Hillbilly, How did your rail anvil project go? Got any pix or further tips? -Phil

I want to first apologize for not putting up any pics of the process. I wanted to and said that I would, but I wasn't allowed to use my phone to take the pics. So please accept my apologies for this. I CAN how ever say that it is finished now and looks pretty good if I do say so myself lol . Here is a pic of the finished product. There are a couple of things, however, that I should have and would have done differently now that I look back at how I did some things but it turned out well.

Here's the pics:





All criticism welcome.

I like it a lot. I can't really criticize you since I've never attempted to make an anvil. Only that I might change would be to weld some plates underneath it to add some weight. (Where it is kinda thin). BTW, how much does it weigh?

Looks fine! I plan on making soon also . I like the horn on it and the step look great

It weighs approximately 20-25 pounds.

Hard facing the top of a rail road track does not improve it, as track has a high manganese content. The harder and longer you hit it, the harder and tougher it becomes.

If you pre heat it and weld with a 9018 or a 11018 stick rod it will be harder than a 7018 by far.they cost a little more.But you get what you pay for.

Of course you can just harden and temper the rail, instructions in place like "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" by Weygers and not mess around with welding on it at all. It is after all a medium to high carbon steel with high Mn content...

Hey Farmer Phil, have you thought perhaps of building a firepit / primitive forge then switching between your torch and a good ole' fashioned chisel? I'd think if you were to start a few inches back from where you wanted the cut, chiseling in toward the core with a chisel like chopping a tree could save you alot of gas.

Another idea, if you can get near the site with a vehicle (Close enough to run a small contractor sized compressor via. a power inverter) You could save quite a bit of bottled O2 by using a blowgun to move the melt out of your way. I had some pretty thick stuff to cut while working at the Airport and found it to be a pretty effective way of conserving resources (Boss was making wire out of pennies... lol. ) Just be sure to bring the leather apron, cap and a face sheild to wear over the goggles.

I've cut trolly rail "in situ" with a bowsaw with a piece of bandsaw blade in the frame.

Note for hardened sections cut from the base toward the top of the rail and let the hardened sections break rather than trying to cut the hard stuff by hand.