January 10, 20179 yr This followed me home from local scrapyard today. These are hammers from an industrial rock crusher. $20 each and weighing about 110 lbs per. I am trying to decide best way to turn one or both into an anvil for myself, a beginner smith. Both On End, welded together: Or I can level the top for a larger work area. I have some heavy metal stock I could weld a stand up with, or I can slab together a stand from 2x10 lumber. I would appreciate any thoughts and suggestions. Thank you.
January 10, 20179 yr I like them i see anvil written all over them for a laugh i'd get a price on getting the one standing milled square on the tops and edges.
January 10, 20179 yr Well, if you're not going to string one on a piece of cable and hang it around your neck, this is what I would suggest: mount them separately. At 110 lbs each, that's a pretty decent amount of mass that will suffice for almost anything you need to do. If you mount one of them like the tall one in the bottom photo (a capital "T" right side up) and the other like the one in the back in the top photo (a capital "T" standing on one end of the crossbar), you get two different anvil surfaces: flat and slightly crowned. You also get the round hole pointed up, and if you weld a section of square tube inside, you get a nice hardy hole -- just make sure that there's enough support underneath. If you make a big enough stand (either wood or metal) to mount them both, you'll still get some of the benefit of the total mass working together.
January 10, 20179 yr I actually have a lot more hours in on my 90+ pound anvil than I do on my 515# anvil---easier to carry to demos!
January 10, 20179 yr Author Sounds like a stand to support both is in order. I have to admit, I did not think of using them as is...makes sense. Thanks folks.
January 24, 20179 yr Author Welds are holding up for a quick fit of the ... anvil. I WILL be adding a triangular leg shelf to tie the legs together. Stand #1: Not a chance of getting my mitt around it, but this gives some perspective. The height of the anvil faces is 9". The ring is pretty loud right now. I will get some rubber under the anvil and see if that helps. The anvil is very fitted to the stand and is held in place by its weight and shape. The bottom face of the anvil sits firmly on the 3/4" plate that the legs are welded to. We needed three of us to get it on the stand while its tipped over. The boy to foot the legs, me holding it up by the ring, the wife pushing it into the fitted collar. Then we tip it up, them footing the legs, me lifting the whole mass of stand and anvil til it stands up. Stand is 66 lbs as is. I know the legs are overkill (2.5" x 4", 3/16" thick) but this is what I had in the shop. I assume more weight equals better, so I will cap the bottoms with some feet and fill the legs with sand. I have lots of cleanup to do on the stand. Also planned (after a shelf) is a way to hang a couple hammers and some tongs. Yay progress! (Last pic showing all of stand and the boy who is helping with the painting.)
January 24, 20179 yr Biggest pritchel hole I've seen on an anvil! Or could make a nice cup holder..... Littleblacksmith
January 24, 20179 yr Awesome job Hoenirson! I'm really glad to see you making progress on making it work. And getting the family involved. Your plans sound good. Keep it up and looking forward to seeing more progress.
January 24, 20179 yr Those will make great anvils, and you have some great sides with different edges to work off of. I would look at having the other one stood up like a Tee, and smooth it up. Maybe run a bar through the hole so it could either be pivoted up, or laid flat. Between the two you would have a lot of capabilities. If they have more, I would go back, buy what you can, and the sell them to guys getting started. That is far better than some chunk of railroad rail selling for $50.
January 24, 20179 yr hole is for the can of water to quench the tips of chisels, punches and drifts. That "hammered look" on the side is just awesome...
January 24, 20179 yr That is looking fantastic! Good work! It just occurred to me that if you do weld in a section of square pipe for a hardy hole, there is no reason for it to be parallel with the long axis of the anvil. Turning at 45° will give you more clearance around the tall section. Bedding the anvil on a layer of silicone caulk will both hold it firmly and deaden the ring somewhat.
January 24, 20179 yr I would dearly love to have some of those! I've been looking for just such a thing to make into a traveling anvil. Personally, I would have stood the hammer on end like a Mjolnir and used the big face much like a Popov anvil you see here at the 23:09 mark - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyLjZ8N9_dc&t=36s The face is domed, but it's like a squished ball with a flat spot in the middle. Very practical design and it has the look that's just perfect for doing demos where folks expect you to be doing it the "old fashioned way".
January 24, 20179 yr I have a large forklift tine I use for a shop anvil at work with a round hole in it much like those hammers. It's quite useful to slide smaller hooks though the hole and work the underside of them.
January 26, 20179 yr On 1/23/2017 at 7:49 PM, ThomasPowers said: hole is for the can of water to quench the tips of chisels, punches and drifts. That "hammered look" on the side is just awesome... It's obviously made for dishing bowls.
January 26, 20179 yr "It's obviously made for dishing bowls." Knee cops, elbow cops, rapier cup guards,....
February 12, 20179 yr Author Based on all the great suggestions, I have built a shouldered removable insert that bolts itself and the anvil down to the supporting frame of the stand. This way I keep my options open without modifying the anvil shape. This had the happy result as well, of deadening the piercing ring of the anvil. It was like a fresh sharpened golden spike (with just a hint of lime) being driven into my head with every blow. (Yes I was a bit hung over at the time.) Taking the lazy way out and still waffling a bit on finishing my forge floor, I welded a 5" piece of truck spring to some 1" solid stock to form a hot cutoff tool. I made it long to support the blade directly to the anvil, instead of via the inserts welded shoulder (yep, I am a big chicken). I don't think I would need a 5" wide cutoff, so I shaped just the middle to a thick edge, and left the top corners to be used for shaping surfaces. One is flattened, and the other is rounded. If ever DO need more edge for cutting, the material is easy enough to remove to extend the cutting edge. Here is a quick video of hardy tool.
February 12, 20179 yr I concur, you have a very functional anvil there, if I ever run across rock crusher parts at the scrap yard I am all in on this idea.
February 13, 20179 yr I have contacted a couple of people in the crushing business here locally already. Haven't found any but I'm looking. Thanks for putting it out there..
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