TFT Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 So this being my first post i figure id tell yall a thing or two about myself before getting in to it... Ive been a machinist for about 12yrs.... shop class included(i know, it doesnt really count) where i did some minor smith work... in the past 6yrs ive been a welder then a welder and cnc machinist. And i know alot of people say "i know how to weld" then they procede to make a mess of the metal... but ive fabricated weldments holding massive amounts of weight overhead(like 1000+lbs)... So over all im a above average welder, above average machinist, and a well below average smith... but on to important stuff So does anyone know if anyone has tried to fabricate an anvil? And if you have any pointers thatd be great. Im also a big fan of making things that could be bought so i dont want everyone saying "just buy one" although that may be the route that i have to take. Im planning on using said anvil only for blade work so im thinking i dont need a horn. Which would be the hardest part for me to make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 welcome aboard. If you don't need a horn and your a machinist then you can probably find a way to get a block of 4140 or some other harder steel, radius the edges slightly, mount it to a stump and get forging. that's the easiest way to make one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might discover a LOT of Iforge folk live within visiting distance. Yeah, lots of people have fabricated anvils, most pretty low quality in spite of high quality steel and expert weldments. How do you propose to get 100% penetration throughout? Any unfused stops energy rebound cold making a dead anvil no matter how heavy or good looking. It's an ASO. Field expedient anvils on the other hand are easy, anything hard and heavy enough is an anvil if you use it as one. I like truck axles mounted flange up as a field expedient anvil but have used a smooth boulder, smooth cobbles as hammers and split willow branches as tongs to forge scrounged steel into basic tools. My first and most basic smithing tools are: hot chisel, punch, drifts and on to hammers and tongs. In a pinch a couple pieces of rebar or whatever and wire make usable tongs barely. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFT Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 Thank you for the warm welcomes But the welding would more less be a way of joining major parts... like the base being two parts then the striking face being a piece of like 6in 4140( thanks daswulf) then milled flat on 3-4 sides... 3 sides meaning i would fit the still round side down to the base and fill the whole void of the round to the rect. Base with weld.... a laborious task... 4 sides meaning a bolted from the underside of the strike face as well make a maybe 1in deep "v" groove to fill.. And sorry im in southeastern wisconsin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 12 minutes ago, TFT said: And sorry im in southeastern wisconsin Put that info in your profile (which you can do in settings); that way anyone who sees your posts will know it without having to hunt down this comment. As for fabbing anvils, there are a LOT of posts on that very subject in IFI. Take some time with a good internet connection, snacks, and a cool drink and browse to your heart's content. Lots of really good information, and even if you don't find the answer you thought you were looking for, you'll have a much better idea of what questions to ask henceforth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 I was thinking more along the lines of what j.w.s made. It's simple if you can aquire the block of steel. Its not letting me post the link so search " my new block anvil" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 TJWatts welded the flandge of of a chunk of rail on for his. As the flandge was already taperd, he was able to do full thicknes welds. Then heat treated and Rockwell tested his. Lots of work, lots of consumables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFT Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 2 hours ago, JHCC said: As for fabbing anvils, there are a LOT of posts on that very subject in IFI. Take some time with a good internet connection, snacks, and a cool drink and browse to your heart's content. Lots of really good information, and even if you don't find the answer you thought you were looking for, you'll have a much better idea of what questions to ask henceforth. Alot eh?... show me a link cause i searched... unless these post dont use words like "making an anvil" or "fabbing an anvil" And as far as questions i got a ton i figured itd be easier to not ask all of them at once... cause ive seen post on here where a guy askes a bunch of questions at once and he ended up asking the same questions mutliple times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 The search function on this forum doesn't function well. Try a web search using "iforgeiron" as part of the key phrase. Start with "making a 400lb anvil." After that all I can suggest is paging down through the topics in the anvil section of the forum until you see a topic title that catches your eye. There are quite a few regarding making anvils though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFT Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 17 minutes ago, Buzzkill said: The search function on this forum doesn't function well. Try a web search using "iforgeiron" as part of the key phrase. Start with "making a 400lb anvil." After that all I can suggest is paging down through the topics in the anvil section of the forum until you see a topic title that catches your eye. There are quite a few regarding making anvils though. Thank you for not just saying "google it" and i will look into those keywords/phrases Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 22 minutes ago, TFT said: Alot eh?... show me a link cause i searched... unless these post dont use words like "making an anvil" or "fabbing an anvil" http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/47617-diy-aso-project-help-needed/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/47509-4140-forklift-tine-anvil-introduction/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/44757-making-a-400lb-anvil/ (this is the one Buzzkill mentioned) http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/47324-forklift-anvil-wip/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/42290-another-rail-road-iron-anvil/ And that's just from a quick look at the first two pages of the "Anvils" section; I'm sure there are more. