Improvised anvil for a quick stretch?

Wade Jones

Wade Jones

Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Messages
183
Hi gang,

I have a small problem. The bar stock I have isn't quite wide enough for the design I want to do. I have a propane forge that gets plenty hot, but I don't have an anvil.

I'm not looking into doing a lot of forging, but being able to widen out some stock would be nice.

Unfortunately I don't have much space or money, so something cheap and portable is a must right now. I've considered the railroad track in a bucket of cement, but I haven't had luck finding a piece locally, and having one shipped defeats the cheapness of it.

Alternatively I've considered trying to mount my bench vice to something more stable than my folding work bench and pounding on the flat on it. But I thought I'd see if you guys have any better ideas first.

Fortunatley I do have tongs, gloves and a cross peen (3 lbs. I think) hammer already.

Thanks for any advice!
-Wade
 
check with a local spring shop of machine shop and see what they have in 3/4-1" scrap.
a 1" thick chunk 6" wide by a foot long would give you plenty of surface.
then you could weld a 30" long piece of 2" or better pipe on the back side, weld the other end of the pipe to a tire rim and have a portable anvil. Toss a couple filled sandbags over the tire rim and it will be plenty stable.

not going to be good for heavy pounding, but should get you by until you can pick up a 70 or 100 pounder at a farm auction.
 
ya know i dont want to rain on your parade but you might find a guy on here that has a press or hammer to do it for you for cheap........... less aggrevation?

good luck

jake
 
I reconsidered the need for a very heavy anvil after visiting an old forge. They used small anvils, maybe 20 kgs (about 40 pounds)... stuck in a godawful huge rock
The anvil was actually set in a piece of the mountain the forge was built on, and so was virtually immoveable.
You could try with a small anvil affixed to a concrete filled 55 gal drum.
 
A HF 50 pounder isn't a good anvil....but it is better than no anvil.....and it is cheap. Also, check the scrap yard for any potential anvil object. The best JYA ( junk yard anvil) I ever saw was a stripped down 6 cylinder engine block sitting in a bed of concrete. It had a 2" thick steel plate welded to the top of the cylinders. Pretty, no, but it worked for the purposes that the junk yard needed.
 
You can forge out stock on a good sized rock or thick (rebarred) slab of concrete. If you intend on using your vice, make sure you forge HOT to move the steel easier.

Keep looking for anvil type thingies!

Rick
 
I'd second the largest sledge hammer head you can find mounted on end in concrete or similar. Use the hammer face as your anvil surface. Other than that, search the local junkyards.

--nathan
 
Go to the steel yard and get a piece maybe a foot long of heavy gauge rectangular or square steel tubing. Take the tubing home and fill it with concrete. When it dries you'll have a solid and heavy makeshift anvil.
 
Saw a really nice anvil made from a broken forklift tine set into a bucket of concrete. Stout as all get out, and more than enough for blade work.
 
I stuck a 5 1/2" round bar in a tub full of concrete and wire mesh, works well.

Richard
MVC-016F-2.jpg
 
Dekker i know there isnt any fun in having some one do this for him but sometimes ya just got to work smart and not hard :)

jake
 
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