I remember the days there was (seemed to me as a lad) permenant sunset in that diection at night. Its a sad place now. I know people who work there.
Anvil or substitutes??
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I remember the days there was (seemed to me as a lad) permenant sunset in that diection at night. Its a sad place now. I know people who work there.
there is a PDF book on basic blacksmithing making basic tool in your garden etc
was part of this sites download section when we had one only found it again when another link was posted
http://ftpforge.chez-alice.fr/Blacksmithing.pdf
was part of this sites download section when we had one only found it again when another link was posted
http://ftpforge.chez-alice.fr/Blacksmithing.pdf
My old welding instructor was quite high up at Chapel Bank (if I remember right) but then had a heart attack and had to take a lower stress job training us numpties. Genius of a bloke and had time for anyone who put some effort in.
i've had anvils made from most junkyard objects over the years I think 
Rail track in this country is rounded on the top and makes it less than useful for blades (also flexes and is very loud in use unless on end)
I (or H) section bar is no good at all! It is like a ruddy bell and will make your ears bleed!
Mild steel lump of any size is very good as long as you have the flat surface to work on
Sledge hammer (use the face and regrind to flat) is great if you can mount it (angle iron welded to it and bolted down, sink half of head into log, etc). It is basically a small heattreated anvil and so just right (the square Bachos are best due to the shape )
Splitting wedges can work well too, if a little small on top
My teaching anvils are made from sections of fork lift truck spike that has angle iron or spikes welded on to them.
Unless you need the beak (horn), don't bother with it. Even on a large (100lb+) anvil it is a bell that makes the whole thing less fun to work on. I do 99% of my work on a 5" square lump of steel, the other 1% (straightening and some bending) is done on my brand new and very expensive London pattern 100kg anvil
Rail track in this country is rounded on the top and makes it less than useful for blades (also flexes and is very loud in use unless on end)
I (or H) section bar is no good at all! It is like a ruddy bell and will make your ears bleed!
Mild steel lump of any size is very good as long as you have the flat surface to work on
Sledge hammer (use the face and regrind to flat) is great if you can mount it (angle iron welded to it and bolted down, sink half of head into log, etc). It is basically a small heattreated anvil and so just right (the square Bachos are best due to the shape
)Splitting wedges can work well too, if a little small on top
My teaching anvils are made from sections of fork lift truck spike that has angle iron or spikes welded on to them.
Unless you need the beak (horn), don't bother with it. Even on a large (100lb+) anvil it is a bell that makes the whole thing less fun to work on. I do 99% of my work on a 5" square lump of steel, the other 1% (straightening and some bending) is done on my brand new and very expensive London pattern 100kg anvil
anvils, chains, rubber hosing, etc do make a small amount of difference but to be honest it's nothing compared to having a lump without the bells on the end!
I have a small anvil in my outdoor workshop that I bought on ebay a few years back. The pics looked like it was a small london pattern anvil weighing about 40lbs. It turned out that it was a homemade anvil that was the shape of the classic anvil, but cut from 2 1/2" thick plate. That's not a problem really It was very noisy to use, even when embedded and chained down under serious tension to a log buried in the ground. Then I chopped a couple of inches off the beak and that improved it a lot more than any of the "stick xxx on to it" methods.
My 50lb stump anvil set into a log is far far quieter than my 100kg london anvil that sits on a buried stump, with any attempt to dull the sounds. Most of those techniques that I tried ended up getting on my nerves in their own right anyway (magnets kept slipping off or I would catch things on them as I walked past, etc), heavy chains wrapped around it helped more than the magnet but got in the way sometimes, rubber stuck to it or wrapped around it obviously ended up getting me a face full of smoke
at the end of the day, make use of what you have. if trying to make a noisy anvl a bit quieter is easier/more cost efficient for you then do it.
I have a small anvil in my outdoor workshop that I bought on ebay a few years back. The pics looked like it was a small london pattern anvil weighing about 40lbs. It turned out that it was a homemade anvil that was the shape of the classic anvil, but cut from 2 1/2" thick plate. That's not a problem really
It was very noisy to use, even when embedded and chained down under serious tension to a log buried in the ground. Then I chopped a couple of inches off the beak and that improved it a lot more than any of the "stick xxx on to it" methods.My 50lb stump anvil set into a log is far far quieter than my 100kg london anvil that sits on a buried stump, with any attempt to dull the sounds. Most of those techniques that I tried ended up getting on my nerves in their own right anyway (magnets kept slipping off or I would catch things on them as I walked past, etc), heavy chains wrapped around it helped more than the magnet but got in the way sometimes, rubber stuck to it or wrapped around it obviously ended up getting me a face full of smoke
at the end of the day, make use of what you have. if trying to make a noisy anvl a bit quieter is easier/more cost efficient for you then do it.
- my big one has a crack in the body some where - dead as a ding bat. even then I still wear hearing protection. - it cuts out all the high pitched stuff and helps with the hammer ringing past your ear too.
I am surprised at how quiet the rail anvil is. It sits on a good stack of wood and has a limited ring to it.
atb
Andy
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