home made anvil?

My mate has a slab of steel 80mm to 100mm thick, about 600 to 700mm long350mm tall . I am just guessing at the sizes. He got a big wood block and cut a channel in it to hold it up right. It worked very well for 12 years or more then he finnally bought a real anvil. He made just as good knives with the slab.

The one in the link looks very good. It just seems a lot of work and at the end still a quite high price. It would have a great satisfaction factor saying you made it yourself. Always hard to know with those kind of projects just how hard it will be with limited tools if you have a huge work shop andplenty of spare time it would be a bit of fun.

I have 13 anvils I can't help myself I have anteque and nes railway line and mini. I have a 30 kg chinees cost $100 aust I needed to grind the horn to shape and it is a dead anvile that is if you drop a ball bearing onto the surface it hardly bounces. It means your working a bit harder.

I drag it out when teaching new blokes so that the don't damage my good anvils. It makes a good knife just the same. Bad anvils can make good knives.
Good anvils are nicer to work on and easier less lost energy. They even sound nicer.After a while you will be able to feel a good anvil (a hard anvil with lots of bounce). It is all about how much play money you have.
 
The metal shop at the vo-tech would keep the trouble makers in the high school class busy with a couple of big bastard files and a rail road rail. You could do the same, or use that angle grinder of yours...harbor freight has 10 packs of metal grinding disks (you want the grinders for this, not the cutters) on sale for under $10 regular like... Go to the junk yard or wander the rail bed for a small cut off piece of rail...CSX does prosecute around here, but alot of those rail guys that repair the tracks will give you stuff, like small cut off pieces of rail. I think Jim Hrisoulas suggested making one out of rail and how to harden the surface?- can't find where his books are here at the house or I'd tell you for sure. The rail isn't a Great anvil, but it is cheap and can be shaped to what you need.

The "Lively Forge" video shows Lively himself using a bar of steel for an anvil, anchored into the ground. When I was 12ish I used a piece of steel bar about 2" thick X 6" wide that had a big hole on one side. I hammered a couple of 3/8" U's into a tree stump thru the hole in the steel. It flopped some, but I was little and banging on red hot rebar- made some very ugly armadillo swords. Start hammering on something.

But to answer your question, it seems like the linked anvil would be a great project, after you do something about those knives...
 
Unless you just really want to make an anvil, I'd just try to make a railroad anvil. I used to use a 1 foot of I-beam mounted to a concrete filled bucket with two huge bolts. It worked, and flattened some metal, but the hammer always fell flat, with no bounce at all. All the energy converted into ringing. It was so loud I could still hear it loudly through the hearing protectors I wear for shooting. :eek:

..Then I lucked into a free 1-1-17(157lb) Peter Wright anvil, and use the i-beam as a "backwoods belt sander."
 
Would there be any point in buying a 50# anvil from HF and bolting it down to some steel plate, maybe another 50# worth, with a good solid base under it? I can't find the anvil on their website but the one at the store was described as cast steel, with a hardened face. I don't recall the price either but I think it was pretty cheap. The face is fairly small, but wider than a piece of train rail, and it has a horn... think they'd look at me funny if I walked in there with a ball bearing and see how high it bounces?
 
check the recycle yards... you can pick up a large round for a couple bucks..... last year i picked up a 6inch round that weighs 192lbs... for 15 bucks... .. i saw some nice 4130 rounds on ebay awhile back with free ship...
- don't worry bout getting a mild round... they still work very well... just don't hit the face..... .. post anvils work great... all the weight is under the work where you need it

for a reg anvil.... put an ad in the bargan hunter in the wanted section.... but the best place is join a blacksmith group and attend the meetings..... theres alway an anvil or two forsale at a reasonable price... well worth it... along with other much needed tools

Greg
 
put a dang 4"x4"x30" piece of steel upright in a bucket of concrete and stick a fork in it! Or.....just buy an anvil so you can spend more time making knives.
 
Kerry Hampton said:
put a dang 4"x4"x30" piece of steel upright in a bucket of concrete and stick a fork in it! Or.....just buy an anvil so you can spend more time making knives.
Click to expand...

I wish it was this easy. It took me two years to find an anvil.

PS, google farrier supply places in your area. They'll have something passable for a start.
 
