[TheForge] How bad are the HF cast anvils?

[lama]

Ken, you are probably right about the quality of these HF anvils.
I found it curious however that you were trying to make an anvil from a
"railroad tie" As far as I know, a railroad tie is a heavy piece of wood
that supports two pieces of railroad track. No wonder you used
$30-$40 worth of gas. I have made and used anvils from railroad track
but have never had the opportunity to try the railroad tie verity. <G>
dave m.

----- Original Message -----
From: Ken Showalter <kenshowalter@advocacy-net.com>
To: <theforge@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2001 10:31 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] How bad are the HF cast anvils?


> I have both the 110lb and 55lb same as HF advertises but from a local
dealer
> in DE. The 55lb has a carbon steel face and the 110lb appears to be solid
> steel. They both have a nice ring and bounce to them , but as others have
> noticed in the  past they also have soft faces and ding easily. I plan to
> try and temper the faces using  a recipe from Alexander Weygers: The
> complete Modern Blacksmith ; Chpt 25: "How to make a small anvil from a
> railroad tie" where he shows how to temper an anvil in a coal forge fire
> using fire bricks and cast iron pipe, a tricky 10 step process that draws
> the entie face to a straw color before quenching. Looks like I would need
a
> lot of help , may get BGOP to help me.
>      I tried to make an anvil out of a railroad tie but after using up
abot
> $30-40 worth of gas with my cutting torch and still more to cut  I bought
> the 55lb anvil for $49  and just recently got the 110lb($62 with a small
> edge chip) for heavier work. They'll do the job for us partimers and
> tempered they may turn out to be a real bargain. HF does sell a 55lb cast
> iron version and it is a dud or a doorstop whichever you prefer.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Adam Whiteson" <adam@whiteson.org>
> To: <theforge@mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Friday, December 28, 2001 10:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] How bad are the HF cast anvils?
>
>
> > I would bet $$ that "cast steel" in this case is really just cast iron
and
> > cast iron is not a great material for an anvil.  Someone in this list
did
> > say, (this is a while back),  that he bought a bunch as student anvils
for
> > a class he ran and that they did the job.  I guess it's surely better
than
> > no anvil at all.  But they still cost $100 and that is too much to spend
> on
> > something that's really just a stopgap.
> >
> > Adam
> >
> >
> >
> > At 09:28 AM 12/28/2001 -0600, you wrote:
> > > From another list I've seen a request for information on the Harbor
> Freight
> > >110lb anvil.
> > >
> > >http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=46707
> > >
> > >They say its "cast steel."  Anyone ever seen one of these beasties?
> Their
> > >products are generally, uhm... "less than desirable", but you can still
> > >find some good deals.
> > >
> > >I know their cast iron anvils aren't any good, but I hadn't seen the
> "cast
> > >steel" before.  At 1/4 of the price of a Czech anvil, its starting to
> look
> > >good, if it isn't just a boat anchor.
> > >
> > >Thanks
> > >
> > >Michael
> > >
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