WRLD Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 I have this piece of steel on my property, I'm not sure where it came from but it rebounds kind of like an anvil. Any ideas what I could do with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Is it round & partially buried or that shape? How did it come to be on your property? At 20 inches long it probably would make an improvised anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRLD Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 its round, my grand father acquired it at some point in his life and it ended up here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donal Harris Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Improvised anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Improvised anvil and you might want a slice to use on it's side for drawing on. It's heavy enough that a 5" long section would still make a great drawing anvil! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Oooh, excellent anvil! How close do you live to one of the hundreds of old rail road towns along hwy 395? If it's actually 9 7/8" in diameter it could be a rail car axle and at the estimated age medium carbon steel. Modern rail axles are typically 4140. Stood on end I'm thinking it's an estimated 480lb+ anvil. Taking a slice off to use as suggested already would be good too. it's not hard to learn to use a large fuller / drawing die vertically though and there's an advantage to being able to see exactly what's happening between die and work. You might want to consider what a nice power hammer it'd make. If there are RR shops close by you might be able to talk the into selling a rail car axle. I was looking into buying a couple when I was planning on building a power hammer. Then I found a working 50lb. Little Giant and shelved those plans. Can't buy RR scrap anymore, it's all sold under a single buyer contract. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Or an anvil for a treadle hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Oh yeah! Imagine having another section say belt high length. Long one for the anvil, this one for the hammer on suitable guides. A mechanical treadle would make a slow but hard hitting hammer but an air brake can and brake pedal from a semi could turn them into a precise single hit hammer. WITH bolt on dies. I have a number of concept drawings of such on one of my dead computers. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 My concept I'm scrounging towards will have 5.25" diameter solid anvil and a section of fork lift tine for the ram; got most of the steel I need and am waiting for electricity for the welder---hard to scrounge that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 No RR axles in your friendly neighborhood scrap yard? How about I mail you some current bush seeds? I may build a treadle hammer one of these days but I've sort of stopped thinking about one when in the shop. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRLD Posted April 10, 2021 Author Share Posted April 10, 2021 8 hours ago, Frosty said: Oooh, excellent anvil! How close do you live to one of the hundreds of old rail road towns along hwy 395? If it's actually 9 7/8" in diameter it could be a rail car axle and at the estimated age medium carbon steel. Modern rail axles are typically 4140. I live within a couple hours of them, my grandfather worked closer to the area back in the day though so that sounds about right. Come to think of it, I have a couple railroad anvils that I believe he made as well. I'll take an accurate measurement to see. 8 hours ago, Frosty said: Stood on end I'm thinking it's an estimated 480lb+ anvil. Taking a slice off to use as suggested already would be good too. it's not hard to learn to use a large fuller / drawing die vertically though and there's an advantage to being able to see exactly what's happening between die and work. I'm thinking I'm going to bring it into the shop to use as an anvil for now, I've never checked to see if it's cut sqaure. 8 hours ago, Frosty said: You might want to consider what a nice power hammer it'd make. If there are RR shops close by you might be able to talk the into selling a rail car axle. I was looking into buying a couple when I was planning on building a power hammer. Then I found a working 50lb. Little Giant and shelved those plans. Can't buy RR scrap anymore, it's all sold under a single buyer contract. <sigh> I hadn't thought about that! That may be a thought in the future though. I've had fun falling Into this hobby so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 My railroad anvil is a 469# Fisher; came from the RR repair shop in Columbus Ohio as the anvil for a blacker power hammer; when it got shut down; one of the workers took it home with him. I have a couple of railroad rail anvils too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.