Railroad rail anvil has small manufacturing defect running lengthwise!

O

Ome108

Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Messages
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I wanted to get my feet wet , so before buying a Peddinghaus 165 lb anvil, i went for a 12" piece of railroad rail , at 40 lbs, nice and solid.
But , a note came in the box that said when grinding to fit in box , they notice two marks on either end at the same spot.
They ground more and then. Stopped, and said it is a defect which happened during manufacturing, and runs internally from end to end.
My question is, can I still use it , as. Hobbyist, not full or part time.
I wanted to mount it somehow on some wood and start hammering some hot metal.
Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Jon
 
What kind of defect ? How big ? Suspend it a hit it with a hammer . Does it ring or go 'thunk' ?
 
Well, it's a railroad rail... beat on it all you want, if it breaks it breaks eventually. I'm skeptical on a defect in the rail, more then likely it's a stress fracture from the rail heating up and freezing in the hotter and colder months. Rail breaks and gets replaced all the time because of that.
 
setlab said:
Well, it's a railroad rail... beat on it all you want, if it breaks it breaks eventually. I'm skeptical on a defect in the rail, more then likely it's a stress fracture from the rail heating up and freezing in the hotter and colder months. Rail breaks and gets replaced all the time because of that.
Click to expand...
Thank You for the information, I am sure the seller was just saying that as an excuse to just see it after grinding a bit to fit in the usps box.
Any advice on mounting it horizontally? It has no holes, and I would not know what kind of bit would go thru it.
Thanks,
Jon
 
As far as mounting it, the simplest mount is to use four 1/2" lag screws with large washers. Set the RR anvil on the base (tree trunk cut off) and run them in on both sides so the washers lock the foot down.
 
bladsmth said:
As far as mounting it, the simplest mount is to use four 1/2" lag screws with large washers. Set the RR anvil on the base (tree trunk cut off) and run them in on both sides so the washers lock the foot down.
Click to expand...

Thanks Stacy,
I want to set it on end, so there is more steel under it.
I need to somehow strap to the side of a stump, but I need to raise it the height of my knuckles from the ground.
Then I think It will be a lot stronger.
As for the stress crack, I hope hitting it on end is better then hitting across the stress crack. It is small on one end and larger at the other, but for the price, i can always get another.
My best bet was to try and get close to 28" long and then put on end, according to Anvilfire, that is equal to a 2-300 lb anvil.
Thanks,
Jon
 
For an end set, get a dry-wall bucket and put a block of wood in it to raise the anvil end to the height desired. Once satisfied, brace the anvil in place with boards or ropes and pour a sack of concrete in the bucket. Let it cure....you now have a fairly solid 100 pound+ anvil.
 
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