Anvil build. maybe...

V

velferd

Joined
Oct 23, 2016
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HI all, been reading this forum for a while, learning about knife making and blacksmithing from all you folks here. Thanks a bunch for sharing your knowledge!

I started knife making a few years ago, and took a long break before I finally started back into it. Now I wish i never quit... Long story short, I began smithing on the infamous RR track anvil, about 14 inches stood on end and have grown tired of the small work surface after two years and multiple larger projects. Yes it works, but it sucks for bigger work (bigger knives, hammers etc). Which brings me to the point of posting:

I have sourced several large chunks of steel in the 75-120 lb range of unknown composition and will be converting them into some anvils to replace my RR track. I have no clue what they were used for, nor the exact composition.
There are a few options here,
1) One piece is 3.5 inch square shaft and about 24 inches long, I will use as a post anvil.
2) There are two 3 inch thick plates 14 inches wide and 2 feet long. In your opinion, should i make an anvil out of one 3 inch plate or should I weld them together for a 6 inch work surface? I think the joint running the middle of the surface might create a dead area and eventually break the welds, so it may be more effective to shape the 3 inch plate instead rather than have to re weld ti later? Though that's not a big deal...

Thoughts?
 
If you put a proper 1” bevel weld to marry the plates, as well as preheat (even A36 over 2” requires preheat) you'll never be able to tell they're 2 pieces. But a weld like that is probably 15-16 passes and not something most people are willing or able to tackle. If you just butt them together and run a single pass down with a 110v MIG, you'll regret bothering to try.
 
Really. If it would proove effective I would definitely take the time to do it. The issue I see it the center work hardening differently than the rest of the face, but i suppose with time i can fix defects/wear patterns.
 
An anvil surface 6" wide is huge even for a full on blacksmiths shop.

I would not bother welding side by side. Aside from the examples at shipyards,
Thats a huge amount of weldbead & energy to join those plates.

If anything, stacked on edge to create as much mass as practical under the hammer blows.
3x24" is still quite big as an anvil surface.
 
I would lay one flat and put the other on it edge up (in a T). Then weld the vertical one to the flat one. This will give sufficient mass and make the anvil steady.
 
I have had a very slow start to knifemaking. I have have been slowly acquiring/building tools. I have gone back and forth on building an anvil and I did tons of reading on here. I decided to go ahead and acquire the materials to build one. I am building one similar to the image below. I purchased ($75) a large block of 4130. It will have a 4x6 face and weighs right at 100 lb. The only thing left I have to get is the large round tubing and set the block in it. I would imagine you could do something similar with a larger face.
98ce170ab80f3363d94e838ee663bba3.jpg
 
Thanks for the input guys! Picked up the scrap today, and 1200 lbs later it looks like I got a few (okay more than a few) anvil standins! Probably not going to weld the plates together, after looking at them more i think they will do fine as is...

Ill harden the face of the post anvil as much it can be hardened. Hopefully ill get mid 40s from it, but it sparks like its 0.2%C, so im not too optimistic. I'm also debating welding a 'hardy loop' on it but may leave it for the bigger one.

And a question for the more metallurgically oriented, How much hardness can I gain from cold working the face and is it worth it? To my knowledge it will be more brittle, but is that really an issue talking about such soft steel anyways?
 
Lieblad said:
An anvil surface 6" wide is huge even for a full on blacksmiths shop.

I would not bother welding side by side. Aside from the examples at shipyards,
Thats a huge amount of weldbead & energy to join those plates.

If anything, stacked on edge to create as much mass as practical under the hammer blows.
3x24" is still quite big as an anvil surface.
Click to expand...

I have a Nimba Centurion anvil.....its 7" wide and I love it
 
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