I made mine out of a piece of overhead crane rail leftover from when my power plant installed a new 72 ton crane. We just scrapped the rest.

I'm with Greg, check your local scrapyards. I'm sure you'll find something there. Someone there will be able to cut you off a hunk the size you need, and maybe even blow a few holes in it for mounting to a stump or other type of stand.

I welded a piece of 1/2" thick steel plate to the top of mine, hardfaced it, then ground it smooth. It probably wasn't necessary, but what the hell, I get the stuff for free.
 
Are you guys saying, it doesn't matter so much what the body of the anvil is, as long as the face is hard?

There's a couple structural-steel dealers in my area, they laughed in my face when I asked them about high-carbon steel, but I'm sure they'd have a big ol' chunk of something for a base...
 
Fiddleback said:
I wish it was this easy. It took me two years to find an anvil.

PS, google farrier supply places in your area. They'll have something passable for a start.
Click to expand...

:D I know, easier said than done. I have made tools so that I can make other stuff but as I get older it isn't as much fun. Times a wastin!:eek: :D
 
Here's a picture of the anvil I've been using for over a year. It's 3 1/2"X6"X24" and weighs 150lbs. Set in that bucket of sand it has a bunch of mass and almost no ring. The face has started to work harden at this point. There's a bunch of knives that have gone from start to finish on this local scrap yard find. A good friend located a very nice 110lb. anvil for me, so this one will become a secondary anvil. If anybody needs a starter, travel to western NC and we'll work some kinda swap.
Rick
100_2675.jpg
 
GibsonFan said:
Are you guys saying, it doesn't matter so much what the body of the anvil is, as long as the face is hard?

There's a couple structural-steel dealers in my area, they laughed in my face when I asked them about high-carbon steel, but I'm sure they'd have a big ol' chunk of something for a base...
Click to expand...

The more mass it has the less its gonna jump around on you, vibrate, etc. The mass of the anvil, the mass of the base, and the rigidity of the connection between the two, are factors that effect its performance (efficiency).

Hardfacing the working surface is welding up the face with Cobalt-base alloy rods, high carbon, or Manganese rods. This prevents denting of the surface.

I've heard of welding a high carbon steel plate to the top as well. Care must be taken, and different techniques used when welding hardened steel to mild steel. It'll take an experienced welder to do this for you correctly to ensure a good weld and prevent the weld from cracking.
Hope this helps,
Scott
 
A block anvil works well for knifemaking, the horn and heels are not used often, unlike in other blacksmithing areas. the face should be hard, and at least 1/2"thick to give a good rebound for your hammer, and to help resist being damaged. That can be accomplished either by making your anvil from tool steel, welding on a tool steel face, or by building it up with hardfacing rods.

good luck
Ken
 
If you intend to do much forging with it, I would recommend a used real anvil. There is an 89# Hay Budden on Ebay in good condition. If it could be bought for $3 per pound it would be a good buy. Even a cheap cast steel anvil will work, but it will ring quite loud. If you have questions about old anvils, go the ABANA website and go to the forums. There are several people there that are quite knowledgeable. Good luck.
 
im thinking about just going with a big chunk of steel mounted in concrete in the ground. im thinking of going with 3"x4" for the face. what alloy should i look for at the scrap yard? also should i used my forge to harden the top 4" of it or what should i do. i can go as deep as 15" with my forge. im also going to paint the bottom half red or most of it red so no one trips on it coming to visit me. thanks for the advice everyone. im still working on setting up my shop and getting everything situated.
 
Don't bother about finding a particular alloy, look for the shape you need and if it's something like 1045, 4130 or 4340 then that's for the better but you'll pay for it. A square end 4"x4" or 5"x5" is great and all that's needed, a rectagular shape on the end would be fine. Mild steel will work but as mentioned previously you just have to be more careful about hitting it with stray licks of the hammer but it will get marred somewhat anyway. Even if you find a decent mid-range carbon steel alloy it will still be soft and the same thing will happen. Heat treating it would be another thing entirely! I like the idea of using hardfacing rod on the surface if you can only find a mild steel post. You can work harden a surface by carefully hammering it endlessly as well.
 
what about just heating it up past NM and then quenching it? would it still be good and stable when concreted straight into the ground at the proper height? will i have to worry about it warping on me from quenching it in water or from repeated use over a period of time?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top