My first "anvil" Why did I wait 30 years?

[KMinAF]

A buddy of mine gave me the piece of rail and I fabbed the stand from left over bits that I had laying around. After decades of using everything from the garage floor to the top of the work bench and anything in between, I finally have an anvil. What a difference a solid chunk of steel makes! My first project was to replace some driveshaft u-joints, it was night and day how much easier the job was to knock the old ones out, no bounce no vibration.

 

[1982fxr]

nice

 

[Flivver250]

Been waiting for a good anvil to pop up. Sadly people seem to know what they are worth.

 

[Rico.]

nice

I couldn't have put it any better myself.

 

[toomanytoyzz]

That will definitely come in handy. I like the curved section. They will work good if you are trying to work a rounded edge into sheetmetal.

 

[uart]

A buddy of mine gave me the piece of rail

Hi KMinAF, do you know what roughly the rail weighs? (minus the stand)

 

[logan09]

I've been wanting one for a long time but they're SO pricey here I can get my hands on train rails just walking in the woods but no way of cutting them

 

[Ifixvws]

I've been wanting one for a long time but they're SO pricey here I can get my hands on train rails just walking in the woods but no way of cutting them

Theres a guy on Ebay selling small chunks of rail road iron that fit in a Postal "If it fits it ships" box. I think they are around $35-45.

 

[Exceller8]

Very nice!!

I have a traditional anvil but for general shop use I use my hunk of RR track. I'd be lost without it...

 

[KMinAF]

Hi KMinAF, do you know what roughly the rail weighs? (minus the stand)

The rail piece weighs close to 40lbs

 

[Farmall450]

I have an anvil and a piece of railroad.

They're very handy for any number of things. I like how the track you can marr up without being out tons of cash for a resurfacing job...

 

[shooting4life]

I ended up laying a 1" thick 1 foot square into my bench top to use for banging on. I have a small garage so it works out pretty well for my needs. I don't bang on stuff very often.

 

[thebeekeeper1]

Ha! I have a chunk of RR iron I've used for years. I had no idea I wasn't the only one. It's over 2' long and VERY heavy, so not very portable, but ironically I just brought it home tonight (from the farm) in order to beat a plow share tip back straight. Heavy as it is, it was easier to move it here than to take my torch cart over there.

I too have used the curved section to make sheet metal bends. The last I did was a rebuild on a Harbor Freight firewood cart. It is MUCH handier with old road sign aluminum (obtained from a client who worked for a "county garage" back before recycling--saved them from the landfill) as "slats" to keep the smaller pieces from falling through the tubular steel. The very bottom was curved, so I gently beat it into shape with a ball peen hammer and then used blind rivets to attach them. Now it's a one-of-a-kind but very nice.

 

[drivesitfar]

nice stand for your anvil (RR piece). I found this RR piece a while back and am getting ready to attach to one of my benches at my shop. I also just found a "real" old English made anvil and I was told that I shouldn't use a "real" anvil for any cold metal forming because it chips them.

so now i'll have the RR piece for the cold, Peter Wright anvil for heated up items and for the thin items i'll use my Avitar that I found at an estate of a metal worker a few years ago.

 

[Herb]

Now just add some braces to tie the legs together, add a shelf to that, and put some holes in it for a place to drop your hammer.