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Posted 1 year ago
packrat-pl…
(236 items)
I would like to share a photograph of this anvil I made out of a piece of railroad track several years ago. I needed a small anvil to do a job and could not find what I wanted.
After finding the piece I needed, I had to soften the metal since RR track is so hard. I annealed it by heating it up with a rose bud to around 1200-1500 degrees, then I buried it in a box of warm sand for two days. With the metal soft, I was ready to proceed. Next I rough ground it to shape with a grinder. After that I put it on a milling machine to cut all the flat surfaces, and shaped the horn with a grinder. Next I drilled the round hole and cut the square hole.
In order to get the temper back, I reheated it back up to around 1000-1200 degrees and quenched it in a bucket of old motor oil.
There you have it, a great little anvil, better then the ones you can but today.
For all of you not familiar with blacksmithing or metal working, I have included a drawing to show what the various parts of an anvil are called.
Thank you very much for looking, hope you enjoy it.
Tools and HardwareThe history of tools and hardware tells the story of two conflicting impuls…
scottscuff,
Thank you very much, I appreciate it, that was very nice.
AWESOME !
Thank you very much ThriftyGypsy!!!!
Nice to have the equipment, time and tallent to do that. Great job!
Wow, kudos for the effort on all that work. I actually needed one of these little ones he other day when I was straightening some small metal bits on of of my toy cannons. I have quite a few chunks of rail sitting around too!
Great job packrat-place!
that is very cool , i love it:)
A super nice job. Wish I was still young enough to lift one. We will be watching the news for reports of train derailments and not riding, Hehehehehe!!
Thank you very much for all the love and kind words ThriftyGypsy, trgrubaugh , Lumpy , Dr_Rambow, officialfuel, pickingupbones, walksoftly , BELLIN68 , fhrjr2, leighannrn & scottscuff.
It was a fun project. The RR track was actually unearthed during a hospital remodeling project.
fhrjr2, eat your Wheaties and you will be fine.
Thank you very much chevy59, TRIKER & scandinavian_pieces, appreciate the love.
Thank you very much mtg75
Thank you very much for looking michelleamieux, Longings, & Hedgewalker.
Neat; hard work does really pay off.
Thank you very much for visiting gargoylecollector, ttomtucker & bushrat for the kind words.
Thank you very much fossilhunter
That is really neat. If you can't find one, make one, great job!
Thank you very much neat.old.stuff
It took me a while to re-find your post, lol. I like your little rail anvil, it's partly the reason I went and dug out my old beast and posted it.
Thank you for the kind words tommy1002.
Thank you very much mrmajestic1.
Thank you very much stonesfan1
Way to go packrat! i've been looking for an anvil and if you don't mind i'll use your photo as a template....i have a line on a piece of rail. Again, good job!
A South African friend told me that he & his father came back to their shop 1 day and found that his" local" help had broken the horn off of his anvil. He said his father told them that he wasn't mad, but just wanted to know HOW!?
Thank you very much for the kind words jimborasco, glad I could help.
Yes, you can break a horn off. An anvil is never to be hit directly with a hammer, there needs to be something between the hammer and the anvil face.
Thank you very much collector4evr , blunderbuss2 & trunkman
Thank you very much for the kind words adkmetalman. It was a fun project, RR track is very workable after it is softened.