Looking to make an anvil...

[NJBillK]

Ok, long story short, I want to make knives for personal use and possibly some gifts for buddies birthdays and such, Nothing too major.

At my disposal, I have one length of railroad track, 27" and it registers at 67 lbs, I also have two old forklift forks that are near 20 years old with some surface rust and light pitting that will be ground out.

I am planning on cutting the uprights off of the forks and cutting the forks in half and welding them around the rail to add to the mass and welding the previous uprights over the top to act as a flat work surface with a bit larger of a sweet spot.

Do you folks think that I should use the forks around base to add mass while keeping the machined face of the rail as the work surface? Or try to add to the mass at the work surface to add mass and area directly under the work face?

Edit: would it be prudent to have the rail cut in half, then I would cut down the bottom webbing and weld the top rails and the base webbing together and then weld the forks (broken down) to the top as a flat work surface and make a horn from the fork tines?

 

[Brian Ayres]

How big are the forks? If they are big enough I would simply use one of the tines upright as the anvil or the railroad track on end and call it good.
Trade or sell the tines to someone with a forging press that can make hammer heads or press dies for some good steel.

I came into a couple thousand pounds of forklift tines and quite a few people use them for post anvils for knives.

Nick Wheeler has a section I gave him he uses on a regular basis.

Knifemaking is addictive. It won't be long before you are clearing space for a 2"x72" and a kiln....

 

[NJBillK]

Thanks for the heads up on using the forks as they are. I would venture a guess and say they are about 32"-36" long with a rear upright height of 18" or so and I have two pieces. I was hoping to get some more mass then just using those, which is why I wanted to take advantage of the section of rail that I have.


I bet it is a slippery slope... as it is now, I make due with hand tools and the infamous HF 1x30, a vise, some files and a work bench. As one can safely assume, I can't manage much, but I am happy with what I was able to turn out.
My hope is that I can start out making something that has a point, an edge and a handle, and preferably in one piece...

I will edit with some pics of the BK11 I turned into a friction folder, stabilized amboyna burl scales with stainless liners (kept the bottle opening function too, but in a different form).
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I have also been looking at instructions on changing my bench grinder to a 2x36 or 2x48. As well as researching home built forges.

I haven't done much and I have already been bitten...

 

[Brian Ayres]

With a railroad track on end that is mounted on a good stand that is solid and heavy you will be fine for general forging of blades.
If you have tons of welding rod and time you could join stuff together but the money spent on rods or wire and time would be better spent on an actual anvil or a bigger piece of scrap steel.

Sounds like you have about all you need. What do you have for a forge?

 

[NJBillK]

Looking to make that along side. I have a local place that has a drum off of a dually that I am going to use as a basin and I am going to weld that into an old grill/smoker or 1/2 of a 35 gallon drum to enlarge the area to hold the work piece/extra charcoal.
Mounted under the brake drum will be a non vented brake rotor with a small grill over that to keep the chunks of coal from falling through. That will be attached to a black pipe cobbled mess of fittings, pipes, a street tee and a blow dryer for forced air.

Anything else in regards to suggestions is More than welcomed.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Brian Ayres]

With brake drum forges too have limitations. The New England Blacksmiths Assoc sells a firepot and tuyre that will last a lifetime for just over $200. Find a 30" square piece of metal with a 4" lip and you are good to go. A screen isn't going to help.
Hair dryers work okay but burn up quick. Call a local plumbing/mechanical shop and ask if they have any scrap power vent water heaters or furnaces you can steal the blower off of.