yup i have a home made rr rail anvil. and as you can imagine that is to tough to make a hardy hole in it so i took some heavy wall pipe, 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 in dia and welded it to the end gave it a couple blows from a hammer and some more passes. all i can say im proud of the job and its solid!! just have to make some tools for it now lol

Can you post a picture of it. I have a small track anvil in my trailer that could use one.

Reb

The Civil War Blacksmith

If you anneal the rail you can drill it. You don't even need high dollar drill bits, just low RPM and lots of oil.

However, that said. Post some pics of what you did do please.

Frosty
GCOA

Definately need a picture.

welder19

alright sorry for the wait i will get some pics of it when i get home tonight,

will i need to sign up to a webhosting site? if so then alright

As a member of IFI you are signed up the the best hosting site for this kind of stuff! Just go to the gallery click on "upload photos" and presto! there you are. no fuss, no muss.

canuk, when you post your photos to the IFI Gallery, be sure and add keywords that reflect the subject of the photo. This is what the gallery search engine uses to search the over 8000 images now on file. There is still plenty of room in the gallery so don't be shy in posting your images.

You can organize your photos by making albums in the IFI Gallery and keep your images grouped so they make sense.

I bought a homemade rail anvil at a yard sale for $10 last month..Thought it may come in handy for something(and it has) I took some 5/8" square stock and welded it into a square frame on the back of the anvil. Makes a nice square hardy hole. Put a #4 tip on my torch and knocked a pritchel hole in it too.

alright i hope everyone is able to see it. the first pic is the pipe i welded to the back and the second pic is the anvil its self.

An old timer (Rest in Peace, Harold, I miss talkin with ya!) at the first conference I ever attended gave me this quick and dirty tip if you need a hardy hole on an unconventional anvil like object:

Find a 1" drive impact socket without a purpose or need in the shop (or broken/stripped around the nut side). Weld it to the side of the block of steel/rail securely. Make sure the 1" square hole is facing up. Voila! Instant hardy hole/holder in a common size.

Now, to extrapolate on Frosty's post above: A industrious person could drill the rail large enough for the socket to just fit. Weld in place securely. Of course, the hole would need some grinding/chamfering to allow for a good weld to hold it securely. If the heel was angled right on a rail anvil, then weld could be applied from top and bottom, I would think.

Would have a lot of folks wondering how that square hole got in a piece of rail, anyway.

Just a thought.

Alright, I'm sure someone with way more experience is gonna tear me down on this idea, so....have at it. You less experience guys, feel free to beat on me, too.

later on,

A.T.N.E.D.B.

On my rr anvil I took 2 pieces of angle iron and welded them together so as to make a
1" id sq. Then cut a slightly larger hole than the outside of the AI ( my gas cutting ain't so hot ). Dropped the 'hardy hole' in and welded in all around 'til it was all solid ( not the hole ) then dressed it down with a angle grinder. Hole is in center of anvil about 3-4" from one end. Looks 'factory made'. However because of thin area welded it won't take a lot of pounding ( like a hardy tool with a small base ). So I made a large base for the tools. Now I got a 'real' anvil so I don't use the rr anvil much anymore
Ken

post a pic ksb