I found the horn on my anvil awkward and difficult to form the circular part of a bottle opener, so I built a small cone mandrel. I had some 2" mild round stock so I cut a 5" piece off, chucked it up in the lathe and went to work. I faced, drilled and tapped the base for a 1/2" bolt thread. Took a while to turn off all that material, and I kind of guestimated the taper angle, but it turned out to be just what I needed.

Screwing it down tight provides a nice sturdy surface to pound against. I tried it out this evening and it worked quite well for me. I could not only true up the ring, but also hammer it out a bit.

 

Ted

Very nice.  If you ever decide to make another, let me know.  i've been meaning to get a vertical cone for awhile but keep forgetting.....

Nice!  What a handy little size, too.

Nicely done! Thank you for sharing!

Thanks, I found that since its screwed down tight I can pound on it pretty hard. I've forged the rings on several openers and it works great. Much easier for me than the horn, and they are all perfectly round.