home made anvil?

My problem was that I could not find even ONE scrapyard near Atlanta that would let me on the yard. Dang insurance.
 
Id say until you get a real anvil, you will just be pounding a square peg into a round hole. Get the cheapest, easiest hunk of steel to bang on until you find the real thing. Stop at every antique store you come across. most have anvils at some point.

I got a 200+# Peter Wright with a perfectly flat face for about 200$ last year. Craigslist. Check it every single day.

My advice? Railroad track anvil. Not the best, but its easy to acquire and is semi-hardened to start with. id hate to see you trying to get a HUGE hunk of steel up to critical temp and im not so sure youd be able to find the right kind of steel in a size big enough to harden.

I have heard of people making an improvised hardened face by simply laying line after line of weld on top of steel, then flattening it.
 
the reason why im looking into make an anvil is cause i have a railroad track that is shaped like an anvil but i dont know anyone with a surface grinder. if i could find someone who has one i would make a stand for this anvil and be satisfied for a good while.
 
i dont have the time to sit down with my angle grinder and try and make it flat. id feel alot better using a surface grinder to do it.
 
I'm goin to Ma. on Friday, Unfortunately I gotta make a sharp right when I hit Rt 2. Going to visit some family for a few days out in Adams. Gonna take you up on that offer soon though!
 
I have seen pictures of Guy THOMAS,s post anvil and the work he does on it is great.

I have also seen photos of a Japanees sword maker using a post anvil.


Back to heat treating it. If you quench the end of the post you would need to be carefull you did not make it too hard to the brittle stage. If you made it full hard and not tempered a little you may have a problem with chipping of the corners. I am sure they could be re welded but I was once hit buy the side of my knee with a chip of hard metal cut my leg. It was just a small cut but I did not like it just the same.
 
Thanks for all the input, guys. I looked up a 140# cast-steel anvil in the Grainger catalog at work last night and it was $1300!!! Cheese an' rice, there's no way I can spring for that right now :( Guess I'll keep my eyes open elsewhere. Please tell me if I'm wasting my time looking for a small affordable anvil that can be "beefed-up" for mass/weight.

I work with anvils all night every night, on roll-fed printing/converting presses. In this case the anvil is a cylinder of hardened tool steel (not sure what type, but it's VERY wear resistant and I have never damaged or broken one in nearly a decade of running these presses) which supports a "web" of label stock, with a rotary die on top... believe me, I understand how important it is that the anvil not bounce, wobble or "give". No way in heck could I be productive with a soft or bouncy anvil, that's why I ask about overall mass/solidness (?) and surface hardness. I think that's the main concern, yes?
 
Tanguay Custom Knives said:
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
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That pretty much answers my questions, thank you, sir. Of course I'd prefer to have a "real" anvil but availability and budget concerns being what they are, I really appreciate y'all's ideas, comments and warnings.

P.S. I wonder if IG's HT relish would harden up a soft face?!? Or just rot it down to nothing... ;)
 
Tanguay Custom Knives said:
I'm goin to Ma. on Friday, Unfortunately I gotta make a sharp right when I hit Rt 2. Going to visit some family for a few days out in Adams. Gonna take you up on that offer soon though!
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Cooool!!! Do it up on a Saturday and we can have a Mini HI. That way you can meet some of the Guys from here.;) :D
 
This post has got me interested in setting up a homemade post anvil that Wayne Goddard made which he gave me in December. I kid Wayne about it saying its not a post anvil but a pile anvil. The anvil face is made from a fork lift fork with other chunks of steel attached. It weighted 285 pounds when I got it and I added at least 5 pounds to it since. My main reason for getting it is I think it would be perfect for axes and hawks. I'll bring the camera out with me when I head back out.
 
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