# Anvil build



## cathead (Jan 27, 2020)

Yesterday I did a bit of machining and welding and put together an anvil of sorts.  So far I have not made a hardy hole so
made a round hole instead called a pritchel I think.  The horn was made of some 4140 and the rest a mixture of hot and cold roll material. 
It is really difficult to do any decent looking welding as the material is cold and thick.  I used 1/8 inch 7018 rod for the welding.  I have to
laugh because the power company came by today to change out the meter.  It is possible I suppose that with the huge use
of electricity for a short period flagged their system.  They told me the meter quit reporting but not sure that was the case... 
I went through about 5 pounds of rod or so but I wasn't counting.  I may apply a chunk of 4140 on top of the existing iron
if it proves necessary.  The project is going to be somewhat on hold for a while until I can put the anvil in a big wood fire
and get it pretty hot, then hopefully finish up with some better looking welds.  I would think I need to heat it up after all done welding
and do some sort of quench. 



The anvil rings pretty well when hammered on but will find out with some usage as far as how good it is.  It's a work in progress anvil for now. 


I'm not too proud of the welding.  Hopefully I can do better later on.


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## Latinrascalrg1 (Jan 27, 2020)

Dont worry about the welding, thats why they make angle grinders......A few minutes with a flap disc and the welds will look GREAT!

Nice work so far btw.  About how much will it weigh when finished?


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## cathead (Jan 27, 2020)

Latinrascalrg1 said:


> Dont worry about the welding, thats why they make angle grinders......A few minutes with a flap disc and the welds will look GREAT!
> 
> Nice work so far btw.  About how much will it weigh when finished?



It would weigh about 125 pounds if I apply the hard face top.


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## brino (Jan 27, 2020)

Nice!

Hard to tell the scale of it.
Is the main body solid?
Is the main body 3" x 3"? How big is the pritchel hole?

-brino


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## cathead (Jan 27, 2020)

Yes, 3x3 and the pritchel is 7/8 inch but could be a hardy if I saw or file it out. It's all solid pieces.


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## Latinrascalrg1 (Jan 27, 2020)

125 lbs, wow, thats much larger then I thought from the pics! 
If its ok to spend your money for you I would Absolutely add on that hardened top plate.


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## cathead (Jan 28, 2020)

Some progress is being made on the anvil project.  My big Milwaukee grinder came in handy and after an hour or so of
hard work it is beginning to take shape.  The welding shop had some 5/32 rod in 7018 so invested in 10 pounds
of that and applied some more metal at 180 amperes of DC using the old Forney 180 amp welder and my home made 
dc adapter.  

The grinding part was better off doing outside so I used the tailgate of my pickup for a work table.  Also used was an 80 grit
flap wheel to smooth out some of the roughness.  



I'm glad the grinding part is over as it was cold and cloudy outside today.  
	

		
			
		

		
	



The next phase will be to add a top plate of which I still need to locate.  It needs to be about 5 inches wide and
at least a foot long and and inch or more thick.  I will add the hardy hole and pritchel to that before the final welding
process.  After that I'm not sure yet how to go about the firing and hardening.  I do have a 100 pound propane
cylinder with a big weed burning head so may use that and then dump the anvil into a pool of water somehow.  

I set a piece of metal on the top of the existing work to get an idea of the scope of things.  Just for fun, I will 
set this thing on the bathroom scale and see what it weighs at this stage of the game.


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## brino (Jan 28, 2020)

I think @RJSakowski wrote about putting a new top on an anvil........I'll see if I can find it.

-brino

Here's a link to some of his stuff(post #5), but I still thought there was another post with more details.....still looking:
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/anvil-welding-or-how-to-weld-heavy-metal.69263/

...oh, and a few other interesting threads as "food for thought":
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/anvil.1508/post-11328
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/homemade-anvil.72946/#post-611838

-brino


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## middle.road (Jan 28, 2020)

@cathead - be sure to put your maker's mark on the bottom of that beast. Name, Date, & Location...


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## RJSakowski (Jan 28, 2020)

brino said:


> I think @RJSakowski wrote about putting a new top on an anvil........I'll see if I can find it.
> 
> -brino
> 
> ...


Brino,  I think post #5 on that link is it.  I can't help with a search as my search function is all screwed up.  I can't see any of my content.


