I-beam for anvil

K

Kingdom

Joined
Nov 28, 2009
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72
After hearing of my new hobby and my problem of not having an anvil, my uncle graciously gave me an old I-beam he had in a shed on his farm to use. Its quite a hunk of metal, I weighed it in at 60lbs, I'm not sure of the metal but its a safe bet its steel. It has no markings and it is roughly 3 1/2 feet to 4 feet ling, 6 inches or so high, and only about 2 centimeters thick. I have to guess the dimensions because some1 lost my tape measure.

I'm sure this would work well for an anvil, but the problem is its loud. Its pretty thin and it rings super loud even when I tap it with my hammer. Is there any way I could dampen the sound?

Here are some pics:

sy1m41.jpg


294t89y.jpg


347k8rk.jpg


2aiiih1.jpg
 
'I' Beams are usually not used for anvils for the same reason railroad track isn't a very good anvil. There is not enough mass (weight) under the work surface. The more solid the metal piece the better for forging. In fact many bladesmiths use a solid bar of steel on it's end (usually set in concrete) so that it only has a 3"x3" surface to work on, but it has 100 pounds of weight or more under it.

If you can find a scrap piece of steel like this at a scrap yard it would be your best bet. If you really want to use the 'I' beam I would try to find a way to brace the sides. The best thing would be to weld in steel plates. I have heard of using large magnets to reduce the ringing on anvils, but I'm not sure that will be enough in this case.
 
I say go ahead and use it. Just bolt it down to a log to secure it. You'll probably get a lot of replies saying that its no good next to a real anvil, and they're right, but if this is all you've got, then its all you've got. AlL I've got is a piece of rail road track, but it works fine for me. Do a little more research for shaping I-beams for anvils so you can get the most out of it.
Anvil_by_angusman219.jpg


As for the sound, ear plugs work real nice.
 
If you had 3 more you'd have the start of a real nice fab/welding table! :)

You need mass under your work. Even a small stake anvil provides that. A wide flange like the one in your picture will be pretty close to useless as an anvil.

Rail isn't great for an anvil, but it's a LOT better than wide flange.

Learning to forge on a good anvil is hard enough. Trying to learn on something that won't work is just likely to make you not like forging.
 
NickWheeler said:
Learning to forge on a good anvil is hard enough. Trying to learn on something that won't work is just likely to make you not like forging.
Click to expand...

Mr. Whurler is right. I started on a piece of railroad track. I almost gave up the endeavor, then I bought a real ASO (Anvil Shaped Object). Later I bought another ASO. Now I have a real anvil, and I still can't forge-for-sh**.

Keep looking......... Keep trying........ Don't give up........ If a feeble-minded old man like me can do it, so can you.

Robert (I think)
 
Thanks Mr. Dark :)

I dug up this pic, I have no idea who made it, but this is the best way IMHO to use a wide flange for an anvil.

Of course you'll need some welding skills or to know somebody who has them. For a project like this, it wouldn't need to be pretty.... just not fall apart ;) :D

anvil.jpg
 
My friend could help me weld that sort of thing together, So all I need to do is find something to weld to the top of it? Getting an anvil is proving to be a pain in my side. I get id need a wide metal plate to weld to the bottom to make it more stable too. I need to get over to the scrap yard.

Thanks for the info guys!
 
I had an i-beam anvil to start with.. even after bolting it to a concrete block it still rang deafeningly loud and had no rebound whatsoever. However, I eventually sanded the surface flat and now it's my sanding/filing surface.
 
BTW- I'm not trying to pee in your punchbowl here, just give you something to think about.

Once you do some forging you'll see how important it is to have some mass under your work.

If you found some 2" thick plate and got it welded onto the end of the wide-flange like in the above pic, it would actually work pretty well to get started.

It's often brought up here that there's some sort of elitist mentality amongst many members, that if you don't go buy the most expensive tool on the market, you may as well just not do it. Now I AM a proponent of buying the best you can afford if you're serious.

But do I think a guy just getting started should go buy the same anvil I have? Nope... that would be silly. But I'd hate to see you try to forge on a wide-flange and just decide forging is pointless and no fun.... because forging is an amazing, empowering skill to learn and enjoy.

If you put some big 'ol speaker magnets on the webbing of the wide flange, it will help dampen the ring too. :)
 
Jonah,
I think I have an extra rail road anvil in the shop, and maybe a piece of heavy stock to set in concrete. Might come up with a hammer or two as well.
Send me an email and we'll see what we can work up.
Stacy
 
A good anvil makes the smith's soul sing.. a bad anvil is a good way to develop large arms and bad attitude.
 
I'm certainly no authority on this ( being a cop-out stock removal guy) but Ive seen people use 45lb weights (the plates) for parts of anvils. It might be something to take into consideration when looking for something to weld to the top ofyour beam. You might also get more energy transfer if you put something under the beam when casting it so that the bottom sits on concrete instead of the bottom of the bucket or whatever you're casting it in.
 
NickWheeler said:
Thanks Mr. Dark :)

I dug up this pic, I have no idea who made it, but this is the best way IMHO to use a wide flange for an anvil.

Of course you'll need some welding skills or to know somebody who has them. For a project like this, it wouldn't need to be pretty.... just not fall apart ;) :D

anvil.jpg
Click to expand...

I know less than jack squat about forging knives, but this thread intrigued me because I am a structural engineer. I have very extensive knowledge with wide flange steel members (I-beams). In my opinion, this setup that Nick showed is going to give you much, much more strength than using the wide flange shape laying on it's side...of course, that depends on the piece of steel you weld to the top, but I'm sure you can find something beefy enough.

It would probably be very hard to bend the flanges (basically the top and bottom horizontal portions of the "I"), but they are not intended to take that repeated impact and would likely start to bend eventually, rendering your "anvil" useless.

I could go on and on, but my bottom line point is to use the thing vertically to get the best strength out of your makeshift anvil. Good luck!
 
A guy could also do some rounding or cutting to knock down those big square corners (imagine a big pencil sharpener , then cut out a notch from the web big enough for a large sledge hammer head and weld that in. That would give pretty good bang-for-buck value.
 
I got a 5' pc of 8x10 I beam, My youngest son got me 2 pcs of railcar bumper plates , these plates are 85# each.[9x12x 2-1/4]
I weilded bumper plates togather, then weilded them [flat] on the end of the I beam, Set about 2-1/2 ft it RED CLAY w/concrete.
I hit it with a 3# hammer and it rebounded to my shoulder.
Now, when i have time, I will make a coal forge.
Haven't done any forging for 55-58 years but I remember that it was fun.
Jerry


Need a elec. blower [110 volt]
 
Not that it makes any difference, but that is an "H" beam not an "I" beam, I moved, cut and assembled too many of them long ago, before going full time bladesmith, to enjoy even looking at them. When I read "I" beam I though "well maybe, if one forges really small blades", but then when I saw it, I was glad to see folks pointing out the aggravation potential. Anvils are not as much about shape as they are about mass, just a big solid block of steel from the scrap yard would serve one better than this.
 
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