How do you guys heat your anvil?

O

oldwolf

Joined
Dec 29, 2002
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617
It's still freezing in the morning and maybe gets to 45 degrees later on. What's the most efficient way to heat my anvil so it doesn't suck up all the heat. I've got a heat gun. Also how long to get it to forging temp?
 
I am not sure if I do it the right way or not but it seems to work. I have a big chunk of mild steel 2"x1"x15" that I will heat up in the forge and lay it on top of the anvil.
 
I have a old iron, (don't tell my wife)when i walk into my shop i plug it in an go do something else till it's hot.
vern
 
OK, That's a couple. I was wondering if anyone had a set up that used the forge heat and blew hot exhaust air on it. I'd need another blower and some flexible piping. Has anyone done it?
 
OK, Thanks you Guys. Guess I'll look for a Thrift store Iron. That sounds the simplest. Will the forging heat keep it warm enough when it's 50 degrees outside? I've only forged when it was pretty warm, so far.
 
i had a teacher, that built a rectangular sheet metal box, that just fit the anvil face, he'd take a shovel of coke out of the fire, and put it in the box, till he was ready to go.
 
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I've been forging in my shop when's it been down in the 20's. I start forging and after the first 3 or 4 heats the anvil is already warmed up. The only thing I like to warm up is the handle of the tongs so I don't need gloves.
 
Raymond, I'd like to know how you do that. I tried it yesterday, got the steel orange hot and hit it 5 times and all the color was gone. I'v only forged a half dozen knives so I barely know what I'm doing. In the summer I had no problem.
 
I agree with Ray. Unless you are in MONTANA or someplace like that, -20 for weeks at at time, just the act of forging hot steel will keep the anvil plenty warm. It takes a lot colder temps to make steel brittle. The only benefit would be a few seconds more of hammer time but not much more. I do like to sit on my anvil once warmed up in the cold shop. Keeps the buns warm.
 
A C Richards said:
I agree with Ray. Unless you are in MONTANA or someplace like that, -20 for weeks at at time, just the act of forging hot steel will keep the anvil plenty warm. It takes a lot colder temps to make steel brittle. The only benefit would be a few seconds more of hammer time but not much more. I do like to sit on my anvil once warmed up in the cold shop. Keeps the buns warm.
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Big chuckle and raised beer on this one. LOL.
 
An interesting way that I once heard of was to use a magnetic engine block heater. I haven't tried it myself, but it should work.

Brian
 
I heard that Bill Moran used to put a baking pan of burning coals on his anvil when the shop was cold in the morning. Once it warmed up, he would dump the coals back in the forge.
Stacy
 
To me, the cold anvil is a problem, especially when working on small blades. I have a big square bar of steel that I heat in the forge as it is getting going and then lay it on the anvil and let it suck the heat out of the bar. It seems to get me going faster.
 
Oldwolf,
Sorry I did not see the last part of your question. The time it takes to get to forging temp will vary from forge to forge. In mine,once I reach full temp in the forge, It normally only takes maybe one or two minutes to get up to temp. Now that is on a blade size piece. if it is larger then it will take longer. Once the workpiece has been heated thoroughly it should not take too long to bring it back up. Your forging efficiency is the biggest drawback to heat loss. If you find the anvil sucks out too much heat try the raised workpiece method. This is were you hold the workpiece just above the anvil, like 1/8th inch or less and drive it down with the hammer then lift again on the up stroke. It takes some practice but it can save a lot of heat when you get the hang of it.
 
Here is a link that I found to be interesting, http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-metals-d_858.html It shows the thermal conductivity of metals. Carbon steel only changes a small amount from 68F to 768F then even less up to 2100F. The way I understand the physics it really does not make that much difference with a 200F anvil (most never see this high a temp). It will still remove just as much heat just as fast as a much cooler one. If I am incorrect someone please let me know. I know that heating the anvil has been widely practiced, I just do not see much advantage. An example is when Kevin Cashen did a comparison of cooling in air and water with an icecube. He placed one icecube on the counter one in the oven at 200+F and on in a room temp pan of water. The water warmed (transferred the heat) very rapidy and the icecube on the counter and in the oven had not made much progress. The heat transfer was about the same in the hot environment as the room temp. This can be applied to the surface of the anvil as well. JMHO
 
BrianThie said:
An interesting way that I once heard of was to use a magnetic engine block heater. I haven't tried it myself, but it should work.

Brian
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Thats what i use and it gets cold here but after an hour it has the frost out of the anvil. What more can a man ask for?

Bob
 
Since my shop was a drafty barn w/high ceiling, I just roasted the anvil a bit with a propane weed burner on cold mornings. I used a venturi burner the same way, works pretty much like a weed burner outside of a forge. Most of the time, like Raymond, I just started on a project and pretty soon the anvil was warm enough anyway. I've worked on my 172# Peter Wright until it was too hot to touch after two or three hours, on cold days.
 
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