I'm looking to make two anvils out of railroad tracks. I need about five feet total (about 2.5 ft. each). Does anyone know where I can find some in NC, preferably around Lenoir?

Track down your nearest rail maintmnance yard (mine is just north of Chickasha Ok." And ask about a drop. If you tell the boss what you want it for (not scraping it to buy meth) and bring him somthing you forged on it by way of a thank you, you should have good luck. 

Other drops may be easer to ring that will work, say a 4x4 or a 3" shaft. Some times you can score a 4" drop from plate (circle drops are the bomb, say from cutting 24" circles. Half way to a double horn that way. But honestly a 8-12" drop of 4" would be all the anvil one would ever need. 

Mr. Stevens, that last paragraph was Koro, to me, I'm sorry.  What's a drop, a circle drop, and a plate? 

A drop is the waste that is cut off  when cutting something to size. If the track people cut 12" from a 20' length of track , that 12" piece is a drop. A circle drop= when a fabricator cuts a 24" dia circle from a plate (a larger slab of steel) the remaining drop has some of the curves that can be used to make an anvil-type horn. What this all comes down to, is to expand your vision when it comes to making your own anvil. A piece of scrap steel 2' or more wide , with enough size in the other dimensions to provide some mass, will make a dandy anvil. The working surface of doesnt need to be much larger than the face of the hammer you're using. RR track is fine, but there are plenty of other options that might be easier to find. There is a thread in the anvil section where JWS made an anvil from a block of steel, 4 or 5 inches sq, by a foot or so long, dress the edges ad desired, and it's a beauty. Take some time and read thru the anvil section - there are other options out there. Then take some time reading thru the rest of the site.

Steve

You may find usable metal at a hydraulic repair shop. Those cylinders get bent and thrown out, or cut to size and the remainder thrown out. 

You will want to find a piece of metal larger than your hammer face and with a mass of 50 to100 pounds or more. Look for inside curves and outside curves if they are available. A truck repair garage (think BIG trucks with multiple wheels) have axles, steering links or knuckles, and all sorts of things that can be used in one way or another. 

Metal is out there and many times free when you ask politely.

 Where I live there is miles of it, laying end to end on big beams. the hard part is to get out the big nails that hold it there. 

I think trains are smarter than some folks I meet!

Don't forget sludge hammer heads and those big read splitting malls

I tried a sludge hammer head, but it was too soft and mushy to serve my purposes.

Steve

Find a scrap yard and just buy a big chunk of steel, that will be better than a chunk of rail. Forklift forks are much better than rail. 

I tried hammering sludge once, but it just splattered. I think I had the working heat too high.

Crane tracks make the best rail anvils if you can find them. Way bigger then train tracks ... I know a scrap yard that has a pile of them but it's in Sydney Australia ... a bit too far ...  

Here ya go.

It is a long drive though.

 

natenaaron, where is that? 

Page Steel's scrap yard.  On my days off (if I get one during the week), much to the wife's chagrin, I go see what they got.  Lots and lots of good stuff.  Always something new to see.  If I knew how I would post a google earth image of how large this place is. 

I think I'm about due for a trip to Arizona....

3 hours ago, natenaaron said:

Page Steel's scrap yard.  On my days off (if I get one during the week), much to the wife's chagrin, I go see what they got.  Lots and lots of good stuff.  Always something new to see.  If I knew how I would post a google earth image of how large this place is. 

 

Thanks bigb

You needed to stretch out a bit more though.  The scrap goes further down and off the image to the left.  How did you post that?

The Track is off the image on the bottom, maybe half an inch in the piles. 

 

I just took a screenshot with Windows Snipping Tool and saved it as a jpeg