homemade anvil.

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homemade anvil.

This topic has 32 replies, 27 voices, and was last updated 30 June 2018 at 19:57 by Richard S2.

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26 June 2018 at 14:30 #359525
mick70
Participant
@mick70
i have couple of pieces of I beam 3/8 thick 14" long and 8" wide.

also have chance of piece 4"x2"x14" solid bar for couple of bottles of wine.

plan is to cut top of I beam to 4"wide bolt and weld bar to top and shape end of it with grinder.

will be bolted to heavy bench.

anything wrong with idea or tips/improvements?

ta
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26 June 2018 at 14:30 #18971
mick70
Participant
@mick70
26 June 2018 at 15:41 #359542
Gordon W
Participant
@gordonw
Always good to have an anvil. I made one years ago from scrap 1"x4" bar. Put a horn on one end at least, mine was bits of scrap steel tube with the centre point from 1" pointed bar (old tractor fork). Best mounted on a big log rather than the bench.
26 June 2018 at 16:21 #359547
Philip Rowe
Participant
@philiprowe13116
Posted by Gordon W on 26/06/2018 15:41:44:

Best mounted on a big log rather than the bench.

Can you explain why this is the case. I only ask as every blacksmith's anvil I have ever seen have always been mounted on what is best described as a tree stump and I'm sure there is a good reason for it.

Phil
26 June 2018 at 16:47 #359550
Geoff Theasby
Participant
@geofftheasby
Yes. An iron stand will make the hammer 'bounce,' whereas a log or stump is 'dead'.

Geoff
26 June 2018 at 16:51 #359551
Mike Poole
Participant
@mikepoole82104
I like the ones made from a piece of railway line, keeping my eye out for a bit

Mike
26 June 2018 at 17:05 #359553
Bob Stevenson
Participant
@bobstevenson13909
As a youngster still a school my Saturday job was with the local village blacksmith (mid 1960's)…it was, in many ways, and education in itself which I did not realise until many years later…I was only interested in the few shillings each week towards teh camera I badly wanted to buy,…but I digress…..

The smithy had no electrics and everything was done by the light of the forge and the heat in the metal……the blacksmith was old but a more physical and energetic man I have yet to meet. He showed me that his anvils were mounted in iron stands but rested on strips of leather as the iron was "too hard for me now i'm older"

The anvils were also mounted at his "knuckle height" and canted slightly to his right so that the flakes would vibrate off the anvil to his hammer strikes.
26 June 2018 at 17:16 #359555
Clive Hartland
Participant
@clivehartland94829
Yes, those old Smithys were very adaptable, I would heat his water for tea but only gently as he did not want ash in it. He had loads of corks in a box and I never did find out what they were for.

Ask him what he was making and he would say, 'E I am making a windjammer for a Ducks Axrce' Nuff said, we did not ask again but just watched. His name was, 'Robbo' He had a beautiful daughter though he was as ugly as sin. Dont think about as I was only 10 !

Clive
26 June 2018 at 17:44 #359559
Bazyle
Participant
@bazyle
A mild steel angle will ring terribly but still effective. Consider finding a way to incorporate a box into the design which you fill with sand or lead shot to deaden the noise.
26 June 2018 at 18:09 #359561
clogs
Participant
@clogs
Nice story Clive H, bring back memories……..
26 June 2018 at 18:16 #359562
Mick Henshall
Participant
@mickhenshall99321
This is what you want Mike but I'm sorry you can't have it cus its mine Mick 😁
26 June 2018 at 19:42 #359568
Muzzer
Participant
@muzzer
Railway track is carbon steel so it can be hardened. Ideal choice if you can get some.

Murray
26 June 2018 at 19:49 #359569
Kenneth Deighton
Participant
@kennethdeighton43272
Hi Mick,

I have used the sliding piece of an old 6" vice, I cut off the jaw part and now have a very useful "anvil" that I can strike on when needed.
26 June 2018 at 19:56 #359570
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
I've just got a 56lbs anvil which does the job for me.
26 June 2018 at 20:43 #359573
Neil Wyatt
Moderator
@neilwyatt
Posted by Geoff Theasby on 26/06/2018 16:47:39:

Yes. An iron stand will make the hammer 'bounce,' whereas a log or stump is 'dead'.

Geoff

You can't stump a Theasby…
26 June 2018 at 21:45 #359580
richardandtracy
Participant
@richardandtracy
I have a 25 lb anvil I bought through Northern Tools about 14 years ago, a Chinese one. When I moved house & drilled attachment holes in it for my current bench 13 years ago, I found it was cast iron. This was the same time as I found my Chinese repro Victorian fireplace was cast steel. Both used exactly the wrong material. Hrrumph.

However, the anvil has not shattered in the use I've put it to, and would say any hefty lump of steel you can get to use as one will be worth the effort.

Regards

Richard.
26 June 2018 at 21:54 #359581
Vic
Participant
@vic
I’ve got a Brooks 1 cwt Anvil I got off eBay. Paid just over £100 quid and although it had a little surface rust it was clear it had never been used. Current price of the same model is now over £600!
26 June 2018 at 22:27 #359587
Richard S2
Participant
@richards2
Rail track sections make good Anvils. I dug up a couple of old 13 inch lengths (36lbs ea) in my property a few years ago (near London – Brighton line). dims are nearest to 100lb ARA-A spec. cleaned up easy and shiny.
26 June 2018 at 22:31 #359588
Nicholas Farr
Participant
@nicholasfarr14254
Hi, I made this one about 30 or so years ago, was lucky enough to get an off cut of a brand new length while cutting six lengths to size for a new weighbridge for the company I used to work for then.

Mick, your plan sounds reasonable to me, but I would cut the base back a bit like on a normal blacksmiths anvil to allow your shaped bit to over hang the end of the bench. The base can get in the way at times when using the shaped bit.

Regards Nick
27 June 2018 at 09:46 #359603
Clive India
Participant
@cliveindia
Posted by Clive Hartland on 26/06/2018 17:16:34:

Yes, those old Smithys were very adaptable, I would heat his water for tea but only gently as he did not want ash in it. He had loads of corks in a box and I never did find out what they were for.
Ask him what he was making and he would say, 'E I am making a windjammer for a Ducks Axrce' Nuff said, we did not ask again but just watched. His name was, 'Robbo' He had a beautiful daughter though he was as ugly as sin. Dont think about as I was only 10! Clive

Similarly for me Clive – I used to take the cart horses to be shod at our man – Mr Lewis. Can still smell the smoke given off as the hot shoe blended with the horse's foot. He also was blunt – "I'm not going to bugger about welding pram wheels" and such – but he did do that for my developing go-kart. Also had a beautiful daughter – not wise to tamper with that, especially if dad had a hammer in his hand. A nice warm place to spend part of a winter evening though.
27 June 2018 at 10:55 #359606
martin perman 1
Participant
@martinperman1
Here is my Anvil, it was an apprentice piece which I made in Germany whilst on a three month apprentice exchange scheme in 1973.
27 June 2018 at 10:58 #359608
Jon Gibbs
Participant
@jongibbs59756
This guy's quite a good YouT presenter on blacksmithing stuff and anvils…

**LINK**
27 June 2018 at 13:47 #359642
Ian S C
Participant
@iansc
Maybe a bit small for most work, here's one of my anvils, but mounted on a stump, all right and propper.

Ian S C
27 June 2018 at 14:55 #359650
Vic
Participant
@vic
These are my two.
27 June 2018 at 16:04 #359656
not done it yet
Participant
@notdoneityet
Ian,

That is one large match and matchbox!
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