A collection of improvised anvils

[bluerooster]

On 3/31/2021 at 4:56 PM, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

This is how I did ours. Very secure and quiet with calking under it and wedges to hold it steady.

I did that as well.

 

[Rojo Pedro]

Nice chunk. Nice stump. Edges look rather sharp. I like it

[Glenn]

Anvil used for shoeing an ox.

[Glenn]

From another thread copied to here.

Caotropheus

 I made videos of my anvil projects and I hope you can improve on my ideas. I am no professional metal worker, I am just an hobbyist. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLsgFjkBQtg&ab_channel=caotropheus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSpXA0b33Fg&ab_channel=caotropheus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1-gk6W5Qrs&ab_channel=caotropheus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkQgx7GqU4M&list=PLxAZAWFQq-PWxctDvqAQJ-7rCpB6WK_WO&ab_channel=caotropheus

The method I prefer to harden the working surfaces of my anvils is by applying a layer of hardfacing rod. It is simple, it is fast and it is not going to detach itself from the anvil main body. Since you have a top plate mild steel, you can apply directly the hardfacing layer.  I also think that mild steel body anvil + hardfacing make the most robust anvils you can homemade. If you get a dent on the surface or something brakes, you can always grind the damaged area and re-weld it.

[ThomasPowers]

Make sure you use the right *type* of hardfacing, one rated for impact rather than abrasion; especially as the abrasion varieties may spiderweb!

[Frosty]

Pick a hard face rod for "steel on stone" as for rock crushers, it's impact resistant.

Steel on steel is for abrasion resistance and not suitable.

Frosty The Lucky.

[USANewbie]

Here are pictures of my anvils. The big one i made from forklift tines. Im not finished grinding the horn yet and im in the middle of finishing the hardy hole. It has some wax melted on the side, i got carried away with the wax one day. The second is a rail track anvil i picked up at the flea market today, i bought it because it has a nice little horn on it which i can use.

 

 

[ThomasPowers]

Are you going to add a hardy stem to the RR Track one so it will mount in the hardy hole of the other one?

[USANewbie]

Thomas powers, i did think of doing that but im not sure yet what i will do.

[ThomasPowers]

Usually if I'm doing fine work on a bickern, I want it mounted higher than my anvil face so I don't lean over as much when working on it.

[TryingLobster]

Adding to the list of forklift tine anvils, with just a sprinkling of fresh scale for flavor. This is 98 pounds of steel I got at the scrap yard for about $0.40/lb. I realize the plywood base isn't the greatest; I'll figure out something more solid maybe this spring. I also have some steel set aside for banding, but after I assembled the base I found that the tine was so solidly wedged in there (I barely got it to drop all the way down) that I haven't prioritized it.

I keep thinking about ways to improve the anvil or the stand, but I think my skills need a LOT more practice before putting much more effort into this anvil! It does need a hardy hole somewhere though. Any suggestions where that might go to be most effective?

[ThomasPowers]

My scrapyard has a lot of old grader blades, bulldozer parts, etc with square holes in them.

A few that followed me home, only at 20 USCents a pound.

 50 pounds; 2 1" sq holes with round tops 

[JHCC]

The only thing I'd add to the plywood base would be some right-angle brackets to hold it securely. 

[BillyBones]

Looks like there is a good spot for making tenons on there. 

[ThomasPowers]

I didn't include one odd dirt moving blade that it not that long but quite wide and has a series of 1.5" sq holes with rounded tops.  As I have 3 anvils with 1.5" sq Hardy holes I'm going to make that one into a "hardy tooling bench" to have several pieces of hardy tooling ready for use for a project.

[TryingLobster]

ThomasPowers, interesting, a lot of those pieces look relatively light. Newbie question: how important is it to have a heavy base for holding forging tools compared to the importance of a solid anvil base?

[ThomasPowers]

Well a lot would depend on what you mount those pieces on.  If I mount one on a 5000# block of steel how would it act compared to a 100# anvil?  Me, I have close to a ton of anvils including several over 400# so I don't need to use them save for projects where having a bunch of tooling set up to use in sequence would help and some tooling is not impact tooling but bending and light forming done with a wooden mallet on hot steel.

Those pieces I picked up to pass on to folks using improvised anvils that don't have any hardy tool holders.  Stop by and pick out one!

[Melancholy Rivet]

I have a roughly 50 pound length of rail for an anvil and a turnout plate that I'm using as a tool holder. I took some ideas from Charles R. Stevens' thread on rail anvils to build a few tools into mine. One end was unevenly torch cut and I left some of that unevenness in place. The web fuller is a little higher than the flat face and there's funky half round which has been handy. I've since cut away more space under the horn, leaving a catch near the web so I can bend things over the base of the horn. I might eventually grind the web to have a more varied radius, and the bottom is still untouched but for now I'm using it as is until I decide I really need new features. 

