MEMBER ITEMS FOR SALE
Custom Knives | Other Knives | General Items
-------------------------------------------
New Posts | New PhotosAll Photos



Go Back   The Knife Network Forums : Knife Making Discussions > Custom Knife Discussion Boards > The Outpost

The Outpost This forum is dedicated to all who share a love for, and a desire to make good knives, and have fun doing it. We represent a diverse group of smiths and knifemakers who bring numerous methods to their craft.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 04-19-2002, 03:33 PM
Lamnia Artifex
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
How's this for an anvil?


Today on the way home my dad visited a scrapyard on my behest. I asked for some railroad-rail as that seems to be basic newbie anvil. He however could not find any. He did as he was leaving he saw a piece of round steel stock about 6 across and almost 4 1/2 feet long! Ther thing ways over 200 pounds1! We're not even sure how we're going to mount it. I was thinking like Mr. Lively's in a bucket of cement, buried in the ground. The only trouble is the weight, that's way too much. Hehe, any suggestions on how to move it? I'll see if I can get a pick to post. Ohh I'm soo excited, I'm finally going to forge some stuff!! :rollin: wahoo
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 04-19-2002, 05:25 PM
Bob Warner
Guest
 
Posts: n/a

Here is one option,

Find the place you want to mount it and dig a hole. Put a 6" thick slice out of a tree trunk that is about 12" in diameter in the bottom of the hole. Paint the "anvil" with tar on the part that will be underground and plant it in the hole on top of the tree truck piece. Cover it up with dirt and hammer away. Different people have diffferent comfort levels as to how high an anvil should be, I personally have mine at a height that when I stand beside it and hang my arm down at my side and make a fist. My knuckles are sitting right on top of the anvil face. 200 pounds is a good weight (I would not cut it up at all), it should be really solid and it is heavy enough not to bounce around on you. What little "Bounce" there will be will be absorbed by the piece of tree trunk underneath. You don't want it completely solid like sitting on top of concrete because something has to absorb the shock of the hammer blows. The piece you are working on will absorb most of it but the rest has to go somewhere or you will start to deform the anvil face. Many times people will weld a regular anvil onto a pipe and concrete the pipe into the ground, later they wonder why they see little cracks appearing on their anvil. They basically break the anvil by mounting it incorrectly.

The reason I recommend the method above is because I have always been told by old blacksmiths (and I know several) that the BEST way to mount an anvil (traditional anvil) is to bury a 6 ft tree trunk in the ground leaving just enough sticking out to get your anvil at the right height. The tree absorbs the shock that could damage your anvil. The method above is a variation of the old way but taking your "Anvil" size and dimentions into consideration.

Just a suggestion, by no means am I telling you the this is the ONLY way, just the way I would do it if I had the piece of steel you have.

Using the OLD way of doing things and wanting an anvil I could move around, I decided to do mine like this, The barrel is filled with sand. There is 2" of sand in the bottom, then the 9-4X4's with sand packed in around them. It is really solid and I can move it if I need to.


Let us know what you finally do with it.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 04-19-2002, 08:20 PM
ghostdog
Guest
 
Posts: n/a

Lamnia, good score! Like Bob says, don't cut it. 200 pounds is not too heavy for an anvil. If it were me, and weight were a concern, I would seriously consider Bob's suggestions over the cemented in approach. the cement alone is extremly heavy. If you find it heavy, don't be afraid to ask for help moving it. Use your fulcrum point or a dolly or whatever it takes to not hurt your self.



ghostdog
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 04-20-2002, 07:35 PM
Sweany
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
yep


What Bob said!! Get three of your buddies and wrap some rope around it for handles.

I actually prefer my anvil height slightly higer than Bob's desription. That way there is less danger of overextending the elbow. A big consideration in this sport.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 04-20-2002, 07:47 PM
Lamnia Artifex
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Re: yep


Sweany you hit the nail on the head. The anvil actually! That is precisely how wedecided to move it. And it is pretty far over 200 pounds. That was a rough estimation before I measured it. And before I tried to move it. Together my dad and I, along with my mother using the leverage of a shovel could not lift it. It is 32 inches long and 9 inches straight through. I am hoping I can get a few friends over tomorrow to help. Meanwhile i'll be dreaming about pretty knives.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 04-20-2002, 08:02 PM
Suruga
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Re: yep


My "anvil" is a rusted six-foot length of railroad rail I found lying next to some tracks a few miles from my house. (I've always meant to cut off a more serviceable length, but haven't found the means.. right now, I have one end vaguely dressed and I just use it.) Sounds lighter than yours, Lamnia, seeing as how my father and I were able to opt for the "nearly break our necks" option and haul it up a slope covered with wet grass.

We estimated it over 300 pounds.

