materman Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Just thought I would post a pic of something I found today that I plan on using for a anvil. Would have loved to find a good reasonable anvil, but the current prices can scare a guy, and being it is just for hobby use, I figured it would work just fine. It's a piece of 10" round stock 22" long, which was said to weigh 465lbs. Definitely a big piece of honken steel to haul 100 miles in a VW. I an thinking about cutting a notch out on one side to have a strait edge, but will see once mounted. First I got to borrow a cherry picker to get it unloaded. Will post pics when done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 The CDL manual and test for the license says to pull over immediately and wait for roads to melt and clear. I'm thinking I'd need more than a sleeper if that rule were enforced. It dropped into the teens last night and hasn't broken 30f so far and it's 3:30pm. 10" di. x 22" steel. That's an anvil for sure, mount it on end and round the edges a little. Sharp corners on the inside of forged products are stress risers and tend to be failure initiation points. I'd suggest you grind different radiuses on the edge for different purposes but wait until you've used it a while and see what you need. I'd be pleased to have that available. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 36 minutes ago, materman said: It's a piece of 10" round stock 22" long, which was said to weigh 465lbs. Great big hunk o’ steel! That should serve you well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
materman Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 Thanks frosty for the input, I will indeed tame the edges a little when unloaded. Actually went and looked at a 7" x 8ft. round of 01 for a power hammer build I keep thinking of building. But figured this chunk I could haul home as is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 Good Morning, Two ends means more choices!! Work on one end, Finish on the other (or??). Lay it on it's side, will make a heck of a drawing die. Don't let the Anvil Police limit your workability. Enjoy the Journey!! Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 Google “Chinese bread loaf anvil” (without quotation marks) for some interesting applications of a round anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 BTW a steel weight calculator says that 10" diameter 22" long is 490 pounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
materman Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 Your probably write on that, but the piece is actually 9 3/4 inches. I just rounded it up to 10 for the sake of typing. 465 might not be right even for 9 3/4, but none the less one big chunk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 I get 454.9897 lbs. Let’s call it 455. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 Lets call it an anvil and get onto hammering on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 I thought I would post a video of people forging knives using an improvised anvil in India: The URL is no longer valid. No horn, no hardy hole---no problem! Looks like they are using charcoal as a fuel too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul TIKI Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Interesting, I was watching an episode of forged in fire, and one of the competitors had an improvised anvil made of a steel I-Beam with what looked like timber filling in the sides at his home forge. Just so happens I have an I-beam. I may reinforce it so I have an additional large striking surface. It won't have as much mass under the hammer as my pig iron slab, but it may work for some things. I'm also wondering if I could cut something like a hardie hole in it for the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Do you have a scrapyard near you? A lot of Farm and earth moving implements use large "carriage bolts" to hold things together and so use metal plates with square holes in them. for example: The second from the left has two 1"sq holes in a slab that weighs 50 pounds and cost me US$10 The fact that the top of the holes in that one are round doesn't affect my use as all my hardy stems go down through the square section. I beam tends to be very LOUD and way too "bouncy" for hammering on. FinF is NOT a good source of information in my opinion. Instead of trying to refrib your I beam I'd suggest looking for a better piece of steel. (I actually found an odd grader? blade that was about 2' wide with 1.5" sq holes; but it's currently serving to hold the acorn of a 6.5" postvise mounted in my dirt floored shop. As I have 3 anvils that use 1.5" hardy holes I plan to make a work table out of it when I can use my welder.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul TIKI Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 It seems like all the scrapyards nearby are all in the city and mostly seem to specialize in auto parts, though I haven't really looked too hard locally. It would make sense out here in the sticks that there would be places that have farm equipment scrapped. They don't seem to be advertised on the internet. Probably too busy actually working . I'll have to spend some more time looking. I did take your advice on searching for another old gas grill to turn into a forge. No luck yet except of one sitting on the property of an empty rental house nearby. if I can hunt down the owner, I'll offer a few bucks for it unless I spot something on tomorrow's trash day drive around. Could I be missing something obvious in my search for the scrap yard? Think