A thrifty anvil...for builders and craftsman

[gizamo]

It's basically my Poor Boy's Anvil. :wink:

Starts out as a piece of Railroad Rail. Cut to a short length...

I then did some magic to the finish...basically just a good cleanup and wire wheeling. Flattened the top and bottom, best that I can with my power tools... Added some paint.

Then mounted it in my footed vise. It can easily be flipped over and either top or bottom of the rail used for working...

Total cost? Rail section was $10 at a yard sale, paint and misc. supplies would be about $5...

If you added the cost of the Blacksmith leg vise...well that came from a flea market for $50 and all I did was degrease and paint. :grin:

 

[gmarc]

Nice Anvil....looks like 130 rail. High-manganese alloy. VERY tough stuff. Have you thought about making a stand for it?

These anvils are great for knives, tools etc and REALLY benefit from a good stand, so you don't get fatigued.

Good job!

Grant :bow:

 

[necchi]

Yup, got a piece that must be all of 80yrs old now,
My Dad's brother worked for the Great Northern way back, in the shop, they must have used the machines there to mill the top flat.
It's done light duty for us for decades. :grin:

Look's like you did a fine job on the surfaces gizamo :thumbsup:

 

[Little Wattsy]

I got me one too.. Never thought of upending it in a vice like that. Good idea!!

 

[gearheart]

I got me one of them for free. Well not exactly, we were moose hunting along a rail line and I spotted a piece of offcut. I carried it back to camp about 4 miles. I got very heavy before it was mine.

 

[NJStricker]

You could mount it in a bucket of concrete. That will add weight to keep things from bouncing around, and helps to deaden the sound as well (I live in a subdivision, and it helped with the sound when I mounted mine that way). It will also keep from adding wear and tear to your post vice.

 

[AZ Muzzle]

That’s a creative solution. Nicely done! :bow:

Mark B

 

[wayne1967]

You ain't kidding about hard. I've got one that I've ground, ground, ground and it still isn't flat. What did you use on your's, angle grinder?

 

[Capt. Fred]

Yup, I had the same experience with mine. That is some TOUGH steel they make that track out of. Maybe it's Rearden Metal LOL. Who is John Galt anyways? (For you Atlas Shrugged fans out there)

 

[gmarc]

It's high-manganese alloy, I don't remember the series. Nothing beats it for toughness and wear resistance.

I used an angle grinder, but I sure wished I knew where to get it Blanchard ground. It dulls conventional tooling quickly.

 

[wayne1967]

Alot of work but if it works it is worth it. What are anvils going for now, about $2.50 a pound? I've got a horn on mine that I roughed out and ground down.

 

[BillinOregon]

Gizamo: That's a very nice post vise you have there!