round bar of 4140 steel and it was still sharp afterwards. If I can cut medium carbon alloyed steel with A36 without it deforming, it will be fine for your anvil. If you work at a proper forging temperature and don't strike the anvil with the hammer (you shouldn't anyways) then it should be fine. Brian Brazeal and Alec Steele among many other accomplished smiths CHOOSE A36 for their striking anvils. If it's good enough for pros, it ought to be good enough for you. I've made hot cuts out of a36 and used it to cut a 1 1/2" thick round bar of 4140 steel and it was still sharp afterwards. If I can cut medium carbon alloyed steel with A36 without it deforming, it will be fine for your anvil. If you work at a proper forging temperature and don't strike the anvil with the hammer (you shouldn't anyways) then it should be fine. Brian Brazeal and Alec Steele among many other accomplished smiths CHOOSE A36 for their striking anvils. If it's good enough for pros, it ought to be good enough for you. Btw, I just looked at your location. Your right down the road from me. Every single scrap yard around me sells willingly. I'm going to my tool steel scrap yard near Redding tomorrow to pick up some h13,a2,4140 and s7. Same place also has MASSIVE steel in their yard. It's called MOSES GLICK. Another good one is Saads in Columbia and there is also Rubin Steel on Fruitvalle pike in Lancaster. They all sell to the public. SHHHHHHHH, I can hear all the good stuff getting sold... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRTim Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 If I use A36 would 1 inch be thick enough? I know I'm going to trash the face since I'm just starting out and miss from to time. I can get lots of inch thick A36 for free all the time from the shop across the street and my friends fathers CNC shop. There's never anything bigger than that though. I just feel like if I'm making something I should do it right the first time and have it to use for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 52 minutes ago, IRTim said: If I use A36 would 1 inch be thick enough? I know I'm going to trash the face since I'm just starting out and miss from to time. I can get lots of inch thick A36 for free all the time from the shop across the street and my friends fathers CNC shop. There's never anything bigger than that though. I just feel like if I'm making something I should do it right the first time and have it to use for a long time. What do you plan to use the striking anvil for? If you plan to do 20 lb sledge hammer heads, it might be a bit on the light side. If you are doing simple bottom swages to go in the hardy hole you are probably fine. My "portable hole" that I use to upset and form hardy tools is a piece of 1" mild steel on a piece of 4"x4" heavy wall square tube. I have yet to deform that piece of 1" plate. Maybe double up the 1" plate and weld it all together. A good design can often make up for a lack of material thickness if the material you have is used wisely. Doing things right the 1st time is a laudable idea. However you probably don't have an exact idea what you want/need yet, so there's nothing wrong with a few test samples to see how things work, especially if you are getting the material free or for very little cost. At that point all you are really loosing is time. Now if you are dropping a couple hundred in material, it becomes more important to have a good working plan before starting out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRTim Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 Right now I know I want to make rounding hammers, drafts, hardie tools, top swages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Just a thought here. If you have access to a lot of 1 inch thick plate and a welder you could stack them next to each other on edge and weld them together. That would be a very easy way to make yourself a 1 inch hardy hole as well by just leaving a one inch space when sandwiching some shorter plates between longer plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRTim Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 Hmm what are the chances of finding that at the building behind your house while going to see if they might have something for a striking anvil!! Hahaha. I'm not sure what or why they have it tacked to a ibeam but it looks the part that's for sure! I guess I'm asking these guys what's up on their scrap in the morning for sure. Hope it's not hollow or ordered to fit. Might luck out knowing I'm the guy across the alley. Check that thing out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRTim Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 I can see in the pic it's been capped on the end. Oh well still was funny to see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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