Cold ambient hammerin'

[dhannon]

I've only just begun to hammer (rather than remove stock). Is there a low ambient I should not go below for hammerin' on the anvil? I've an unheated shop and don't want to do the ole brittle fracture thing on the anvil.

Thanks,

Dan
Hannon Bearpaw Knives
http://home.nfolink.com/~dhannon/index.htm

 

[mikeS]

I personally would not worry about ancvil fractures unless it was below freezing, way below like 20- 30 deg, below freezzing. Some guys use a magnetic block heater or a heat pad, etc, to warm the anvil. The traditional way is to lay a large chunk of hot steel on it before you start.

I think the thing that causes anvil failure most is doing too heavy a work on a small anvil. my .02 For more opinions check out the junkyard archives at www.keenjunk.com or ask the Guru's at www.anvifire.com this question comes up a lot. The bassis for my opinion lies in the molecular change of steel at low temps.

You have to go pretty cold to affect a change. If is is 30 below you won't beat on the anvil long anway, the anvil gets jealous of the little piece of "hot" steel and will suck the heat out of it as fast as it can.

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Sola Fide