second anvil sample - not as bad as I feared

Very cool. What are the dimensions of this anvil again? Weight? Seems like the perfect little bladesmith anvil
 
Atlas Knife Company said:
The go ahead was given a couple months ago to proceed with the first batch after Stacy's testing. The final molds will be pour-tested this week, the main batch should be poured next week, with heat treating the week after(hopefully). I expect to have them in mid April.
Stacy, could you give the height dimensions for the 2x12 you used for the stand, and what thickness plywood at the bottom? I'll probably go with a 2x12 for the base so I will make the dimension adjustments on my end.

Charles
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Sure, I will take measurements tonight.
 
Last I heard from Charles, the castings were being poured. Hopefully he will chime in here and let us know the status.

I have to tell a funny story about shipping the test anvil back. We wanted to test the shipping box setup again, and Charles wanted to keep the #1 anvil for his display.
I packed it back up the way it was shipped to me … in a flat rate box … and took it to the PO. I may be getting old, but can still lift a fair bit easily. I went in with the box under my arm. I set it up on the counter with the pre-printed and paid label Charles had sent me. The lady reached over to set it on the scale and couldn't budge it. She asked what the heck was in it and I replied, "An anvil." She said it could not be shipped because it was way too heavy. I picked it up and set it on the scale for her to show it was only 67 pounds ( you can ship up to 80 pounds in a flat rate box). She still didn't think it could be shipped. Another guy said it could, so she printed the ticket. As I left with my receipt I heard her yelling to the back room, "Somebody come and get this damn anvil!"
 
Hahaha that's great. With its design and the way the mass is set up it seems like it would preform much better than other anvils with similar weight and price. That about what you found?
 
Yes, it seems to forge like a much heavier anvil. I would equate the feel to my old 125# anvil. Part of that may have been the solid base increasing the effective mass.
 
Awesome. Really cant wait till these are available, hope to be one of the firsts to place my order. The anvil you gave me stacy is being donated to a mid that has been bugging his dad about learning the craft.
 
I'm assuming here (and we all know what that implies) but I expect the heat treater will use oil for quench. If you don't get the expected HRC results with C50, you might consider the traditional method used on wrought anvils with a carbon steel face, which was a column of water. I have hardened a few anvils that were either repaired with new plates or had gone through shop fires. The face is heated in a specially built coal forge then the anvil is moved under a water tank with a dump valve (I have also used multiple wheelbarrows filled with water). The biggest anvil I treated this way was 250 lbs and the face came out hard enough to slide a file. Under no circumstances should the anvil be submerged; you will get cracks (don't ask how I know this). The important part is to get the face cooled quickly but also prevent residual heat in the body from drawing the hardness.

Your foundry and/or heat treating service may not want to set up a special process but this way does yield a hard face.
 
Sample from the second foundry. About the only thing different is the label on the side. Both use C50, with HRC target of 53-58. An update on the first batch is that they have been poured, and are currently in their initial cleanup. Hopefully they will ship soon and be ready by mid-May.
 

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Just to post a bit more about using smaller anvils:
The base is everything in a small anvil. If the base is solid, the anvil will work well. If the base isn't solid, the anvil will transfer much less of hammer energy to the workpiece ( knife blade). Just sitting an anvil on a stump isn't making it solid. It has to contact the base completely and be locked down on it hard. Any ability to bounce … even if the bounce is a few thousandths of an inch … will make it less efficient. The reason people like a BIG anvil is it uses gravity to repel this bounce. A small anvil can work fine as long as the base has sufficient weight and will not absorb energy. The second thing a base needs is solid construction. That is why a big slice of a tree trunk was always the choice. It is solid all the way through. When making a base out of wood, use large size wood. 2X12 is a minimum. Many are made from 6X6 timbers or 12X12 timbers. Bolt/screw everything together solid. Use glue between any layers and joints. Bolt the anvil down on the base.

Another base that works well is a large pillar of concrete. Use anything from a drywall bucket, to a large wash tub or metal drum and fill it with concrete to within 4" of the top where the anvil will sit. Make up a plate of steel with holes that match the anvil feet so it can bolt the anvil down to it. Use long 1/2" or 3/4" bolts (about 8" works good) and put a nut on each, drop through the holes in the plate, and put a nut on the other side, leaving sufficient bolt sticking out so the anvil could be mounted. Check that the anvil fits over the threaded ends of the bolts properly. You can tack weld the bolts in place from the bottom side, but there isn't any need to. Set the riser plate on your concrete tub and set the anvil temporarily on it. Just screw the top nuts down lightly on the anvil feet ( use large washers if needed). Adjust the nuts on both sides of the plate so the base plate is level. At this point the anvil is sitting on a plate of steel resting on legs that are about 4-5 inches long. When everything is right and level, pour in more concrete to come up to the metal plate. When set, remove the anvil, clean things up, and set the anvil back in place while it cures for a couple days. Then lock the anvil down solid to the base plate. You will have made an anvil base weighing anywhere for 100 to 200 pounds. Your little anvil will now be a big anvil.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Just to post a bit more about using smaller anvils:
The base is everything in a small anvil. If the base is solid, the anvil will work well. If the base isn't solid, the anvil will transfer much less of hammer energy to the workpiece ( knife blade). Just sitting an anvil on a stump isn't making it solid. It has to contact the base completely and be locked down on it hard. Any ability to bounce … even if the bounce is a few thousandths of an inch … will make it less efficient. The reason people like a BIG anvil is it uses gravity to repel this bounce. A small anvil can work fine as long as the base has sufficient weight and will not absorb energy. The second thing a base needs is solid construction. That is why a big slice of a tree trunk was always the choice. It is solid all the way through. When making a base out of wood, use large size wood. 2X12 is a minimum. Many are made from 6X6 timbers or 12X12 timbers. Bolt/screw everything together solid. Use glue between any layers and joints. Bolt the anvil down on the base.

Another base that works well is a large pillar of concrete. Use anything from a drywall bucket, to a large wash tub or metal drum and fill it with concrete to within 4" of the top where the anvil will sit. Make up a plate of steel with holes that match the anvil feet so it can bolt the anvil down to it. Use long 1/2" or 3/4" bolts (about 8" works good) and put a nut on each, drop through the holes in the plate, and put a nut on the other side, leaving sufficient bolt sticking out so the anvil could be mounted. Check that the anvil fits over the threaded ends of the bolts properly. You can tack weld the bolts in place from the bottom side, but there isn't any need to. Set the riser plate on your concrete tub and set the anvil temporarily on it. Just screw the top nuts down lightly on the anvil feet ( use large washers if needed). Adjust the nuts on both sides of the plate so the base plate is level. At this point the anvil is sitting on a plate of steel resting on legs that are about 4-5 inches long. When everything is right and level, pour in more concrete to come up to the metal plate. When set, remove the anvil, clean things up, and set the anvil back in place while it cures for a couple days. Then lock the anvil down solid to the base plate. You will have made an anvil base weighing anywhere for 100 to 200 pounds. Your little anvil will now be a big anvil.
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Wow that's an extremely good idea about the concrete.
 
Atlas Knife Company said:
Sample from the second foundry. About the only thing different is the label on the side. Both use C50, with HRC target of 53-58. An update on the first batch is that they have been poured, and are currently in their initial cleanup. Hopefully they will ship soon and be ready by mid-May.
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Is there porosity on the face?
55600678_3995245217168186_5536267051326242816_n-jpg.1102366

Keep in mind the flat rate weight limits change if you're shipping outside the us
 
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