Bending Thick Metal

[IslandTractor]

Your warning is appreciated. I always wear safety glasses but do understand your point.

I'd love a railroad track anvil but after looking for a month or so didn't find any before cruising HF one day.

Your friend's anvil is great!

 

[tcreeley]

Buddies have told me that rail anvils are nice cheap, but not advisable. As the rail road cars roll over the rails, the steel rails become work-hardened. That seems good until you realize that also makes the steel brittle and liable to chip with hammer blows and fly off bits of it- face etc.,

Usually a want ad booklet is a place to buy an old anvil- used to be a dollar a pound, more now. There is nothing wrong with an old anvil I have a 189 ib anvil from about 1840 and a Peter Wright 98lb anvil from 1880 or so. Both are excellent. The top face can always be refinished - milled slowly or ground very carefully and kept cool so as not to lose the temper.

Mechanic's garages often have anvils they beat on. Old barns, auctions, and Ebay are also places to look. I would never use a sledge hammer on an anvil. Maybe a 6 lb hammer with a drop stroke- but never the over the shoulder stoke like you use driving fence posts or splitting wood. -Substitute a rock in the ground or a hard old stump.

If you have a good heat on the piece, you don't need to kill it to bend it. I have straightened the lift arm on my TC 30 with a sledge cold- - hitting it against the ground on a 2x6 with an over the shoulder blow- 5-6xs.

Check out Centaur Forge online- (see what it is, then find it used!).
Centaur Forge, your full service farrier & blacksmith supply company

It is not that hard to make a forge & blower. Plans are everywhere.
Don't buy new unless you like the convenience. Great way to visit tool barns!
You'll come to appreciate the "drop forged" parts on old machinery as you come to understand blacksmithing- (iron work) (farrier does horse).

HF carries junk for anvils.

 

[deereman75]

Buddies have told me that rail anvils are nice cheap, but not advisable. As the rail road cars roll over the rails, the steel rails become work-hardened. That seems good until you realize that also makes the steel brittle and liable to chip with hammer blows and fly off bits of it- face etc.,

Usually a want ad booklet is a place to buy an old anvil- used to be a dollar a pound, more now. There is nothing wrong with an old anvil I have a 189 ib anvil from about 1840 and a Peter Wright 98lb anvil from 1880 or so. Both are excellent. The top face can always be refinished - milled slowly or ground very carefully and kept cool so as not to lose the temper.

Mechanic's garages often have anvils they beat on. Old barns, auctions, and Ebay are also places to look. I would never use a sledge hammer on an anvil. Maybe a 6 lb hammer with a drop stroke- but never the over the shoulder stoke like you use driving fence posts or splitting wood. -Substitute a rock in the ground or a hard old stump.

If you have a good heat on the piece, you don't need to kill it to bend it. I have straightened the lift arm on my TC 30 with a sledge cold- - hitting it against the ground on a 2x6 with an over the shoulder blow- 5-6xs.

Check out Centaur Forge online- (see what it is, then find it used!).
Centaur Forge, your full service farrier & blacksmith supply company

It is not that hard to make a forge & blower. Plans are everywhere.
Don't buy new unless you like the convenience. Great way to visit tool barns!
You'll come to appreciate the "drop forged" parts on old machinery as you come to understand blacksmithing- (iron work) (farrier does horse).

HF carries junk for anvils.

I have done a bit of sledging on an anvil. You hold the hammer in kind of an odd way, and only swing it a foot or 2. I was using an 8lb sldge, but that was with a 400# anvil. Those jackhammer chisles are tough. Tomorrow I will put up a pic of what that jackhammer chisle is now.

 

[weldermike]

Buddies have told me that rail anvils are nice cheap, but not advisable. As the rail road cars roll over the rails, the steel rails become work-hardened. That seems good until you realize that also makes the steel brittle and liable to chip with hammer blows and fly off bits of it- face etc.,

Usually a want ad booklet is a place to buy an old anvil- used to be a dollar a pound, more now. There is nothing wrong with an old anvil I have a 189 ib anvil from about 1840 and a Peter Wright 98lb anvil from 1880 or so. Both are excellent. The top face can always be refinished - milled slowly or ground very carefully and kept cool so as not to lose the temper.

Mechanic's garages often have anvils they beat on. Old barns, auctions, and Ebay are also places to look. I would never use a sledge hammer on an anvil. Maybe a 6 lb hammer with a drop stroke- but never the over the shoulder stoke like you use driving fence posts or splitting wood. -Substitute a rock in the ground or a hard old stump.

If you have a good heat on the piece, you don't need to kill it to bend it. I have straightened the lift arm on my TC 30 with a sledge cold- - hitting it against the ground on a 2x6 with an over the shoulder blow- 5-6xs.

Check out Centaur Forge online- (see what it is, then find it used!).
Centaur Forge, your full service farrier & blacksmith supply company

It is not that hard to make a forge & blower. Plans are everywhere.
Don't buy new unless you like the convenience. Great way to visit tool barns!
You'll come to appreciate the "drop forged" parts on old machinery as you come to understand blacksmithing- (iron work) (farrier does horse).

HF carries junk for anvils.

Not true bud, worked on railroad for 15yrs as a welder. Do you ever see chipped up rails, specially around loose joint bars? Almost never, and thats alot of weight poundin on em. But better safe than sorry, use a new piece. Plus your usually striking a heated piece of steel, not the anvil itself

 

[JB4310]

I liberated an anvil from an old barn that was condemned and in the process of being demolished. Carried that thing, which weighed more than I did, about 300 ft to my truck, close to 200 pounds. Not in perfect condition by any means but still useful.

