ANVILS

[bazmak]

Hi everybody. No Myfords to do at the moment so looking around for small projects.I have taken an interest in anvils and watched numerous refurb/make projects
Learned a lot about what i always thought were just lumps of steel.I learned that the older original anvils are superior and worth thousands of dollars
Imagine my surprise when on Utube i learned they can be found buried in soil in the woods and dumps.and refurbished
Now i have no room or requirements for an anvil but what i do need is a small riviting block or small anvil for general punching/metalwork
All i have is a small piece of railway iron/dolly that i have had many years and a small vice for flattening metal etc.Model engineer blacksmith
I hunted thru my scrap bin and found offcuts of heavy wall RHS and flat bar that could be welded together and cleaned up.The only piece i needed
to buy was the top plate 100x25mm flat x 300 long for $15. Making was simple but labour intensive. I think it will get plenty of use and minor mods
can be made for different applications.Photos show the end result and i am very pleased with it. PS if i find an old anvil at the dump i wont knock it back

 

[RM-MN]

For light duty your anvil will be OK but for heavier work the anvil depends on its mass to absorb the shock of the hammering which is why some of the old anvils are so expensive and heavy. Now that you have made that one, set it on a wooden platform instead of on concrete as the shock of hammering will eat up the concrete. You may also discover that the top surface needs to be hardened. Your piece of railway iron is probably work hardened on the surface and will make a better anvil. Without hardening you are likely to find the surface dimpled in a short amount of time.

 

[ozzyjoe]

if i find an old anvil at the dump i wont knock it back
[/QUOTE]
Ah-ah-ah.....
definitely you and me have the some hobbies .
Look what i found in the dump years ago ....

 

[RM-MN]

if i find an old anvil at the dump i wont knock it back

Ah-ah-ah.....
definitely you and me have the some hobbies .
Look what i found in the dump years ago ....
[/QUOTE]

You have a higher quality dump than I. All I find is rusty cans.

 

[davidyat]

Bazmak, when using a fly cutter with that kind of diameter, what speed is recommended and how much is the max depth? Still learning from you masters.
Grasshopper

 

[GrahamJTaylor49]

I've been looking for an anvil for about 20 years and I expect to pay at least 50p per lb.
I will get one eventually.

 

[L98fiero]

You have a higher quality dump than I. All I find is rusty cans.

You are fortunate to have a dump where you can recycle others scrap/junk, here in Ontario they will charge you with theft for removing anything, they'd rather recycle at a loss than allow you to make some use of it and as for scrap yards, I've been told by a friend that most won't allow you to scrounge on your own nor will they find anything for you, probably all that comes from the lawyers. Other places I've heard of people finding $50, 10hp, 3 phase motors for phase converters, that will NOT happen at any yards I know, it doesn't seem to matter how old they are.

 

[ozzyjoe]

You have a higher quality dump than I. All I find is rusty cans.
[/QUOTE]
I love old anvils.
I did fall in love with the one on the photo below, from an old copper smith shop. Some lucky guy got to take her home. He over bid me at the last second of the auction.