Wooden Anvil & Mallet

J

jawilder

Joined
Jun 27, 2006
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2,331
Last night I was forging and noticed a bit of twist in my blade. Deciding to learn from experience and not duplicate my mistakes I made a quick and ugly wooden anvil/mallet from scraps I had on hand.

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The mallet is from a pecan limb I had lying around. I know it is not the prettiest tool in the shop and is subject to spinning on the bolt, but it works for my needs, for now. The anvil is just a 2x4 I had in the shed for random projects.

Here is what gave me the idea

bladsmth said:
Here is a handy "Wooden Anvil" to make. Oak or maple is great, pine will work:

Cut two 16" long piece of 2X6 or 2X8, and screw/glue them together from one side only...leaving one face just wood ( or use a 4X6). Screw a piece of 4X4 to the bottom. The 4X4 will get clamped in the vise ( which I know you have near the forge).
In one end of the top, saw a 1/4" wide slot in the board , about 6" deep. This slot will be used to take care of any twisting and simple bends.
With this "wooden anvil" and a wooden mallet strategically placed near the quench tank, there isn't much of a warp or twist that can't be dealt with quickly and easily.

This can be made as a dedicated post anvil with the use of a 30" tall piece of oak or maple tree trunk or a section of 12X6 ( or larger) beam. A wooden post anvil is good to hammer the curve out of hot blades when forging, as it won't flatten the edge as badly as steel does. The top will get nice and black and have plenty of "character" marks.
Click to expand...

I am still not sure about the "1/4" wide slot in the board , about 6" deep. This slot will be used to take care of any twisting and simple bends". I guess I need to see it to understand what Stacy is talking about.

Let's see your wooden anvils!
 
I use an ash log. Here is my set up...

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This is what i think Stacy is talking about...

IMG_0004-6.jpg

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Man Rick, you like your post anvil so much you even knock the horn of your regular anvil. ;):D
 
Yes, that is what I was talking about.
On your wooden anvil, just run the end of the "T" wooden anvil you made about 6" into a table saw, and then repeat with the fence moved a tad. This will make a 1/4" slot running parallel to the wood. You stick the blade tip in the slot and twist or bend as needed. If the wooden anvil is made from a solid 4X4, you can cut the slot crosswise, as Rick showed.

You will find this anvil and mallet very useful. When forging blades and needing a little change in curvature or bevel flattening, the wooden mallet and anvil can do the job without denting the blade like your forging hammer will.

When used for straightening, the wood slot is more gentle on the blade than a hard and sharp angled vise jaw ( less chance of breaking), as well as not sucking the heat out of the blade so fast ( longer straightening time).
 
Here is another method for the slotted 2x4. Clamp the blade in the vice and use the 2x4 to bend/twist it back to true.

Warning: If using this method on hardened blades, place the 2x4 over the spine. The edge is too brittle and thin cross-sections will just flex under the strain with little to no plastic deformation(think fillet knife). Control the spine and you control the edge..... mostly.

IMG_0119-1.jpg
 
And you can make a two piece set of those, with the slot on the end of each, to locally straighten and untwist blades. You place one slot on each side of the warp/twist and move the handles in-out or up-down as needed.
 
The combinations are ENDLESS! I'm getting wood, just thinking about it.
 
Thanks Rick and Stacy.

I'll have to rethink my design to add the slot as I have 2.5" screws going sideways through the post. I'll get some 2x6/8 and try it again.

Love the pics Rick. They really clear things up.
By the way, I was wondering where the name "wildertools" came from. Just wondering since my last name is Wilder.

Rick, put your wood away.
Jason
 
Wilderness + Tools = Wildertools

I should have tested it out on folks, first. Everyone reads it as wilder(wild-er) like your last name. Does anybody ever call you "Will-der"? Probably not... bad decision on my part, I guess.
 
Look close at that pic Phil. I think he Photoshopped the horn out.
 
Horsewright said:
Look close at that pic Phil. I think he Photoshopped the horn out.
Click to expand...

That anvil is from the 1700's. The horn was knocked off... not cut but "knocked" off with a huge hammer of some sort. Invading military would do this to towns and opposing forces... it essentially took away the tools of the "mechanics" and would cripple armies.
 
I picked up on in NH like that. Dang horn's busted right off. The cool thing was the guy sold it to for 25¢/lb so got it for $25. :thumbup:
 
Rick Marchand said:
That anvil is from the 1700's. The horn was knocked off... not cut but "knocked" off with a huge hammer of some sort. Invading military would do this to towns and opposing forces... it essentially took away the tools of the "mechanics" and would cripple armies.
Click to expand...

Didn't Sherman's army do the same thing on his march through the south during the Civil War?

randy
 
rwn2000 said:
Didn't Sherman's army do the same thing on his march through the south during the Civil War?

randy
Click to expand...

I don't know... maybe. For all I know, this one could have been from the Civil War and I just got bad info from my buddy. If so, he needs a "histor-ectomy".:p
 
Serious thread drift here, but.....

Rick, Horsewright - This is what Rick's anvil would have looked like in mo' betta shape. This one is a replica from Fortress Louisbourg of an armorer's anvil that dates to the mid-1700. I don't have a photo of it, but the original one in the blacksmith's shop there looks EXACTLY like Rick's. I understand also, that the horn of the original was knocked off just as Rick describes.


 
You guys know that the story of Sherman's army breaking anvils is just that....a story.
It has been repeated so many times that people believe it. Sort of like the story of John Smith and Pocahontas.

Some anvil horns were forge welded on the anvils. This made an obvious weak spot that gave way when someone was wailing away on the bick ( proper name) to draw out some metal. In other cases it was just a weak spot in a cast anvil. Whichever the case, it was not intentional, or done in the Civil War.
 
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