Anvil questions

S

scubasteve4sq

Joined
Mar 20, 2012
Messages
141
apparently there is a good supply of older anvils available near me, its starting to give me the foraging(spelling?) bug.

I have a nice old brick chimney fireplace in the back yard and all the refractory brick I want from boilers at work, but its outdoors.... something about leaving an anvil outdoors seems wrong, and running with a red hot piece of metal from the yard to the garage is not going to happen.

so is there a way to weatherproof an anvil for outdoor use? or do I need to make a forage for the garage out of a brake drum or something.
 
Not speaking from first hand experience, so take it with a grain of salt, but many people who forge their knives do it outdoors. If all you're concerned about is rain, then a simple roof over it will do the trick. And if a little snow's an issue, I think even a little 3 walled shack might be sufficient. As long as you keep it from getting wet all the time, an anvil should have no problem being outdoors.
 
that's a good idea, maybe one of those harbor freight carport things would work, I live in Florida so I'm mostly concerned with humidity and rain
 
My only concern with oiling an anvil would be that oil and hot steel might not react well (it will probably be just some nasty fumes at most though). I think even in Florida, an anvil would merely develop a layer of rust or oxide (which I'm sure any old ones you buy will already have), which probably won't be a problem as long as it's not directly getting wet.
 
I have used an anvil outside in a covered smithy for years. Just wipe it off, or spray it down, with oil or WD-40 every now and then. I also drop a grill cover over it when not in use for a long time. Some folks do fine with no cover at all if the weather is normally good.

Using an old BBQ/fireplace is OK if you completely rebuild it as a coal/charcoal forge. You can't just forge in a bed of charcoal briquettes, though. It has to be arranged with a fire pan and a blower, as well as the air control system.

I would look at building a propane forge, as they are cleaner, easier to operate, and much more portable. Putting one on a welding cart from HF makes it easy to forge wherever the anvil is. Lots of info on forges in the Stickys.
 
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