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## brino (Jan 28, 2020)

@RJSakowski I remember reading a post (I think it was yours) about an unusual technique of re-facing the anvil.
It involved the use a tractor and roadway......
-brino


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## brino (Jan 28, 2020)

I found it!
Here: https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/anvil.33983/post-286876

-brino


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## RJSakowski (Jan 28, 2020)

brino said:


> I found it!
> Here: https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/anvil.33983/post-286876
> 
> -brino


Thanks brino,
I hope they can get this problem with the server sorted soon.  I miss not being able to search for my posts.


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## middle.road (Jan 29, 2020)

RJSakowski said:


> Thanks brino,
> I hope they can get this problem with the server sorted soon.  I miss not being able to search for my posts.


OK, let's track this gremlin down. I just tried it and ended up with two pages of posts by you with anvil in it.

Click on the '_Forum_' tab above
Then on this sub menu:


Click on '_Search Forums_'
Trying entering 'anvil' in the '_Keywords_' field   (not 'advil' or 'andvil' like I did....)
Then 'RJSakowski' in 'Posted By' field
(make sure that '_Search threads_' has a gray bar under it.)
and hit '_Search_'

I've attached a PDF of what came up here...


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## cathead (Jan 29, 2020)

A heavy duty grader blade might be good enough to use for the face of this anvil.  I do have a bunch of 1.5 inch x 6 inch wide, plenty long steel but have
no idea if it has much carbon in it.  None of it is in hard condition, that much I know.  In any case, I will be able to test out my new plasma
cutter soon....... on something....


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## FOMOGO (Jan 29, 2020)

Cool project. At 1.5" you might want to get out the OA torch. Mike


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## RJSakowski (Jan 29, 2020)

middle.road said:


> OK, let's track this gremlin down. I just tried it and ended up with two pages of posts by you with anvil in it.
> 
> Click on the '_Forum_' tab above
> Then on this sub menu:
> ...


Thanks, I checked and it is working now.  Brian, vtcnc, was working on a fix.  Notice no content between July, 2018 and Jan. 2020.Here is what I was seeing earlier. Then later it came back with no content.  


Now it returns this.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is finally fixed.


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## cathead (Feb 7, 2020)

Several pieces of H-13 steel have come my way.  One piece is already hard and the other would need
to be heated and quenched.  The hard piece would be my first inclination but is an odd shape requiring
to be cut to size.  Also, I would have to make a Hardy hole with a carbide end mill before welding it on. 
The unhardened piece is already to size so that part is appealing plus making a Hardy hole would be relatively easy.  
If I weld on the unhardened piece, I will have to heat up the whole anvil and then quench it.  So at this point, 
I am unsure which way to go.  Maybe someone on here has had experience along these lines.....


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## cathead (Feb 8, 2020)

Today the hardened piece of H-13 was cut to size using a carbide end mill and a bit of patience.  It rings like a bell.  
I don't know if that is a good thing or not.  Next will be to cut a Hardy hole in it with a carbide cutter.  It's about an inch and a half 
thick so It could get interesting, maybe working on it from both sides I suppose.  It measures about 4 inches across and
about 10 inches long.  This is all new territory for me so find it quite interesting.  Tomorrow I will likely weld the hard top piece to 
the existing bottom part using a bit of preheat and 180 amperes of DC arc welding with some 7018 rods.


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## cathead (Feb 9, 2020)

It's pretty much in it's final shape now.  Today I added the Hardy hole and the Pritchel hole to a chunk of H-13 that was not completely hard
so that went pretty well.  The hard piece of H-13 was welded to the front of the anvil and the Hardy and Pritchel piece went on the back. 
I'm hoping that with a little practice I can clean up some of the welding imperfections using the TIG welder and finally a coat of paint possibly. 
It weighs a little over 100 pounds now.  There's more to do as far as making several tools for the Hardy hole.  One thing I am going to make
out of the remaining hard material is a cut off tool to fit the Hardy.  After that, I will see if I can locate some coal and rig up some sort of
rudimentary forge so I can actually do a bit of metal shaping.  
	

		
			
		

		
	



I need to find a large log piece about a foot tall for a base.  I don't know what size hole a Pritchel hole is commonly employed
but I can still bore it out some more if needed.  Presently it is at 1/2 inch and the Hardy is a loose fit 7/8 inch.

It is usable as is now since the part in front of the Hardy hole is already very hard, the back, not as hard...


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## brino (Feb 9, 2020)

If you have a difficult time sourcing coal, you might try a propane fired forge.
I built simple propane burners based on this site:
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/

Propane burner here:
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/oliverburner1.html

Forced-air propane burner:
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/blowburner01.html

A waste-oil burner capable of melting iron:
http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/oilburners03.html

-brino


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