Will an anvil in a major shop fire lose its temper?

[bigfish]

Whatever you do, don’t forget to film it!!

 

[Mecha]

We definitely need a video of this when it happens

I vote video as well, would be so amazing to watch.

Whatever you do, don’t forget to film it!!

Oh for sure, video is mandatory!

 

[Mecha]

Used to work at the steel mill formerly known as Bethlehem Steel here in NW Indiana, and part of my supervisory role was RCS (Raw Coil Storage) where the hot rolled coils were immediately brought from the hot mill prior to pickling. The thing is though, they have to be at a minimum temperature before you can run them through a pickling line, so most had to sit for about a week or more before they were ready. During the colder winter months, they'd swing them out into the aisleways to keep various water, oil and hydraulic lines from freezing up. We'd be huddled around them like hobos just trying to keep warm. After a few days in the coil field, you could wrap your lunch up in a foil pack and set it inside the eye of a coil to cook. Some guys cooked turkeys in them during the holidays.
Supposedly they'd take a select few coils out to Lake Michigan and dunk them for rapid cooling if they were in a hurry, otherwise we'd soak them with a fire hose to take the edge off. Things got steamy pretty quick.

HAHA sounds about right! Cooked turkeys? I'll have to tell my bro about that trick.

I would split up a LOT of wood and start a good bonfire. Once burned down a bit, place the anvil in the center. Add more wood and keep adding it as the coals burn down. The eventual goal is to get the anvil a good glowing color. You may even need an air-pipe to raise the temp of tA magnet on a pole can check for reaching critical. After it has reached the desired temp - about 150°F above critical - drag the anvil out with the chain and slide in the carry pipe ... then walk over into the stream and put it in. With the mass of an anvil, speed from the fire to the quench isn't a big issue.

Well that's good to know, since I have access to a big pile of firewood! An air pipe to raise the temperature will be used for sure, and hopefully it will be blown by a huge bellows powered by the attendees, because that's a big part of the fun.

Magnet to check for critical temp: check.
Cold, fast-flowing stream: check
Big pile of firewood: check
Anvil lifting apparatus: no problem
Minions to pump bellows: TBD
Giant bellows: ________
Video footage: check
Beer: ________

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I would opt for a blower with a speed control or gate valve to feed oxygen to the fire.

 

[Mecha]

I would opt for a blower with a speed control or gate valve to feed oxygen to the fire.

But that’s so practical, normal, effective and realistic. With a giant home-made bellows, getting the airflow can be impractical, abnormal, ineffective and unrealistic! I think the choice is clear.

 

[Richard338]

But that’s so practical, normal, effective and realistic. With a giant home-made bellows, getting the airflow can be impractical, abnormal, ineffective and unrealistic! I think the choice is clear.

You will get more views if the audience is treated to a dramatic steam explosion. Perhaps a fuel air bomb for good measure...

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

But that’s so practical, normal, effective and realistic. With a giant home-made bellows, getting the airflow can be impractical, abnormal, ineffective and unrealistic! I think the choice is clear.

You are correct ... what was I thinking!!!

BTW, make the transporting bar LONG. You don't want to get very close to a 130 pound bock of 1600°F steel without a foundry suit.

 

[Danke42]

Probably flinging it into the lake with a tebuchet after dark is the safest call to make.

 

[Mecha]

You are correct ... what was I thinking!!!

BTW, make the transporting bar LONG. You don't want to get very close to a 130 pound bock of 1600°F steel without a foundry suit.

Thanks for the head’s up on that. I was imagining doing the magnet test and considering how long to make that probe, as well.

Probably flinging it into the lake with a tebuchet after dark is the safest call to make.

oh ya, I like the way you think!

 

[Mecha]

You will get more views if the audience is treated to a dramatic steam explosion. Perhaps a fuel air bomb for good measure...

Wondering if any fish will float up.

 

[John mc c]

Wondering if any fish will float up.

Have some salt and lemon juice close to hand
They might be cooked like the turkey

 

[Mecha]

I tried to HT the anvil using a pile of wood and air blower, as Stacy suggested. Video attached.

Note, that in the video the color of the anvil looks very uneven. In person, the whole thing was glowing, mainly on the face (medium-bright orange), a little less on the horn (even orange), and fading up to the base, which was very dull orange. Magnet test showed nonmagnetic near the face and on the horn. Quenched in a very cold, flowing stream. Shrug. Maybe it got hot enough, maybe not. We'll see soon!

I haven't tested it yet. It's still in the trunk of my car. Haven't raised the gumption to lift it out and carry it away yet. Driving around, it feels like I have a dead body in the trunk.

Strangely, the anvil turned purple after HT. The whole thing. I wonder what that means.

Edit: There was no anvil party, just me and my brother.

 

[scherf68]

The music goes with the video, so cool and thanks for filming it. Crossing my fingers it worked. Was it the Columbia or nearby tributary?

 

[Mecha]

The music goes with the video, so cool and thanks for filming it. Crossing my fingers it worked. Was it the Columbia or nearby tributary?

A tributary. Cold and flowing pretty fast. Put off a large steam cloud for at least a minute! I need to find a large ball bearing ball to test rebound.

 

[Drew Riley]

I'm pretty disappointed there wasn't a trebuchet.

In all seriousness, I hope that did the trick. I look forward to hearing the results.

 

[David Mary]

Very cool process! Here's hoping it put some bounce in her step.

 

[A.McPherson]

Strangely, the anvil turned purple after HT.

Probably auto tempered or something...

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Yes, the color is just from all sorts of chemicals from the fire and then auto-tempering from the cooling. Probably doesn't really indicate anything.

Give the face a ball pein test. Take a small ball pein ( about 1#) and hold it vertical . Let it drop in an arc and hit the face. Observe how much it rebounds and look at the dimple. It should bounce back nicely and leave only a small ding if the top is good. A deep dent and minimal rebound indicate the anvil is still soft.

Did you check the anvil with a magnet before the quench?

 

[Mecha]

I'm pretty disappointed there wasn't a trebuchet.

In all seriousness, I hope that did the trick. I look forward to hearing the results.

The lack of trebuchet was a huge failure, and my only way to regain a scrap of dignity is if the HT worked.

Yes, the color is just from all sorts of chemicals from the fire and then auto-tempering from the cooling. Probably doesn't really indicate anything.

Give the face a ball pein test. Take a small ball pein ( about 1#) and hold it vertical . Let it drop in an arc and hit the face. Observe how much it rebounds and look at the dimple. It should bounce back nicely and leave only a small ding if the top is good. A deep dent and minimal rebound indicate the anvil is still soft.

Did you check the anvil with a magnet before the quench?

The purple color is kind of neat! I did a magnet test, and it was supposedly nonmagnetic all along the face area, and on the horn, but the upturned base was still magnetic, though glowing. More heat was pumped into it even after it became nonmagnetic.

If doing it again, I would make an even bigger pile of coals. The bonfire had flames 7 feet high at first with more and more wood piled on. But once that air starts getting blown through, it eats up the coals at an amazing rate. We were shoveling them all around the anvil and blowing air through.

If the anvil hardened, I bet it was just enough heat.

What's interesting is that before the fire, a ball-pein wouldn't have left a dimple at all unless really swinging it at the face. The thing ringed really loudly and was quite hard. After the fire, just a weak tap with a rounding hammer was able to dimple the surface.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The only footage I have seen of this being done had a much bigger fire.
Let us know what a ball-pein does now.