maybe an off-the-wall idea for an anvil?

Some months back we had some discussion on either RCM or SEJW about making anvils. Ernie gave us links to some very interesting pictures demonstrating cutting out anvil blanks from 3" or so steel plate, then grinding and hardfacing to produce beautiful anvils.

I've been wondering whether it would be feasible to "laminate" an anvil out of a series of vertical sections cut out of thinner plate. I don't have access to 3" steel plate, nor do I have a ready means to cut it if I did. But I do have a bunch of 1/4" thick sheet steel, and may be able to get hold of some 1/2" sheet. I have access to a plasma cutter that can easily cut the 1/4"; I'm not sure if it would cut the

1/2" plate, but maybe I could haggle it into the rough shape. What I was thinking about was not only bevelling and welding up around the edges, but also cutting three or four holes in the same place on each of the sections, so that I could plug weld -- in effect, creating several continuous sections running across the laminations at various points in the body of the anvil, as well as the continuous outer "skin" of the anvil. Then grind flat and add hardfacing ...

Here is roughly what each lamination might look like (within the severe limitations of ASCII graphics!): _______________________________________ \__ __/ \__ _ _ __/ \_ (_) (_) __/ \_ / \ _ / / (_) \ / \ /_____________________\

Basically each lamination would be a lengthwise, vertical cross section of the anvil shape, with the holes cut as shown to plug weld each lamination to the next. Each lamination section would not be identical -- one would need to leave a gap in the tail part of some sections for the hardee hole (is that the right term?), and taper back the laminations on each side to create the rough shape of the horn. What do you think? Obviously, this would be a fair bit of work ... but I'm not sure it would be all that much more work than what Ernie has demonstrated using 3" thick steel -- there would be a lot of grinding to do either way! But would the resulting anvil be an absolute piece of junk? Besides costing more and being a whole lot more work, how it might compare to the $59 special at Harbor Freight?

Alternatively, would one get more satisfactory results by doing the lamination horizontally rather than vertically? I was thinking that doing it horizontally might result in some "springiness" of the resulting anvil ... but maybe the same thing would be true either way?

I look forward to your (no doubt gracious!) feedback on yet another hare-brained idea!

Andy

Reply to
Andy
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Might work. Seems like a lot more work (and quite possibly money, given the price of steel these days) than putting out feelers for an old anvil and waiting, and/or driving far enough to find one without waiting quite so long.

If you can find thicker plate scrap, finding and paying someone with the tools to cut it is not difficult (a plain old oxy-acetelyene torch can do 6") and probably the scrapyard would be equipped and happy to do the job.

Reply to
Ecnerwal

Reply to
David Billington

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That's what I did. I came across some 1 1/4" x 6" pieces of bar stock & laminated the three profiles together. I cut two more pieces, one for the face and one for the base. I beveled them with the torch and welded together. I thought about plug welding the laminates together, too, but didn't think it was necessary. After hardfacing, lots and lots of grinding. Thanks again to Ernie for the idea.

Hope this helps

Reply to
John L. Weatherly

I would think that with so many layers (since you are using 1/4" stock), you would have lots of dead spots in the anvil if laid horizontally. I would also randomly place my plug welds instead of an entire series of welds on one axis thru the block of steel. Otherwise it sounds like a great idea.

Shawn

Reply to
Shawn

Thanks for the encouragement -- so far, at least, it doesn't sound like I am completely crazy for contemplating this!

Shawn (or anyone else, chip in!), talk to me a bit more about your thought about randomly placing the plug welds. I had thought about this at first, but then thought perhaps it would be better to have some areas of connection that go all the way through from one side to the other. What I'm worried about is having the 1/4" plates springing apart a bit under the hammer. I guess even randomly placed plug welds would counteract that to some degree ... but thought maybe a consistent placement would help even more -- ??

I'm guessing that the possible objection to putting the plug welds all in the same location is putting heat and stress into the same place over and over again -- ??

Andy

Reply to
Andy

I am picturing five or so plug welds all the way through from your description. Perhaps you meant more. I would go all the way through with the welds at the corners and in the center but I would also fill in the voids between the through holes with a plug weld every other lamination or so, especially given that you'll be using 1/4" stock. This would really solidify the whole thing. Not knowing the dimensions of the final product, this may be a moot point. I think that if there is sufficient unwelded area between the through plug welds, you would warp the laminations and have gaps between them. I think that this may lead to a dead spot.

Shawn

Reply to
Shawn

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