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I Forge Iron

Railroad track


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I, too, would mount it vertically.  You can only strike on a small area at a time and vertical puts more steel under your point of impact.  If horizontal you have less metal under your blow and the surface area where you are not striking is effectively of no use to you.  For that matter you may even have enough rail there for 2 anvils.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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8 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Tons of discussion of that here already, I got 856 results when I used my browser to search on: rr rail site:iforgeiron.com; could you look through those and ask us specifics if your questions are not covered there?

You’re right, sorry I should have posted a more specific question originally. My first question is what angle grinder disc should I use to grind the face? My other question is if I mount it upright what would be a good tool to use to carve down the stump? I know lots use a chainsaw but I’ve not done much with a chainsaw and that makes me nervous, so I’d prefer to not use that but I could probably do it.

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Nathan:  I would outline the rail on the top of the stump and then drill out as much as I could with a drill and wood bit to take out as much wood as I could to X depth and then remove the remainder with a wood chisel.  Then, because the hole will be slightly oversized I would put wedges around the edge of the hole once the rail is inserted in it to hold the rail tightly.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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Nice Christmas present.

I like 36 grit flap wheel sanding disks for metal work, they do a pretty good job of removing material. I can also get softer contours and curves with the flap wheels than a standard grinding disk.

If you are leery of using a chain saw, what other tools do you have that could be used to remove wood?

Personally, I would use the chain saw, you could try a hand saw, or chisel, if you have the patience. You could grind a flat with a belt sander, or flap wheel on the grinder, but lots of saw dust.  I make the assumption that you are wanting to carve a flat on one side to mount the track. If you want to stand the track in the middle of the stump, drill and chisel, or plunge to depth with a chain saw, then chisel out the waste. Many ways to skin a cat, use what you have and are comfortable using.

Good luck !

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On 1/15/2021 at 10:02 PM, rustyanchor said:

Nice Christmas present.

I like 36 grit flap wheel sanding disks for metal work, they do a pretty good job of removing material. I can also get softer contours and curves with the flap wheels than a standard grinding disk.

Yeah I was thinking of doing the L mounting. Could I possibly use a saw to cut part way through it and then split a chunk off with my axe?

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My temporary mount for my rail  was a bucket filled with fine aggregate and gravel. It worked surprisingly well. So well I just got an 8 gallon steel garbage can and transferred the rail and gravel to it. It also made it very quiet. I don't know If your piece is long enough to do that though. 

Pnut

I used a hand saw to trim up my stumps sides and to champfer the top for my double horn anvil so the chain I used to mount it wouldn't have to go over a ninety degree edge. It was a lot of work but I don't mind working hard. Haha. 

 

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You could make the horizontal cut in the stump with a saw and then split the side off with an axe. I should work fine as long as the stump has straight grain. Some wood will give a nice straight split, some is very twisted and will not give you a clean side.

I burn wood in the winter, and have learned the hard way that, some wood is not worth trying to split by hand. One of my neighbors had a hydraulic splitter he loaned me, HA I now laugh at your twisted grain Mr log. Another neighbor cut and sold fire wood as a side job for many years. He has patiently shown and taught me how to use a saw without a trip to the ER every time. A sharp chain is your friend.

I want to see pics when you get it done.

 

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