good day at the scrap yard

[Scott Roush]

Going to my local scrap iron yard is always a throw of the dice, but today:

 

A guy there who knows what I do had a 25# piece of railroad rail that somebody took a lot of effort to shape and gave it to me.  Not sure what to do with it, but it's pretty cool! I guess I will grind off the bottom and weld the top onto something else.  It is dead as a doornail as it is.

But look at that chunk of steel!  That thing is NOT dead.  So what do I do with it?  It weighs well over a 100 pounds.  I have a 75# Kohlswa that is a a very nice anvil but the edges are worn and I want something bigger.  So do I just sit my Kohlswa on top of that thing or make a post anvil out of it?

Also got a lot of copper for guards and some blacksmithing stuff.....

[KHALVERSON]

scott
142 lbs
length x width x height x .284
thats a great score at the scrap yard

[2treks]

You gotta love big chunks of steel. I would like to pick it up. What is a kohlswa?
Chuck

[Scott Roush]

thanks...I was meaning to look up the formula for that.

A Kolswa is a swedish made anvil of very high quality.  Mine is small, but it has great rebound.. meaning it almost throws the hammer out of your hand if you miss the piece you are forging.


So how do anvils work in terms of effectiveness?
My 75# Kolswa has slightly more rebound than this chunk of what I'm assuming is mild steel. But that chunk has way more mass. Which makes the better anvil?  And.. why wouldn't sitting my little guy on this chunk increase the working mass? If there just too much loss in the slight gap between the anvil and the chunk??

[kbaknife]

Scott, there are a lot of formulas out there, but my own personal one is that I like 50# of anvil for each pound of hammer.
My anvils are 157# and 167# and seem to be really active up through my three pound hammers. After that it's just really obvious that I'm throwing too much hammer for the anvil to return on the bottom side.
Don't forget that every time you hit you work piece, it's getting smacked on the bottom side by the anvil, but only if you're not sending so much energy at it that it just sort of zooms right on through.
The type of steel has a lot to do with how the anvil performs, some are iron, some are poured and some are forged.
I want a 300#er. That way ALL! of my energy is induced into the workpiece.
The heavier your anvil, the less work you have to do.

[Scott Roush]

so does sitting my 75# on top of 145# = 220# in terms of working mass or.. as I suggested, too much is lost since they are not completely connected?  My Kolswa is a hardened top sitting on mild steel as well...

So what would y'all do... make that big chunk into a post anvil or since it's all mild steel just continue to use my Kolswa? I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth all the effort to weld a stand for that thing. I only paid $25 for it, so no big deal if I just end up using it as a door stop.

What  do you think about hardening the surface??

[Lin Rhea]

Scott,
        I have to agree with Karl. I get to use an old railroad anvil here at the museum and it's about 450 lbs or so. It works well. I have relatively new 200 lb Emerson at home that I like. I tend to use 3 lb or less hammers. My favorite is 2 lb. I also have a 128 lb Hay-Budden which is the best for it size anvil I have. It's a thing of beauty for eyes like mine.    

      I believe that your chunk of steel will eventually work harden on the surface and make a pretty good anvil, but it may not ever be as good as a properly hardened anvil. If it's mild steel your best bet is to work harden it, because, it just wont harden by heating and quenching. The sheer mass of it will be working against you getting the temps down fast enough. This is just an opinion. I would be very interested in hearing about or seeing this done if it can be done. Lin

[Scott Roush]

Lin the only good alternative I've seen for hardening it is using a stick welder with high carbon sticks and go over the whole surface. There is an article on iForge...

I will probably go ahead and make a stand for it...

[Lin Rhea]

Yes, I've heard of that too. Would you mill the top after you weld it?

The logistics of handling such a chunk would neccessitate something other that an actual quench unless you have all of the right circumstances. Sounds like you have a good plan.

[Scott Roush]

You have to grind it flat.  I don't have a stick welder myself. Might have to make another bowie for my welder buddy!

Guess it never hurts to have another piece of metal to pound on in the shop...

Now I just need a good vice....