asking at the feed store nearby might get some results? I realized that might be a good place as I was typing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatLiner Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 That was an interesting hammer and sledge hammer they where using in the video you linked to Thomas. There's alot you can learn from these third world blacksmiths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Don't offer money; offer to clean it out of his rental's yard! I don't think any scrapyard on the internet would interest me: repeat after me "The Internet is a terrible place to find many types of things!" Got a local shade tree welder? Ask them about local scrap piles. Find out if a local implement dealer has a bone pile. Check out the county road maintenance department. Things like grade blades are disposables and offering to pay scrap can get you a cheap one and may get you a pile of free ones. (Note the price they get scrapping them at a junkyard is usually a LOT lower than the price you pay to buy from the junkyard---I think my yard buys about 1/10 of what they sell at. And where does the road department send their scrap? Can you get your hands on an old PAPER copy of the yellow pages and look under scrap metal, metal recycling, etc... Flat; I think the value of a lot of the 3rd world videos is that the people are DOING things and not saying "I can't forge knives because I don't have a london pattern anvil and can't afford to buy one!" (My wife veto'd swinging the sledge for me though.) Simple forge they built, simple anvil they improvised, simple hammers---only one pair of tongs and I'd bet they made them too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul TIKI Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Paper!?!?!? Paper!?!?!?!!! It has excellent data retention but the search function can get wonky. come to think of it, there is a shop that makes round bale truck bed adapters, they may have some interesting stuff. There is also a large plumber shop close by. Maybe I could hit them up. I have an idea to use a water heater tank as a retort for making charcoal. I could lay it on it's side, cut a door from the bottom of the tank and hinge it. The water inlet or outlet can be used to connect a pipe to route the gasses back underneath the retort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrance W Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 The top Piece is an unknown type of steel, I found it advertised on FB Trading for $20.00 weight was right at 67 Lbs. had the top and bottom milled flat mounted it on the 4x12 Tube Steel packed with sand and capped with 1/2" Plate. I have planes to use the other 4x12 tube on the left side of the picture to add a 1" plate surface with Prichard and Hardy holes and steel skirt and webbing between the coulombs to hold my tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nirve9909 Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Brand new to the site, and I’m loving it. Here is my improvised anvil (assuming I can properly attach the photo): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Solid? A friend bought an improvised anvil from my local scrapyard, 20 UScents a pound vs $5-6 a pound for an old London pattern in these parts. Over 100# too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Welcome aboard! If that’s solid, that is one substantial hunk o’ steel you got there. What are the dimensions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nirve9909 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 If you’re asking me, I haven’t measured it in a while but I believe the upper diameter is 10”, the lower diameter is 12”, and the length is around 32”. Weighs a little over 800lbs if I remember correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Nirve: A chunk of steel that big doesn't need much mounting because you will have a hard time moving it with a hand swung hammer. 32" might be a little high for anvil height. My anvil is at about 30 1/2" and I am 6'2". To use it as is you might have to slightly inlet it into the floor or build a low platform for you to stand on to get the optimal height that is comfortable for you. Traditionally, you anvil should be at about your knuckle height while standing erect. You want your hammer face to be parallel with the face of the anvil when you strike. If it is too low you will tend to hit with the toe (the part further from you hand) of the face of the hammer. If it is too high you will tend to hit with the heel (the part closest to your hand) of the face of the hammer. Some people like it higher and some lower than the "standard" height. If it were mine, I'd set it up as is and start hitting hot iron on it. If it felt uncomfortably high I would build about an 1 1/2" to 2" high platform around the anvil. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul TIKI Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 I'm a bit jealous, a hunk a steel that big for an anvil. May it serve you very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 For doing fine work, like blades, I like it mid wrist high. Too low and I find myself bending over too much which my back tells me about later, (in exhaustive detail!) For heavy work I like it lower knuckle height or even lower if we are using top tools and a striker. Luckily since I teach a bit I have anvils at a range of heights for students to use and so I can use the anvil that is at the best height for my task! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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