[TheForge] Top of a broken anvil?

[Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer]

If you put that one on a stump and use it for the bic ( horn)..
Then go to the junkyard and pick up a length of heavy shafting ( the 
bigger the better) and bury it,end down in the shop floor, so that you 
can hammer on the end/top...then you will have all the mass in just the 
right location to make a very serviceable anvil.
Most forging happens within just a few square inches, in practice...
pf

Jonathan Barnhart wrote:
> As to the suggestion of buying a good anvil, I'm working on a very low budget.  I was hoping to make some extra money smithing.  I thought if I could fix this one so that I can use it in a makeshift manner for a bit, I might make up enough to eventually replace it with something better.  So, buying anything right now is out of the question.
> 
> As for the repairs, I'm not sure if I can manage the welding myself.  I'm trying to learn, but I don't have much experience.  My Dad can weld, but he's only a minor repair kind of guy.  He's always patched his own farming gear, but not much else.  I've always been told though, that if it was hardened and tempered that you needed to anneal it before you could weld it safely.  I thought about bolting plates to either side of it, but I don't think I have enough metal under it to bolt something to.  Should I post the pics to give you guys a better idea?
> 
> 
> --- On Mon, 9/8/08, dann at wctatel.net <dann at wctatel.net> wrote:
> 
>> From: dann at wctatel.net <dann at wctatel.net>
>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Top of a broken anvil?
>> To: blakkpawss at yahoo.com, "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>> Date: Monday, September 8, 2008, 2:50 PM
>> I fixed something like this by drilling 4 bolt holes through
>> the waist of
>> the anvil and using long 5/8 inch thick  bolts to run all
>> the way through
>> .. bolting a healthy pieces of plate steel on each side.  I
>> imagine
>> putting front and back as well as sides on the new steel
>> base so it would
>> look more like a pyramid of steel supporting the anvil. 
>> From there it
>> would be easy to add on a 5th base steel plate.
>>
>> I was dealing with steel being joined  to and old cast
>> iron, so I elected
>> to grind / clean the joint and fill it with "liquid
>> steel" just prior to
>> tightening my bolts to my patch / splice.  So far it has
>> held.
>>
>> DAnn
>>
>>> I've been looking for a bigger anvil to work from
>> lately.  My 70lb.
>>> Swedish Kolswa is a nice anvil, but I need more
>> working space.  While
>>> digging through a and selling scrap from my
>> Grandpa's old farm we found
>>> the top of an old anvil.  When I say top, I mean the
>> base was cut off of
>>> it at about the point where most anvils neck in.  The
>> narrow spot between
>>> the top and the legs of the anvil.  So, it has no base
>> to mount it.  Also
>>> it has no maker marks visible on it.  They must have
>> been cut off with the
>>> base.  It's somewhere around 2-2 1/2' long. 
>> I'd guess that at one time it
>>> was between 125 and 150 lbs.    The working surface is
>> long and narrow.
>>> It has a small offset working surface on one side of
>> the horn.  It has one
>>> hardie and two pritchel holes.  There is no step on
>> the horn.  I can't
>>> afford a new anvil right now, but I might be able to
>> put a base on this
>>> one using scrap that I already have.  Or at least
>> devise some sort of
>>> cradle to mount it
>>>  solidly.  Any suggestions or tips?  I have pics, but
>> I'm not sure how to
>>> post them safely on here.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
>>> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
>>> theforge mail list group photo site is
>>> http://www.photoaccess.com
>>> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
>>> password:  anvil
>>> ___________
>>>
>>>
>>>
> 
> 
>       
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
> 
> 
>