I got a 20+ foot length of RR track I could make a bunch of those redneck anvils :laughing:

Picture may be deceiving, that is a monster vise and the table is 1/2" plate

JB

 

[tcreeley]

I liberated an anvil from an old barn that was condemned and in the process of being demolished. Carried that thing, which weighed more than I did, about 300 ft to my truck, close to 200 pounds. Not in perfect condition by any means but still useful.

I got a 20+ foot length of RR track I could make a bunch of those redneck anvils :laughing:

Picture may be deceiving, that is a monster vise and the table is 1/2" plate

JB

Anvil weight is calculated by:
Rules:
First number is # of hundredweight (112 lb. ---- 1,2,3,etc
..........(Any position can be zero, and IF zero is marked with a zero character (0).)
The middle position equals quarters (1/4) of a hundred weight. The value cannot be more than 3. If it looks like a five then it is a two or a three.
The last (right hand) position is pounds and must be equal to 27 or less.

From your photo it looks like 112 + 28 + 21 = 161 lb.s

The shape looks like a Peter Wright (English made) anvil. I can't read it from the photo. Usually the name is on the side of the anvil. - just looked again- Peter Wright , Solid Wrought (hand made process by which horn and top plate are attached to the body. The top plate is a harder quality steel, while the body is a low carbon wrought iron. Great quality anvil, well respected. Can be cleaned up, but be careful of overheating the top plate- cool it as you grind- water etc. Don't ever hit the top plate dead on with a hammer- dents the plate- not so good for working steel then. You could easily resell this!
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...=Peter+wright+anvil&_sacat=See-All-Categories
I am fond of anvils- great tool!
It looks like a nice anvil.

 

[JB4310]

Anvil weight is calculated by:
Rules:
First number is # of hundredweight (112 lb. ---- 1,2,3,etc
..........(Any position can be zero, and IF zero is marked with a zero character (0).)
The middle position equals quarters (1/4) of a hundred weight. The value cannot be more than 3. If it looks like a five then it is a two or a three.
The last (right hand) position is pounds and must be equal to 27 or less.

From your photo it looks like 112 + 28 + 21 = 161 lb.s

The shape looks like a Peter Wright (English made) anvil. I can't read it from the photo. Usually the name is on the side of the anvil.
It looks like a nice anvil.

That's a complicated formula, but sounds right, I think I weighs ~160 lbs

It does say wrights patent, so was it imported?

The top is heavily used, even the round part of the horn it heavily worn on one side. Maybe from making horse shoes??

JB

 

[k0ua]

I can't speak to the HF ASO's as I don't own one, but I can describe the HF Vise I have. It is Red in color and gains its smoothness from liberal application of bondo applied over all of the irregularitys of the surface and then a lot of probably lead based paint slathered on it. It does work OK as a vise to hold small objects to weld them. However the back area of the vise has a 4" x 4" area to use as an anvil. Now I am not sure if that area is Jiff, Peter Pan, or Skippy, but it for sure is made of peanut butter. I have never seen "steel" so easily dented by a light peck from an 8 oz. ball peen hammer. When you try to weld the dents over, it acts very weirdly. The surface sort of melts, but holes develop around the puddle. It does not seem brittle, just soft and spongy like maybe old beer cans? or Pot metal? Anyway it is hopeless, I was thinking about covering it with a 1/2 inch piece of hot rolled. It would be much harder and more reliable to beat on.

James K0UA

 

[tcreeley]

That's a complicated formula, but sounds right, I think I weighs ~160 lbs

It does say wrights patent, so was it imported?

The top is heavily used, even the round part of the horn it heavily worn on one side. Maybe from making horse shoes??

JB

-Could be from making shoes. I'd say the guy was right handed and hung the bars/stock over the rounded edge of the anvil - (work rounded), The hammer is in his right hand and the tongs in the left hand. I figure he also beveled the rounded side of the anvil a bit so as to avoid a sharp crease when bending stock over the edge or curving the steel (sets up weak spots). Somebody put some hammer dings in the face. When you hammer hot steel on the face (top) of the anvil - it is soft. One side of the steel takes the hammer blow, the other side takes the dings from the anvil face! (you work around them!)
It looks like a Peter Wright anvil imported from England.
Peter Wright anvil - Practical Machinist - Largest Manufacturing Technology Forum on the Web
+ do a google search: "Peter Wright Anvils"
I hate to think of these anvils hitting the scrap yards!

 

[tcreeley]

I can't speak to the HF ASO's as I don't own one, but I can describe the HF Vise I have. It is Red in color and gains its smoothness from liberal application of bondo applied over all of the irregularitys of the surface and then a lot of probably lead based paint slathered on it. It does work OK as a vise to hold small objects to weld them. However the back area of the vise has a 4" x 4" area to use as an anvil. Now I am not sure if that area is Jiff, Peter Pan, or Skippy, but it for sure is made of peanut butter. I have never seen "steel" so easily dented by a light peck from an 8 oz. ball peen hammer. When you try to weld the dents over, it acts very weirdly. The surface sort of melts, but holes develop around the puddle. It does not seem brittle, just soft and spongy like maybe old beer cans? or Pot metal? Anyway it is hopeless, I was thinking about covering it with a 1/2 inch piece of hot rolled. It would be much harder and more reliable to beat on.

James K0UA

Is that soft stuff babbit?