See? Unmanageable weight can be good. Saves you from doing stupid things like me.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 04-20-2002, 09:24 PM
Lamnia Artifex
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Re: yep


: Suruga, you are too right. My dad has a bit of back trouble and his body type is uhh, ectomorphic I think the word is. He is skinny, but pretty strong. He was pretty cautious about even strainin to lift it. He did not want to hurt himself, or me. Smart man. But I'll get it up with a few more friends. Then I will be in business. Right now it is sitting on it's side in my backyard. I think I will dig a whole by the cut end of it and sink a stump into the whole. THen when we pull it, it will just use gravity and fall into the whole, standing up. Then I'll pour a little concrete around it, not so muck to insure that it doesn't move (it took all the man at the scrapyard had to knock it over) but because where it is located needs a bit of fill. Man, by the beginning of summer you all will be hearing me say things like, "when is the next IITH" and "So when I blahblahed I really needed to have blahblahed." I can't wait to be asking you questions because I made a mistake. :
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 04-22-2002, 03:49 PM
Bog Iron
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
anvil


The rounds I bought were 5.75" x 41" and weighed 301#

Yours sounds *much* heavier!

I moved one of mine by placing two 4x4s on my tailgate and fastening a rope to the front of my pickup bed that went between the boards. I rolled the round over to the bottom of the boards and over the rope, then standing on the uphill side I could pull the rope and roll the round up into the truck slick as a whistle, no help needed and *NOBODY* in the fall zone.

Took it over to the MOB meeting where we chopped it into 150#, 100# and 50# chunks to maks a range of anvil sizes for the fellow who bought it. We took the 50# hot from the cutting and stuck it on a portable stump and forged with it to show the new owner how it works... It's kind of nice to have a portable piece and one you can turn on it's side to get a nice curve for drawing on.

Bog Iron---I've had to move a lot of heavy stuff by myself and simple machines and basic safety rules have stood me in good stead---moved my triphammer by myself with no lift points to get it into the pickup, but a lot of time spent stacking 2x8 pieces and using a long stout lever...

Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 04-23-2002, 12:34 AM
AchimW
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Re: anvil


That's pretty easy to calculate if you know that the specific weight of iron is very near to 8. If it is a round with 6" diameter and 4 1/2 feet long, it is

3" x 3" x 3,141 x 4 1/2 feet to get the volume. Multiply by 8 to get the weight. If i calculated right (not in avoirdupoids but in metric) it should be around 421 pounds. That's a GOOD sized anvil.

Achim
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 04-23-2002, 10:37 AM
genechapman
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Re: anvil


You have one heavy anvil there. I looked up weight of steel in my old machinist handbook, a 1942 edition.
A quick way to estimate weight is to multiply the cubic inch volume by .28.
A 9" X 32" rod figures to be 2034 cubic inches. Multiply by .28 and it works out to be 570 pounds if I did my math right. Some old time shipyard shipfitters and welders I worked with used to call 1" steel plate 40#, 1/2" plate 20# and so forth.
A cubic foot of steel weighs in at 484 pounds as a general rule. Different alloy steels have weight variations but the mulitplier .28 is a good rule of thumb.
Happy hammering.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 04-23-2002, 01:25 PM
Lamnia Artifex
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Re: anvil


Snickies!! I gots me a good permenant anvil. I think I am going to dig a whole right by it, drop a 1' section of tree trunk in there, then dig out under it a bit, and pull. That should get it off its axis and help it slide down onto the stump. But it will still be leaning, then I'll use my portable garbage vacuum to clean the stump of sand. I'll add some tar, and we'll all pull it upright. Then I'll fill in the hole flush with the ground.

: I am way too short for this idea to work very good. My fist at the length of my arm is about 30'' of the ground. So my anvil will be falling a very short distance. Oh well, it comes down to it and we'll all pull it up with ropes anyway. Thanks for the weights guys. My dad got it for $20. :
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 04-23-2002, 02:30 PM
Sweany
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Re: anvil


Whew, in a couple years that anvil is going to weigh 800lbs anyway : :rollin: :

good score for $20.00
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 04-23-2002, 07:52 PM
foxcreek
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Re: anvil


This is so great Lamnia! I can tell you are excited at getting a good anvil, as you have every reason to be, but the best thing is that your family is into it too, and helping. That's really great!
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 05-04-2002, 03:36 PM
Bob Warner
Guest
 
Posts: n/a

Is it working yet? Have you planted it?
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 06-09-2002, 08:03 PM
Bob Warner
Guest
 
Posts: n/a

What is the scoop on this? Did you start using it yet?
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
forge, knives


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

(View-All Members who have read this thread : 2
bstach, fuzzy
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:23 AM.




KNIFENETWORK.COM
Copyright © 2000
? CKK Industries, Inc. ? All Rights Reserved
Powered by ...

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
The Knife Network : All Rights Reserved