texasalterna Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Ok my wife has put a no buy anvil ban on the house untill may. now i have 4 pieces of steel that are 2" thick 8" wide and about 2 1/2' long, if i stack these and weld them together would that be a sufficiant make shift anvil? I do not want to have to wait till may to start hammering on stuff as my forge is 90% complete and will be fired up this weekend. Let me know what you think. Also if you think this would work what have you guys used as an anvil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug C Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 I have heard of folks using a lot less than that as an anvil. You could use just one or two and save the others for a different purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Might have to join to get in but there is a great pic of a fellow foring on an upright anvil made from a piece of forklift tine over at Primal Fires: Hey guys...new work for you to look at (picture heavy) - Newbie Shop - Visit Here First - Primal Bladesmithing and Knifemaking - Primal Fires - Message Board - Yuku based on the one shown in "That Anvil Story" link down low on MKArmory Makers of Rapiers, Swords, Daggers, and Longswords which every one should be able to get too. Archives of Primal Fires should show knifemaker's anvils made by casting a heavy chunk of sq stock in a bucket of concrete no need to *buy* an anvil! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 All you need to do is stand one of those pieces of plate on end, 30" is close to my correct working height. Put the nicest end up of course. You don't need much more face width than the width of your hammer. The other pieces of plate can be used for alternate shapes, a progressive radius ground on one end would serve as a horn and you could cut or grind half rounds and other shapes to serve as a swage block. Sounds like you already have a number of anvils to me. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul B Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Frosty, I was thinking along the same lines as you. I hope I can find some nice size pieces like that when I get started. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyshackleford Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 she won't even break down for one of these puppies? Old World Anvils - Stump Anvil use it as inspiration for what you want to make Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnie Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Just make the best of what you have. Don't get hung up on what an "anvil" looks like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasalterna Posted December 3, 2008 Author Share Posted December 3, 2008 ill take a pic of thwe pieces tomorow and post them. ihtey are round on one end and invert round on the other end. not square Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pault17 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 man oh man! you already have a horn, a half round swage, a large faced anvil sand a long narrow faced anvil. and that's just with one of them:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrynjr Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 she won't even break down for one of these puppies? Old World Anvils - Stump Anvil I have both of those items, I never had much luck with them. Though if I had a good stump now, I might be able to figure out how to use them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice Czar Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 (edited) stand one of those pieces of plate on end :thumbup: make a mighty fine anvil, maybe a few of em sandwiched together with plug welds and edge welds, then a little grinding for some angled and round edges could even get fancy and make it a combo swage block if reoriented (with a little cutting, drilling and grinding before sandwiching) course it might need to be named the Hernia Maker if reoriented too often :p Edited December 3, 2008 by Ice Czar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mulciber Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/anvil-cheap-7452/ I would probably do something like this. However, I would leave an end hanging over so that there's a place to make sharp bends. You will easily be able to last till May with the steel you already have. If you don't do that, I would cut one of the pieces in half and weld it to it self. I don't think you need 25" of working face. 12" will be more than enough. Lots of people use a piece of rail road track set on end. Whichever you do, make sure that you secure the piece firmly. The best method I've seen is to sink a spike into a log and set a chain over the "anvil" with the other side being a adjustable eye bolt (you turn it with a wrench and it has a hook or eye loop on both ends) Depending on the type of steel you may try to temper the top. Many ways to do this and I would wager that it would be worth the effort. When getting started you don't want to use a beautiful anvil because you WILL miss the metal from time to time and there's no reason to abuse a good anvil. I found a guy selling an old anvil that was already dinged up. I set a belt sander on it to remove the rust and started hammering. Later on when I'm confident that I'm not missing the metal anymore I will sand off another 1/8" so the face is smooth. If you think about it, if you're missing the metal once in a while your hammer control probably isn't good enough to make the metal look smooth enough where the dings in the anvil can be seen. Welcome! Get safety glasses before you even buy a hammer. Too many reasons to have them in a blacksmith shop. I have an apron and hearing protection too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Thoase stump anvils are powerfully small, look more like denglestocks for hammering the edge of scyths. My stump anil looks to be about 4-5" on a side; lot more mass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasalterna Posted December 3, 2008 Author Share Posted December 3, 2008 heres a pic of the metal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Crap, how many did you say you have? I may want one, yeah I need one of those, it looks like a swage to me, ugh, where do you live? Man that looks good, drool drool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evfreek Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 I have both of those items, I never had much luck with them. Though if I had a good stump now, I might be able to figure out how to use them! Hi Larry. I'm curious. What was wrong with them?:confused: Although there are no weights listed, they look a little light. But a sledge hammer head seems to work pretty well, at least for small stuff. And a little piece of RR track also works OK, as long as you don't work near the edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Leppo Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalMuncher Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 I had an idea for an anvil and will make it soon. I have seen old leaf springs about an inch thick (from cement mixers), I was gonna weld some sort of thing on both its sides to be able to hold it down using nails or something. And leave a piece hanging off the stand to be able to make bends. Im also thinking of putting a hardy hole in it....I have never used one, but they look very useful. I also dont think it'll ring as much.Just an idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgtwister Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 that looks like the arm that slides out of a the old car lifts now i gota go by buy old buddys shop were they took out the old lifts and i think hes scraping them and they had arms that look like that and see if i can grab them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasalterna Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 yea they are in-ground lift arms. Every time one breaks down the replace them with an electric lift, and i get 4 of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mulciber Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 heres a pic of the metal What're ya whining about an anvil for? Whatever that chunk of metal was set on when you took the pic would make a fine anvil! You don't really need to do anything except perhaps secure that chunk of metal for the first 6 months you are smithing. I bought an anvil quickly because I was excited about it and had the disposable income. One funny thing though, my best piece made on a piece of RR track is better than most of my work done on my 200lb Trenton anvil. I wouldn't spend the time worrying about having an anvil shaped anvil when you're going to ding it up with sloppy hammer blows. Most of your first few months will be exploring different techniques. Plus it's a good feeling when you make something beautiful off something that didn't cost you an arm and a leg. When I have all the expensive equipment I feel like I'm supposed to be able to do better or that I should be doing better because I'm investing so much time and energy into buying expensive tools. If you haven't caught my drift through all that because it was a long winded --> Get hammer time in. Anvil shaped anvil later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howardz71 Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 me and my buddy started heating up metal and hitting it with a hammer about 1 year ago and until we got a hand me down anvil from an old horse shoe maker we used a block of steel about 2 inches thick and 2 foot long recessed in to a log it was not a real anvil but it worked very well for us a scrap yard or a metal shop could hook you up try it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobDobbs Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 If you're just getting started, don't get hung up on waiting for a "real" anvil. Here is a shot of my first "anvil". Simply a big chunk of steel inset into a very large stump. My "hardy hole" was a hole drilled into the end of the stump. I radiused one of the edges with a file but left the rest of the edges sharp. It worked fairly well for over a year and didn't cost me anything. I got the steel from Chuck Stone, a blacksmith in the Dallas area (Thanks, Chuck!!). He took pity on me and donated it to me from his scrap pile. Even after getting a "real" anvil, I still found that I used this one fairly frequently. Alas, it is now in storage back in Texas waiting for my return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 yea they are in-ground lift arms. Every time one breaks down the replace them with an electric lift, and i get 4 of these. Huh? I may have to hate you now you lucky dog you. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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