Homemade Anvil - RR Anvil - Part 2

Part 1 talked about a home made RR-anvil which I designed, and had built with a lot of assistance from some of the guys in one of the workshops at work.

As mentioned in part 1, the issue is to stop the ringing by thickening up the web, and helping transfer any forces from the table to the base.

In an article in one of the 1920-ish shop notes from Popular Mechanics the article talked about making anvils from I-beam and thickening the web by bolting a piece of wood on each side of the web... based on that idea I made a number of pieces of 1 1/2" reinforcing steel which fitted between the rail head and the base plate of the rail.


I then cut another set of pieces which would sit between the underside of the table, and the base.


The next step was to cover the reo-bar. I used some scrap 4mm galv sheet I had kicking around. It welds easy enough, and is thick enough to stand some abuse.


The pritchel hole at the back of the anvil needed to be protected from whatever I did, so I cut up a piece of pipe to make a hollow in the back of the anvil so the underside of the hole would always be accessible.

The sheet metal shroud covered all the reinforcing bar sections welded in underneath the head, and table. Since the rail is made of high carbon Japanese steel, and my welding capabilities didn't seem to like that too much, I ensured mechanical locking whenever possible to make everything sit properly. Knowing that this would not suffice in the long run, knowing the welds made to the rail would crack under repeated hammer strikes, the next step was to fill the gaps so the reo-bar would not move under any circumstance.

The shroud was completed, with just a simple plate (about the size of a credit card) left unwelded at the back.

I obtained from the local tyre place a few bucketfuls of lead tyre weights, and melted them down using a wok burner, and one of my furnace crucibles. I could have used the furnace, but was concerned that over heating the lead might create fumes. I used the furnace when I was melting aluminium, brass and bronze since there wasn't significant issues with fumes... I was not as familiar with lead (I'm not a fishing guy who makes sinkers), so did not know how the fumes went with excessive heating. The wok burner was slower, but I figured there'd be less in the way of fumes.

Using the foundry robot, I picked up a 7L crucible of molten lead, and poured it into the gap between the shroud, and the internals of the RR-Anvil, effectively filling the gap. All surplus molten lead was poured into one of the ingot trays I use when pigging aluminium.


The lead was allowed to cool, and the final plate was recessed into the lead, and welded in place, effectively sealing in the lead. A test with the hammer and it was sweet - no ringing at all.

Here is a photo of the painted up anvil showing the recess under the pritchel hole...

And a side view of the painted anvil...

Yes, the final weight now exceeds it's original weight by more than 100%. The anvil started at 26Kg (57 lbs), and now weighs over 55 Kg (121 lbs).
The slots cut in the base web are for securing the anvil down on a wooden base, and the wonderful "imperial plum" purple paint is one of my garage sale paints I use to paint up things that need protection. I've left the top faces unpainted since it's unlikely the paint would survive the use of the horn, cutting table, and main table.

Now the anvil is finished, I've already found it too small. I've used it for a number of small jobs and for those purposes, it's fine. But once I start pointing bladeware, or other items longer than 8" at it, the table is too small. I've considered welding a larger table on top, using the existing table as a weldment anchor. I have some 2" plate here which could be used, but I'd be back at the workshops to have it cut and welded on the big machines.... I only have one small piece and I can't afford to replace it if it's spotted by a boss.

For now I limit my work in size, and am on the hunt for a decent size anvil. I'm playing with a "false table" idea to allow larger work, but that's had to take the back seat for other projects lately. The "false table" is effectively an extension of the "third hand" concept used by some smiths... a set of light gauge supports are used to retain, or hold the work on the anvil, but they aren't actually part of the anvil. All striking would still occur on the anvil, but the false table would permit me to ensure the work was level, and flat when it is on the table... still in Mk2 testing....

Homemade Anvil - RR Anvil - Part 1

Anvils are one of those things which can be "home made", or totally unorthodox, but it's hard to make a cheap home made anvil which is good, and matches the traditional pattern.
The biggest issue with home made anvils is mass, and "ringing". People tend to make them too light, or out of materials which ring. The first anvils I made were made of material which was too soft, and would scar when I attempted to flatten coat hanger wire on them, let alone anything substantial.

I was given access to a source of rail offcuts, and so was able to grab a number of lengths of rail ranging from 200-1200mm (8" - 48") in length. Since oxy cutting is not in my list of proficient skills yet, I asked one of my friends in the workshops to cut the rail for me. I also provided a sizable piece of 1-1 1/2" plate and marked up a "table" to be cut at the same time. Payment for getting the cutting done was to supply additional lengths of rail offcuts so other anvils could be made.
Sounds good, and it was... the problem was some of the "bosses" spotted my anvil in the workshop whilst it was being cut - each time the bosses would spot it, they'd claim it. The workshop would then start another one for me, and another boss would walk through. By the time I got my anvil, all the heavy plate was used up, and I had refilled the rail offcuts bin at least twice. I don't relate this story to criticise the workshop - far from it. I relate it to show that most people who work with metal like the idea of having an anvil, but would rather someone else made it. If I could afford the purchase and shipping on a commercial anvil I'd have bought one..instead I made one.

To reduce the demand on the workshop, I only asked them to do what I couldn't easily do at home, or to do what was considerably easier (and more efficient) to do with the machines at work.
I asked them to rough cut the rail with the oxy, and to cut the table from the 1 1/2" plate with either oxy or plasma cutting.
I asked them to drill a pritchel hole in the table of a minimum of 1/2" diameter.
I asked them to weld the table to the head of the rail, with appropriate overhangs, clearances, etc as per the drawings and templates I'd supplied.

From what I understand, the guys who'd made my anvil were apprentices tasked by the tradesmen between jobs. I am led to believe that the two apprentices ended up making at least 8 anvils prior to mine, and had at least another 4 to complete after mine. After all that, I'd have expected them to be cutting corners, and generally sick of making something, only to have a boss claim it. When I collected my anvil, I was most pleasantly surprised with how much work they'd done over and above what I'd asked... all the finish grinding was done, there was practically nothing left for me to do other than a few minor alterations.

Below are pictures of the anvil I ended up with. I'll point out the features and the reasoning behind them.

The feet are deliberately cut so they are under the tip of the horn. I read on one of the blacksmithing sites that when someone builds a RR-Anvil (Rail Road Anvil), that by making the base extend under the horn, the force from strikes is transmitted to the base better, and is less likely to cause issues through the web.

The table ended up slightly smaller than planned due to the loss of materials. The table is roughly 150x200x19mm (6" x 8" x 3/4"). A section of bare rail head had been left uncovered for the cutting table.

The table is welded to the rail head on all four sides. I don't know what the trick is the workshop guys used, but their welds to the high carbon rail have excellent penetration. When part 2 comes along I will be able to tell you that nothing I tried worked anything as well as what the workshop guys did.

The RR-Anvil (Mk 1) weighs in at 26 Kg (57 lb). Is it heavy enough?
Does it work?

I tried the anvil and found it rings like the proverbial bell. I don't know if the original anvils I tried to get made turned out, but with some perverse pleasure, I really hope the ones claimed by the bosses also ring as badly. It's mostly the thin web through the middle of the rail section which causes the ringing, so odds are all the other anvils made will also ring.

The way to reduce the ringing is to increase the mass of the web. Some people accomplish this by wrapping the web in chain.

I tried it, but no luck. It still rang badly - subdued slightly, but still quite uncomfortable.

Part 2 will cover how I got rid of the ringing, and ended up with a very serviceable, albeit small anvil.