Home made anvil from plate?

[dmelton]

Anyone ever seen an anvil made from 2inch plate steel? I found a welder shop to do some work on my forge and noticed they had some very thick plate steel that I thought you could make a decent anvil from. Anyone have any ideas on how this would work? Use a flat peice for the face, two about 10inches tall held sideways for the body and then a plate on each end for a base? If welded together and if the plate was heat treated would this make a better anvil than a 40$ cast iron job? I'm having a devil of a time finding a decent anvil.

Thanks,
Derek Melton
Clinton, MS.

 

[Plain ol Bill]

Just about anything beats one of those cast iron ones. Ask your friedly local welder about putting some hard face rod on the surface of the plate for you, then get it surface ground. I don't know how economical this would be, but check into it. You might also see if a local steel supplier has any 4130 or 4140 drops of heavy plate. For knife work you don't really need a standard anvil.