Anvil Steel

**captainblowhole** · 12-17-2010, 07:27 PM

Whats the best steel for an anvil?

**bubba-san** · 12-17-2010, 08:48 PM

In my opinion S-5 or S-7 durable stuff . Bubba

**Lon Humphrey** · 12-20-2010, 05:03 PM

well...thats kind of a loaded question. hard face soft body if i HAD to make one i would hard face a plate of mild steel but you need enough mass to rebound the hammer back at you..you should be able to find a decient anvill for around a buck a pound

**shawnpatterson** · 12-20-2010, 05:36 PM

I would agree that sure S7 would make an awesome anvil, and it does... Same with H13, awesome shit, but pricey. If you got the dough ray me, God bless you and send me a slab.

But i was fortunate to pick up a 178 lb piece of 9'' round stock, had it heat treated professionally and it is the bomb. I had a step milled in the side so i have a square edge and the rest is still round. The top 5'' is hardened to about 58rc and the balance (13'') is in the 20s. It reboun ds really well. I have to admit its not as good as my other mystery metal chunk. I have a piece of steel used for setups on our massive Ingersol milling machine. The cube is 6''x6''x8'' and has that measurement engraved in it. It rebounds like 90+ percent with a 1'' bearing at 10-12''. If any of you machinists out there have any idea what they make these things out of please, gimme a heads up.
8620 is good i hear but never used it.

**stephanfowler** · 12-22-2010, 11:35 AM

really weight means a lot more than anything else

for a long time I used a forklift tine just stuck in a bucket with sand. did just fine.

I've forged on big chunks of mild steel and it's fine, just gotta be careful not to ding the face up.

**dragoncutlery** · 12-22-2010, 11:58 AM

i second the large random chunk of steel for an anvil

**waterdogs** · 12-22-2010, 04:54 PM

20-something years ago, I visited the late Phill Hartsfield while I was on vacation in California. He took me on a tour of his shop, and the one thing that really stood out was a 6-foot section of railroad track, bolted to the workbench, which he used as an anvil.

**Soup_Monger** · 12-22-2010, 05:01 PM

I saw a thread a way back where a talented guy called "OneRod" made one out of a length of railtrack.

His heat treat was interesting too.

Here is the thread:

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/...of-pictures%29

**captainblowhole** · 12-22-2010, 06:20 PM

When I was a kid I had an old man neighbor who used to be a shoe maker and he was really old, and when he died, his wife asked my parents if I could help clean out his garage with my brother. We spent all day getting tons and tons of junk out of there and he had this old anvil in there. His wife said we could keep it, and so he and I carried it all the way back to our house. It weighed 75 lbs and it says "Cleveland" on the side. Huge and a back breaker! I dont know how we did it after a day of work and we were like 12 or so.
We put it in our garage and its been there ever since. When I was old enough to do stuff with it, I got a piece of whats called an "electricians blanket", which is a heavy half inch thick sheet of rubber. I put it between the anvil and the tree truck base and cut it to the shape of the trunk, this way its kind of clean and doesnt let the wood get messed up as bad. I find that it reduces the "klang" a bit and it seems that the hammer bounces off the anvil better than before. Im not sure if thats desirable, but it seems to be fine. One day when I get my own place Id like to take it back.

**albularyo** · 12-24-2010, 06:37 AM

Whatever Peter Wright used.....rail works pretty well and in a pinch any HEAVY chunk of steel will do the job.

**Everything Mac** · 01-01-2011, 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by Soup_Monger

I saw a thread a way back where a talented guy called "OneRod" made one out of a length of railtrack.

His heat treat was interesting too.

Here is the thread:

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/...of-pictures%29

I used that as a guide to make my rail track anvil - I use it as a portable anvil these days.

Mass under the area being hit is important too - which is why a lot of RR track anvils are mounted vertically to make most use of the mass under the hammer.

I was pretty lucky - managed to pick up a 138lb anvil for £10.50 - which at the moment equates to $16.39 - bargain.

Just about any decent chunk of steel will do the job.

Andy

**juggernaut69** · 01-10-2011, 10:58 PM

I was looking for a good anvil for along time but the price on some of these was way out of my range. then one day I came across an old blacksmith from out in the sticks that told me not to worry so much about getting a good anvil and that he learned from his Daddy on an old engine block,and ended up making a living that way. So I guess the moral is use what you got and go to work. Having a good anvil is a state of mind. That being said I still ended up buying a 300 pound Trenton that use every day.

**ranchman** · 03-09-2011, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by juggernaut69

I was looking for a good anvil for along time but the price on some of these was way out of my range.

I had the same problem. I found a peter wright for a good price but the edges were chipped off. I heated the anvil up and filled in all the chips with hard-facing welding rod and ground it back smooth. Looks and works like a dream. Great ring and rebound. Saved me a bunch of money too.