[TheForge] Re: Anvils

Wed Apr 2 02:56:01 2003

Chuck;
Didn't know Clay Spencert existed when i built mine...plans? What are 
those? Materials lying around the yard determined a lot of the design. 
Yes, I did build in a rebound spring which works well.
While i use sacrifice plates on the TH anvil sometimes, I find that they 
do absorb a lot of energy compared to welded solid faces. I do have  a 
pretty massive anvil on it now ( 7"X9"X  45" solid built up welded 
plates set on edge). but with the hammer weighing in at almost 100# I 
don't have a 10-1 ratio, i don't think.
It was enough to do a fair job of breaking my index finger yesterday, 
however. I'd advise you to avoid that.
Did a much better job of it last time...see
http://www.peterfels.com/bsab.htm
Oops...digression...anyway....the only way I can see to heat treat it is 
to flame harden it, which I don't know diddle about.
No, you can't borrow my Schmirler!
Thanks for your commentary.......Pete

Chuck Robinson wrote:

>Pete,
>Did you make the TH faces removable like Clay Spencer shows in his Plans?
>I would suggest that you do so ,
>Spark test the Grader Blade then use a proper heat treatment for the alloy.
>With an unknown steel, test quench in slow to fast quenches until the proper
>hardness is achieved.
>first air quench, next oil quench,next interrupted water quench, next water
>quench, finally GSQ quench.
>The die movement in TH dies isn't too detrimental in blow force as long as
>you have at least a 10 to 1 ratio of anvil to hammer weight.
>If you need to use the hammer for multiple blows, add rebound springs like
>Otto Schmirler shows on PP 99-100 in his book "WERK UND WERKZEUG DES
>KUNDERSCHMIEDS"; and shame on you  folks if you don't own a copy of it.
>
>Ralph,
>I've found that the vibrational harmonics (hammer rebound) of an anvil are
>far more dependent on the anvil mass and homogeneity of that mass  than the
>face hardness (as long as the face isn't dinged by the hammer blow). After
>testing a lot of anvils with the ball bearing drop test and Rockwell files,
>I wasn't able to conclude that the hardfaced anvils were routinely better in
>rebound.
>Incidentally hammer ring didn't tend to correlate to liveliness either.
>Some excellent cast steel anvils, like my Kohlswa, have excellent rebound, a
>relatively soft face  and minimal. hammer ring.
>Laurel Machine and foundry also sells excellent cast anvils, but they went
>thru several casting foundries before they found one with enough expertise
>and quality control to insure consistent reliable quality in the castings.
>
>Frosty,
>My top alloy choices for a cast anvil are: 1 spent Uranium, 2 Titanium and
>3 tungsten. I'd like one of each.
>Chuck
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer" <[email protected]>
>To: <[email protected]>
>Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2003 11:29 PM
>Subject: Re: [TheForge] Chasing and engraving
>
>
>  
>
>>Phlip;
>>Pure iron if you can get it, if not try for a low carbon or deep draw
>>type steel.
>>If you make your chasing tools from something like  S7, then you can use
>>them for hot work too.
>>A set of curved line( ends in various arcs) tools are good, make them
>>both sharp ( for cutting) and blunt  for creasers.
>>The cutting edges last longer if ground with convex curves ( the
>>opposite of hollow ground.) Also radius the edges of  lining or cutting
>>tools so you can rock them along a line and not leave jags.
>>Rounds, elipsys(sp), diamods and squares...both radius edged and sharp
>>edged.
>>Keep your eye out for "found " chasing tools..like small rivet sets,
>>nail sets. old time push rods and so on.
>>Making the silly little things is kinda addictive..if you lean that way.
>>George Dixon  has written about this subject well.
>>Norm Larson has a pretty good new book on the subject ( forgot the title
>>already, tisk).
>>Use a soft hammer ..you will spend less time hunting for flying tools.
>>
>>Chuck;
>>I used scraper blade for the anvil and hammer faces on my treadle
>>hammer. The welding involved in making the faces solid enough to suit (
>>lots) softened the scraper blade much more than I'd like.. except for a
>>few areas that didn't get as hot. I hammer out the dings from time to
>>time...similar to the areas adjacent to the welded repairs on my anvil.
>>Work hardening  (I  started with a small air hammer) didn't achieve as
>>much as I'd hoped.
>>There are often times when I heat an area to work and leave the part
>>that bears on the anvil, cold, so as to localize distortion. If it is
>>tool steel, it is hard ( literally) on the anvil's soft spots.
>>
>>
>>    
>>
>
>
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