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFT Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 Sorry for the screenshot... it wouldnt let me quote the whole thing but... Thats kinda what i would of like to hear as an idea... simple, cheap(some what), and very easy(wasnt looking forward to any mass welding... look at the temp in the screenshot and it was raining today), but that thread did shine alot of light onto what im looking to do verse having a fork or some rail to work with. But that being said what would be ideal as an improvised anvil? Assuming i just order a chunk of steel it should be what grade? Im thinking that what he has is probaly a good size for my needs but i understand that longer(standing tall) would be better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 buying steel new is expensive; but you could probably by a very nice alloy nice sized chunk for about the same as buying a new anvil.... Buying drops or scrap steel is much cheaper and I would look for 4140 or 4340 as a tough steel often found in larger chunks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/anvil1/anvil2.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Or if you don't want to get quite that fancy, you could fab up a Brazeal die anvil fairly easily. See also Alec Steele's short video about this style of anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFT Posted August 13, 2016 Author Share Posted August 13, 2016 5 hours ago, John McPherson said: http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/anvil1/anvil2.html Thats epic and never thought to get a burned out anvil 4 hours ago, JHCC said: Or if you don't want to get quite that fancy, you could fab up a Brazeal die anvil fairly easily. See also Alec Steele's short video about this style of anvil. That looks to be my best option but would i need to do some sort of surface treatment or let it work harden.... i also was pondering a top plate of a harder steel(tool steel fully bevel welded)... but just an idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 5 hours ago, TFT said: That looks to be my best option but would i need to do some sort of surface treatment or let it work harden.... i also was pondering a top plate of a harder steel(tool steel fully bevel welded)... but just an idea If it were me, I would just make the anvil out of some convenient chunk of steel and get to smithing. The end game isn't the anvil; it's the things you make with the anvil. If you're really serious about a hardened steel face, it would be best to make sure that you like the shape before you commit time, effort, and consumables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFT Posted August 13, 2016 Author Share Posted August 13, 2016 1 hour ago, JHCC said: If you're really serious about a hardened steel face, it would be best to make sure that you like the shape before you commit time, effort, and consumables. Good point but for making my blades do you think i need a rounded edge(again no exp with bladesmithing) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Yes, round the edges any sharp marks are cold shuts and you don't want to have to grind more than necessary. You'll be working HOT steel you don't really need the anvil face all that hard, modern steel isn't like wrought or cast iron for malleability, it's much more impact resistant. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 To expand a bit, you do not *need* the rounded sections of a Brazeal-style die anvil for bladesmithing (Japanese katanas are made essentially on a steel cube and I've seen videos of Nepalese kukris being forged on a sledgehammer head embedded in the ground), but you *do* need to have the edges of whatever you use as an anvil rounded, precisely as Frosty describes above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFT Posted August 13, 2016 Author Share Posted August 13, 2016 Yea i suppose i get me a nice sized chuck of 4140 and give that a try... ill have to wait till next weekend if im to get some scrap steel because the scrapyards are about to close and i cant go during the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 An anvil doesn't need to be fancy to be effective. What you're really looking for in an effective anvil is the depth of rebound, the more steel between your hammer blow and the stand the better. If you find a piece of plate or bar mount it on end or edge for best effect. 4140 or other hardenable steel is nice but heat treating that much mass is tricky if you don't have the facilities. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFT Posted August 13, 2016 Author Share Posted August 13, 2016 18 minutes ago, Frosty said: 4140 or other hardenable steel is nice but heat treating that much mass is tricky if you don't have the facilities. Frosty The Lucky. I was thinking that if i was to weld a plate on top it would or could be hardened by the heat of that much weld but ill give it a shot without the plate first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 I don't know about using the HAZ to heat treat, it's an effect you usually try to minimize. Getting it even across and along the face will be a good trick. You can work harden 4140 with an air hammer and plannishing chisel if you want to spend the time, well any hammer will work but I like power tools for something like this. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFT Posted August 13, 2016 Author Share Posted August 13, 2016 Yea i dont see myself investing in a power hammer.... yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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