Small anvil

[crosslandkelly]

So I thought I'd make a small anvil to go with the gas bottle forge I made recently.
I'd had the piece of track lying around for years, to do something with.

 

[Mesquite]

Very nice work Colin

How long did it take you to do?

 

[sunndog]

Fair bit of grinding work on that horn well done

Railway track is great for a tiny anvil....plus there's so much of it just laying around all over the country lol

 

[Broch]

Where did you get flat-topped railway track? the piece I have for exactly the same purpose (when I get around to it) is convex.

 

[Dave Budd]

well done, you've made a bell!

I really hate rail as anvil material. The stuff in the US is just about OK, but our rail is too thin in the vertical web (so flexes and loses energy), the top section is too thin (so rings like a deafening bell and loses energy) and the top is rounded (so limited use). You would've been better served by using it on end and having a small but much better anvil; or weighing it in and getting a brick sized lump of mild/granite curbstone/sledge hammer head.

Still, for jewelry it'll be lovely

 

[sunndog]

well done, you've made a bell!

I really hate rail as anvil material. The stuff in the US is just about OK, but our rail is too thin in the vertical web (so flexes and loses energy), the top section is too thin (so rings like a deafening bell and loses energy) and the top is rounded (so limited use). You would've been better served by using it on end and having a small but much better anvil; or weighing it in and getting a brick sized lump of mild/granite curbstone/sledge hammer head.

Still, for jewelry it'll be lovely

LMAO. The professionals opinion

You can put stuff on it and whack it.

I've got a real anvil and a bit of railway line. I reckon I use both equally.
The real anvil is great for bigger jobs obviously but the railway line comes in just as handy for being portable and I can have it on the window sill above bench.

However I've never forged a thing unless you count heating and bending stuff

 

[sunndog]

Ere Dave. What would you reckon to some thick plate welded to the top of an old 56lb weight?

 

[Stew]

well done, you've made a bell!

I really hate rail as anvil material. The stuff in the US is just about OK, but our rail is too thin in the vertical web (so flexes and loses energy), the top section is too thin (so rings like a deafening bell and loses energy) and the top is rounded (so limited use). You would've been better served by using it on end and having a small but much better anvil; or weighing it in and getting a brick sized lump of mild/granite curbstone/sledge hammer head.

Still, for jewelry it'll be lovely

I did suggest a post anvil before it was cut up....

 

[crosslandkelly]

Very nice work Colin

How long did it take you to do?

Cheers Steve. It took me a couple of hours this morning.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Where did you get flat-topped railway track? the piece I have for exactly the same purpose (when I get around to it) is convex.

I can't remember where it came from, a friend gave it to me, and he had had it for many years. I ground off the slight convex on it.

 

[crosslandkelly]

well done, you've made a bell!

I really hate rail as anvil material. The stuff in the US is just about OK, but our rail is too thin in the vertical web (so flexes and loses energy), the top section is too thin (so rings like a deafening bell and loses energy) and the top is rounded (so limited use). You would've been better served by using it on end and having a small but much better anvil; or weighing it in and getting a brick sized lump of mild/granite curbstone/sledge hammer head.

Still, for jewelry it'll be lovely

I have an old 20lb sledge hammer head that I've used a few times, this was more of an excercise/ project/ a bit of fun for me.

 

[crosslandkelly]

I did suggest a post anvil before it was cut up....

You surely did.

 

[Mesquite]

Cheers Steve. It took me a couple of hours this morning.

You did well to get it done that quickly and to that finish

 

[santaman2000]

Nice work! New forge, new anvil, you must be getting ready for a making spree?

 

[crosslandkelly]

You did well to get it done that quickly and to that finish

Lol, a 40 grit flap disc removes a lot of material fast.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Nice work! New forge, new anvil, you must be getting ready for a making spree?

The guys at the Suffolk group are keen to try, and I had the makings.

 

[Dave Budd]

Ere Dave. What would you reckon to some thick plate welded to the top of an old 56lb weight?

you could do, but unless you were able to weld the full width of the plate it will make a racket and likely break apart; it's one of the problems that occurs with old anvils that have a welded on face. It does also depend on your definition of a thick plate If the plate is very thick, then maybe use it on edge. The mistake people always make is that they think a broad surface is better, but in reality it is mass and rigidity. I've got an anvil made of mild plate that is 12" long, 8" high, but only 1 1/2" wide, I welded on a couple of bits of angle iron to bolt it down with. Not the best anvil but it has served to teach several dozed people to make axes and knives on, just needs a little redressing every year or so.

The anvils that I use in my outdoor teaching set up are made by welding a 4" length of fork lift spike to some box section that is filled with lead (though one is filled with oily sand and works pretty well), the box is then staked into a log. The sandy one only weighs about 10kg I guess and I teach people to make axes and all sorts on it. The faces are heat treated so that they take a bit more abuse.

I've got small anvils of the original rail sort of size and shape that I use for leatherwork, setting rivets and jewelry but I wouldn't ever use them when I have something more solid (irrespective of weight). 20lb sledge is great, ideally use the striking face or if you have to use it laid out then work on the ends rather than over the eye

finding a heavy and solid base is a massive bonus, be it a log or a bucket of concrete. Make sure you anchor the anvil well. I've used large bolts to hold small anvils down (having welded angle iron on to them), spikes welded to the underside and embedded into the log, chains with bolts to tension them, etc. Even one of my main workshop anvils (100kg) is a totally different beast when it is strapped down with chain and bolts compared to sitting on top of the 300+kg log buried in the ground!

 

[sunndog]

I was thinking plate of around an inch thick certainly no less than 3/4.
I am by no means an anvil guy the 56lb weight occurred to me as I read your post above about the thin web on railway line

My big anvil must weigh 50kg I'd say and is nailed through short lengths of chain to a big round of ash to standing knuckle height.
To be fair I only really use it for flattening big lumps of steel.
Last job was straightening a bent up timber grab before welding it back up

 

[Brizzlebush]

Well despite all those that know what they're talking about, I think it's a brilliant piece of re-purposing.
Probably a hell of a lot of fun to do as well!

 

[Dave Budd]

the 1" thick plate will flex enough to be annoying unless you could through weld, but that would be insane amount of work/rods for the rewards. I've had 1 1/2" plate pinned to a log and it was much less efficient than when I then turned it on it's side and mounted it that way (so was 1 1/2" wide face and 4" tall).

If it's a large enough bit of plate, you could slice it up and weld the pieces together around the outside to make a thicker (say 3 bits of plate), so the force of the blows is inline with the weld planes not at 90 degrees as if you welded to the weight. The thickened lump (eg 3" wide, however long and however high) could then be welded to the weight with good wide fillets and you would get a much better anvil as there would be no flex