I also have this piece of lighter gage rail that I cut a round and stubby square horn into for when I need something bigger than the mini-horn on the other anvil. This picture is from before I mounted it. 

[TommyVee]

Scored this lovely block of steel I intend to use as an improvised anvil.  197 pounds of A2 steel obtained at 43 cents per pound at what amounted to a yard sale from a departed member of the local ABA affiliate.    It's 25"x7"x4".

Looking for some mounting suggestions.  I have already had some from locals that involve welding up a stand for it, which is an option but one that will require the assistance of some friends with welding equipment and skill.  The folks suggesting the welded stand also assumed that this would be used with the 25x7 face up for maximum area rather than the 7x4 face with maximum mass underneath the hammer --- at nearly 200 pounds, I'm thinking maybe any orientation of this beast will be fine.  I'm receptive to other suggestions.

Regardless, I'm going to have to mount this thing with wheels so I can move it in and out of my garage to my forging location in the driveway.  Thinking that whatever stand I make should be usable as a sort of hand truck with beefy wheels.  I also have an actual beefy hand truck, so using that to move the thing is also an option.

 

 

[Frosty]

I'd stand it on end for sure, raised about 6" would fit me close enough. If you attached it to a decent sized timber on end you could drill a hole through the timber to slide an axle through, a couple bicycle wheels and a hand truck type handle and just lean it back and put it where you want it. Axle and handle slide out where you're beating hot steel on it of course.

Frosty The Lucky.

[TommyVee]

Thanks for the feedback, Frosty.  Standing it on end certainly would make for an easier mounting than the "lie flat on a welded frame" ideas I've had suggested by more than one local.   I like your idea of a removable handle and wheels (I had been thinking removable handle already, but permanently mounted wheels that are mounted so you had to lean it back like a hand truck to get them to touch the ground).  Then again, perhaps mounting this vertically and giving it a beefy timber base would let me just use a hand truck to move it without the complication of adding wheels.  It would, at least, be something worth trying first.

For me, if it were mounted vertically it'd only need to be raised about 5 inches to fit me as well as my current vertically-mounted railroad track does.  And 7x4 is a lot more surface area than that railroad track already.  Not sure I will be working on anything large enough to need 25x7.

[FlatLiner]

I tried mounting something similar in length horizontal, I rarely if ever used the full length so I ended up mounting it vertical and have liked it more that way.

[Frosty]

My pleasure Tommy, I've given this very thing thought more than once. The issues I envision using a hand truck is the base and how top heavy that tallness will be lifted 5-6".  What I like about bicycle wheels and a dismountable axle is only needing to tilt it back a couple degrees to roll it. The trick would be putting the axle hole close to the balance point of the anvil ad stand. Then it wouldn't hammer a lot if the tires were a few inches from the floor. It wouldn't be high speed so plain round stock that fits the bicycle wheels and a couple clip pins. 

The wheels come off when the anvil is where you want it so they're not in the way. So long as there's room to pull the axle they can come off when it's stored and hang on the wall or something. Large diameter wheels roll easily on uneven ground too.

The trouble with permanent wheels is they're in the way I don't like potential trip hazards I can avoid. Then the balance point is nearly vertical so it can be difficult to move without tipping back on you or flopping back on the stand. 

Of course with a stout stand we're probably talking in the 240lb. range total so it's not unmanageable anyway. Heck, when I was younger I used to casually carry and load my 200lb. Trenton by hand.

I almost never need an anvil face's length though I have straightened pieces lengthways. Mounted vertically you just use the vertical face and strike horizontally. This lets you sight straight down that long flat surface so you can easily tell exactly where to give it a tap.

Frosty The Lucky.

[FlatLiner]

Mounted vertical you essentialy have a Japanese style anvil

[Pault17]

This is a very interesting thread.  I have long believed that an anvil does not have to look like something Wile-E-Coyote needs to drop - I actually came by that belief from the wonderful folks here on IFI.  Here are a few that I have handy to use or loan out. 

This is just a 20+lb block I found in the woods.  This one has three smooth faces and three with shapes

This one is what it looks like. The hammer head is a 10-lb with both faces ground flat. kids don't hurt it

This one I made from an article I saw more than 10 years ago. The round bar is 1-5/8 hardenable mystery metal

This one is my oldest pride and joy, called the Frankanvil. The heel is RR tie plate. The horn is 2.25 inch round. The body is a hydraulic pump body that was in a scrap pile. The machinest who gave it to me said it is solid through-hardened D2 with 5/8 tapped holes all over the place. It is from a caterpillar place. I made it look like an "anvil" because it was useful that way.  total weight is just over 100lb.