DYI anvil

[ryeokum]

I am just starting out and in the process of building an anvil. I am using a chunk of steel that was a counter weight off a cherry picker. I know mild steel can't be hardened but I was thinking about using 9018 welding rod to face the top to make it tougher. Anybody think this would work or have a better idea?

[Daswulf]

Use it as is. A chunk of steel is harder than hot forgable steel. If it deforms too much and I'm wrong, then you can do a little grinding and hard face it then do a lot of hard grinding if you want. 

[BartW]

I second the opinion of Daswulf. Deforming is not a big problem; and as your hammer skills improve, you will miss less. 

If the surface is hard; you can chip it. Chipping is dangerous & difficult to repair. Denting is harmless, apprentice-proof and easily fixed.

Word of caution tough; I know counterweights that have been made from cast iron (cast iron is cheaper to made weights). This isn't usable as an anvil; as it's way too brittle. You can test this by drilling it. If you can produce a long spiral chip; it's iron. If it produces short chips or powder; it's cast iron.

 

[Charles R. Stevens]

Building anvils can quickly run you into more cost in time and consumables (welding rod/wire, gas, abrasives, heat treat etc..) especially when your starting out and don’t really understand what makes a a good anvil. 

For centuries a smallish hunk of wrought was an anvil, and after thousands of hours of use the top actually mushroomed over making it wider at the top. 

Unless you heat treat 9018 isn’t going to be much harder than A36 or 1018 anyway. 

[ryeokum]

It all sounds like good advice. I'm gonna use my hunk of steel as is for now and see how it goes.

I am 100% sure this thing is mild steel. The reason for the 9018 instead of Stoody 1105 or something similar is that I have 50# of 9018 on hand.

I have some ruff sawed oak 8"x 9"x12'  I'm going to build my stand out of and then I plan to build a propane fired forge.

Thanks for all the sound advice and I'm sure I'll be back with more questions.

[ThomasPowers]

The "cube of metal" has been used as an anvil for about 3000 years, London pattern for about 300.  I also built some anvil stands from rough sawn oak. I cut to length, with the outer two pieces longer and then aligned them on an H beam (I-beam on it's side).  Clamped them with pipe clamps and drilled them with an electricians drill bit and used long bolts I got at the scrapyard to hold them together, been using them for years now... My cube anvil on it's side, the stake anvil I made to have a "horn" and an example of my anvil stumps:

  

  

 

[ryeokum]

In a couple of days I'll take some pitchers of what I've got going on and post them. Feedback is very welcome.

[ryeokum]

Weighing in at 157# so far. I just picked up a piece of 1018 cold role 4"x4"x8" for the horn.

 

[JHCC]

Looks good so far!

[BartW]

looks nice ...

[Leather Bill]

Very nice. Give it a name and use it.

[Luna]

one of the many advantages of a homemade anvil is you never have to worry about ruining it if you repair it

[eseemann]

On 1/31/2021 at 8:23 PM, Daswulf said:

Use it as is. A chunk of steel is harder than hot forgable steel. If it deforms too much and I'm wrong, then you can do a little grinding and hard face it then do a lot of hard grinding if you want. 

I have seen several people say you can forge steel on an oak other hardwood stump if the steel is hot enough. I have a striker plate made from a road scraper blade that I think is ar500. 

[Daswulf]

Sort of, I really wouldnt advise trying it. You wouldn't have much of the anvil side resistance as the hot metal you are hitting is actively burning away the wood. You would start having burnt away divots where you were hammering the hot metal.  Plus the smoke would be choking you out and blocking your vision of what you are doing.

Dishing can be done on a stump or with a chunk of wood.  Again, in practice where you dished at on the wood continually burns away as you use it so if you were doing a certain shape like a certain shaped spoon you would eventually need a new spot on the wood to start as the old spot would start to get too deep and wide for what you were forming. I realized this in using a hardwood stump to hot dish spoons before I made, then purchased a better metal dished swage block. 

 

[eseemann]

Daswulf, you are 100% correct. Like the anvil stones used in past times that would only last until the stone has had enough of this getting hit with a hammer foolishness. 

[Daswulf]

I've seen some anvils that seemed done with getting forged on as well lol.  Yeah good hard stone can and has worked as an anvil. Just for fun I tried on a chunk of granite and it worked fine, even had some rebound. 

With all the scrap chunks of steel out there, for many, it is just a matter of looking into the right places and asking around. Same with anvils. There are still many out there tucked away collecting dust. 

[ThomasPowers]

May I remind folks that in earlier times smiths were forging real wrought iron that is nearly butter soft at the temps it likes to be forged at----one reason why earlier anvils could be so small and still work well. 

[Luna]

While I am definitely a fan of the homemade anvil nothing performs like a commercially made anvil, it's purpose made for the job.  I work now on my homemade anvil as a preference but it is kinda funny how things turn out.  If you give up hunting for the perfect anvil and get something to get you started it seems like it opens a door.  I know it did for me, once I made that step it seemed like anvils were everywhere.  If you want to give smithing a try find something and give it a go.  I will warn you though this is habit forming if not down right addictive.  Look on youtube at smiths in third world countries, look at the anvils and tools that they use to provide for their families.  I had preconceived ideas of what I had to have to do this, that just weren't true.  Those videos will wake you up to the possibilities.  Here in America it is pretty easy to scrounge together a pretty good start, especially with the info on this forum without a newb breaking the bank.  This forum has been a wonderful resource for me, I always learn something new.  But nothing will teach you as much as putting that info to use with your own two hands, make a start today.  Bye the way thanks, in case people don't say it enough.