striker anvil?

[travis551]

Hey guys! So I finished my forge and now I want to put it to good use! I have been looking fairly regularly on craigslist trying to find a suitable anvil. Well yesterday I went to the local scrap yard to see if I could find some 3" thick plate steel to make a striker anvil like what Brian Brazeal has made. I didn't really find anything but I did see some large ripper shafts from an excavator. I didn't have a tape measure but I would venture to guess it was between 3"-3.5" thick. and 5" wide. it was probably about 3 feet long with the last foot having a curve in it. I grabbed a somewhat rust ball bearing they had laying around and it seemed to rebound ok. Tomorrow I plan on going back and hitting it with a hammer and going at it with a file to see how the steel responds. I am not sure if it is hardened at all or even capable of being hardened. They were closing at the time so the guy wouldn't sell it to me. Maybe his laziness saved me some chash? I have no idea the type of steel it is, the guy "helping" me said it could be T1 steel. Who knows it seemed hard and if I weld it on a solid metal stand it could potentially serve as a decent anvil. I did't snap a picture of it, not that it would help very much. Any of you with greater knowledge and experience with metal or large machinery have any opinions on whether of not I should buy it? If I do buy it should I attempt to heat treat a portion of it and see if it hardens? Any guesses on what type of steel it would be? I know I am being a bit impatient.... I just want to start hitting steel I also don't want to wast my money on something that would be greatly inferior to a normal anvil. Thanks in advance for the help and advice.

 

[Sluicebox]

I'm fairly new to this as well but I don't think you want to harden that at all if going to be used as a striker anvil. Would be better on your hammers and eyes to let that plate absorb the energy from an errant blow. I found a piece of mild steel for the one I will build, and intend to use a hardened plate under it for backing. That anvil bug will keep you up at night lol. I got it bad bought up every anvil near me and only two of them are usable. You are on the right track with the striker anvil as I wouldn't want to use any of my anvils for a striker. I imagine that piece your looking at is hardened already. Hopefully someone from the smart bench will respond to your thread and let us both know. Best of luck to you on your hunt, keep us informed. I look forward to hearing how you broach your hardy holes into what ever you wind up with. With mild I think they can be drilled and filed. Some neat vids on youtube of a striker team making a striker anvil by drifting if you search.

 

[SinePari]

You have the right idea; mass under hammer blow = winning. T-1 looks like a mean composition of awesomeness, but I'm unfamiliar with how that much tungsten content would perform under the hammer as an anvil. First fear would be spalling, but tungsten is pretty tough stuff... Do a ball bearing test / rebound test and if it's %50 or higher return, get it! Dress the edges accordingly, attach it to something immovable or sink it into some reinforced concrete and go to town! For bladesmithing you'll have everything you could/would possibly need, and by the dimensions you've given it'll be anything but inferior. Only thing it would lack would be a large level surface area for straightening/tweeking...

Sounds like a promising post anvil to tell you the truth. Another good source for a post anvil would be searching craigslist for forklift forks... either or, matters not, put a mass of steel under the hot stuff, strike it with a hammer, and it'll move steel like any other proper anvil... A real anvil will find it's way into your shop eventually, the more practice/experience you have actually moving metal under a hammer, the better... That's honestly the best direction I could offer anyone looking to get into smithing. Yes, I'm regurgitating this advice because when I started my journey, I found anvils to be rather elusive too... When I finally found one, I wasn't beating it to death with errant blows... lol...


Striking anvil? Sure... :/ .. If you trust the striker's skill level... Watch some youtube videos on how smiths in the Himalayas forge Kukri blades... I'd trust those strikers any day...