I have two 28" pieces of 100 pound railroad rail that I will weld together to make an anvil for a 44 pound (+/-) power hammer. Being used rail the bases measure 5-3/8" wide and the height is 5-3/4". I have not yet decided whether to weld them with the bases abuted, or interlocking the balls (most likely). A very knowledgeable friend said to preheat them and use SS-309 rod. If I decide to interlock the balls, I will cut 3/4" plug weld holes in the flanges 3" apart where I can plug weld the flange of one rail to the ball of the other. If I abut the bases I will install 3/4" bolts, 3" apart the length of each side of the flanges. For some unknown reason placing the balls face to face to each other doesn't seem to make sense with just two vertical weld groves. With the price of stainless and 1/2" plate locally, I am not interested to placing two plates between the flanges in this solution. Either way, there will be a 3"x3"x6" die on top the the mass, and I plan to weld this on with Stainless also. This rail is from the end of the original piece. I understand rails have their ends hardened at the mill to reduce the hammering at the joints. I don't know by which hardening process. . . . . . . If there anyone with any experience with a similiar situtation where there is very high impact stress on railroad track steel, I would sure appreciate these experiences and any suggestions. . . . . chas ps, locally 1/8" SS-309 is near $16 / pound. My experiences with 10018 lo-hi rod is that it is very sensitive to vibration and cracks easily in these situations.
- posted
11 years ago