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  1. #16
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    135

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    Ash,

    I made an anvil (with help) which then evolved see:
    Des' projects or "Musings from the Shed": Homemade Anvil - RR Anvil - Part 1
    There is a part 2 in the website as well.

    just 8 weeks ago I added a plate of bissloy over the top to thicken the top.

    the ringing issue is real, so here are a few more suggestions:
    Decide if you want an anvil, or an "ASO" (Anvil shaped object) - the first is a solid surface for shaping metal, the second "looks right" but is less than OK.
    Anvils can be any heavy section metal (or granite for certain people) and I have anvils made from salvaged 8" diameter x 450mm L steel shafting, blocks of 2"x144"x14" plate, and a short (500mm) length of "crane rail" which came out from under a car positioner (135Kg pLm) - the crane rail is squat, and thick (4-5" across the top, and 5" deep with a 3.5" wide thin web in the middle
    ASOs is what my RR anvil started out as, it's now useable, but it took a lot of rework, and I've still to make a base for it. I have (somewhere) my very first ASO - an aluminium model anvil i cast in high school - you can imagine how useful that is as a real anvil.

    I've made some stake holders from 20L buckets filled with concrete, and pipe risers - they certainly are solid and have stood up to what I've trown at them (my stake tools are made from pipe risers and bits of steel welded to the risers (CV sockets, towballs, a tomahawk head, etc)

    HTH,
    Des

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Rockhampton CQ
    Posts
    11

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    If you really want some anvil envy check out Anvilfire and Far West Forge sites in good old US of A. There is a couple of years of reading on Anvilfire alone.

    You do not say just exactly what metal work you want do, but you will be very limited in what you can do on rail track. Anvils work best with the greatest part of the mass under the work. You simply can't get this if you use the running part of the rail. If you bury a good length of rail in the ground and use the end, you will have some mass, but a relatively small working area. (All you need is good hammer control!)

    There is a good ratio of anvil weight to hammer weight, but I can't call it to mind. I have a 112 pound anvil and it is a light one - I wouldn't do much on it with a ten pound sledge. You probably know the feeling of trying to put a 2 inch nail into a loose piece of 3x2, as opposed to a securely held one.

    It doesn't matter how long a piece of rail you have, you mostly only have the benefit of the mass under the hammer. The web of the rail will be relatively springy and the base will only stop it from going into the ground and there is the chance of going deaf.

    You could be better off with a sixteen pound sledge set into a good solid log, or any heavy piece of steel with a flat face.

    As one bloke once said, poor people have poor ways. Meaning that if you do not have much money, you make do with what you can get. (When you have a four pound hammer and hot iron, any flat surface looks like an anvil!)

    Cheers,
    "A".

  3. #18
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    135

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Big A View Post
    If you really want some anvil envy check out Anvilfire and Far West Forge sites in good old US of A. There is a couple of years of reading on Anvilfire alone.

    Snip

    There is a good ratio of anvil weight to hammer weight, but I can't call it to mind. I have a 112 pound anvil and it is a light one - I wouldn't do much on it with a ten pound sledge. You probably know the feeling of trying to put a 2 inch nail into a loose piece of 3x2, as opposed to a securely held one.

    Snip

    You could be better off with a sixteen pound sledge set into a good solid log, or any heavy piece of steel with a flat face.

    As one bloke once said, poor people have poor ways. Meaning that if you do not have much money, you make do with what you can get. (When you have a four pound hammer and hot iron, any flat surface looks like an anvil!)

    Cheers,
    "A".
    All very good advice!!!!!!
    From memory the minimum ratio of hammer to weight on anvilfire (and ABANA) is 1:10 - but the bigger the better as demonstrated in the example mentioned above. it was sites like ABANA where I got the tips for making a RR anvil - including the sage advice of "don't bother" and the discussion about "ASO's" - well worth the time to read, and gave me confidence in stating without a "real anvil", and building my own tools from available scrap steel

    Don't discount the sledge in a log concept - there is a website selling kukris from india/pakistan area where they have photos of the kukris being made - all hand blown forges, and bladesmiths using 16lb (or thereabouts) sledge hammer heads as anvils, and 1lb (at most) peen hammers as hammers. Those craftsmen hold the sledge head between their feet, and pound on the metal with the smaller hammer - I'm sure you could do better than that with a little bit of thought.

    far from an expert, but eager to have a go,
    Des

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