Finally! An actual anvil!

[mrcairney]

Well not quite.



Saw this on the bay and paid a paltry £20. It's the perfect size for what I want too (about a foot long). Looks like it was cut, but not finished. Flap disks are at the ready. Finally I'll have a flat beating area bigger than a 50p coin! I commute by rail daily and can't help but spot cut offs and think to myself 'I NEED that!'

It's all coming together. Just goes to show if you wait stuff turns up.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Cool, we have a bigger one that sits on a heavy steel box with a lip, at school. Rarely used much. Mainly for homers......

 

[mrcairney]

I've already got plans for a stand. Using the Bob Werner method. Which is basically wood and sand in a barrel.

 

[TurboGirl]

And how much P&P?! Seriously, fine purchase from the bay there

 

[mrcairney]

£8 it came with a block I don't want so he'll make his money back selling that separately.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

The block has a 5mm lip which stops it moving around. We use it for twisting steel for hanging basket brackets.

 

[Gill]

Good price it looks as if it has been cut from a length of railtrack!

 

[mrcairney]

Aye Gil, that's exactly what it is!

 

[Harvestman]

I asked at my local scrap metal merchant after anvils. The guy glared at me and said "I collect anvils. Any I find, I keep" and that ended that conversation.

 

[mrcairney]

Yeah, I've been looking for one for over a year. They aren't necessary, but what I've been using (a sledge hammer head) just isn't big enough. Or flat.

 

[lannyman8]

oooooh, good job old son...

my cut down H beam does me well, but rings like a bugger...

mind you it is just on a wooden box with nothing in it...

 

[mrcairney]

Tip for you chris: Whack a decent sized magnet on the underside. It cuts the ringing down.

PS. I thought that got taxed?

 

[bikebum1975]

Lucky you something I wanna get into myself at one point

 

[Dave Budd]

I've got bits of rail that I use for odd things and I once used a bit of RSJ, but to be honest the sledge hammer head (my first attempt at an anvil) was the best of the lot to actually forge on. It's all down to mass and stiffness

Still there are a lot of folk who use rail anvils and stick with them, after all bigger lumps (or normal anvils) are hard to find cheap and cost a lot new! If you can find a way of caulking out the sides (either side of the vertical web stem between bottom and top)to make them solid then you will have a MUCH better anvil, you loose loads of energy (turned into vibration and a lot of noise) due to the thin section.

Happy forging though!

 

[lannyman8]

Tip for you chris: Whack a decent sized magnet on the underside. It cuts the ringing down.

PS. I thought that got taxed?

it did....:aargh4: i had to buy another 1, for twice as much....

thanks for the magnet idea, chain is supposed to work too, when i can get some for free...

 

[mrcairney]

I've got bits of rail that I use for odd things and I once used a bit of RSJ, but to be honest the sledge hammer head (my first attempt at an anvil) was the best of the lot to actually forge on. It's all down to mass and stiffness

Still there are a lot of folk who use rail anvils and stick with them, after all bigger lumps (or normal anvils) are hard to find cheap and cost a lot new! If you can find a way of caulking out the sides (either side of the vertical web stem between bottom and top)to make them solid then you will have a MUCH better anvil, you loose loads of energy (turned into vibration and a lot of noise) due to the thin section.

Happy forging though!

Cheers Dave, I like the sledgehead, but it's not flat and it's a bit wee to be honest. Still, as you can see this one isn't even dressed so it's project. Wonder how I'd be able to mass out the sides? Couple of slabs of plate?

 

[lannyman8]

Cheers Dave, I like the sledgehead, but it's not flat and it's a bit wee to be honest. Still, as you can see this one isn't even dressed so it's project. Wonder how I'd be able to mass out the sides? Couple of slabs of plate?

2 bolt holes through the middle with lots of plate, that way you can remove it for bushcraft forging....

 

[mrcairney]

Oh, you're not just a pretty face.

 

[Dave Budd]

yep, heavy plate bolted or welded to the sides will help. My teaching anvils are made from a section of fork lift spike (4x4" and 1 1/2"thick) with 6" of box section welded underneath and filled with lead, they work really well. I think if I had a rail anvil and was able to I would weld plate or box to the sides and fill the gap with lead, failing lead then sand that is wetted with oil is really good. Size isn't everything you know; the one I demo with is 1 1/2"x3" on the top and I've forged 2lb axes and 10" drawknives on it at shows using the Iron age forge!

Chains and magnets work a bit, but I've got neither since for me the pros out way the cons. But once again, many folk both both techniques to deaden ring. The best I've found is to get rid of any thinpointy bits that you don't need, then bolt the anvil down tight to the base and put some silicon caulking (or thin rubber mat) underneath.

 

[lannyman8]

Oh, you're not just a pretty face.

i have a welder if you fancy a drive at some point, box section sounds good filled with oiled sand...