Rail Road Track Anvil

[toolmiser]

This is a picture of an anvil made out of a rail road track that my 85 yr old Mother in Law gave to me. She said her uncle made it when he worked for the rail road. It's got to have some age to it. It comes to a semi sharp point, and the top looks like it was machined. She asked if I was going to sell it, and I said absolutely not! It only has surface rust, no pitting, but should I coat it with light oil or something, after all these years I would hate to get it damaged now. I think it is close to a piece of art!

 

[drivesitfar]

TM: I own several RR track anvil pieces and not any are quite as nicely done as yours that your Uncle made. you'll have to either drill holes in the base or maybe turn over a couple big nails or make a strap to mount it.

as far as finishing it you can wire wheel the surface rust off or put it in an Electrolysis tank and once you get to bare steel quickly put either BLO (boiled linseed oil) or Johnson paste wax or some other kind of rust inhibiter all over it so it won't rust.

or leave it as is and use it. I always like owning old tools with family history especially if it's my own family.

 

[pendragon1998]

That is a very nice example. If it was mine, I would put it in an e-bath and paint the sides black, then use it every chance I got.

 

[firemanast]

Dam that is nice congratulations !

This is a picture of an anvil made out of a rail road track that my 85 yr old Mother in Law gave to me. She said her uncle made it when he worked for the rail road. It's got to have some age to it. It comes to a semi sharp point, and the top looks like it was machined. She asked if I was going to sell it, and I said absolutely not! It only has surface rust, no pitting, but should I coat it with light oil or something, after all these years I would hate to get it damaged now. I think it is close to a piece of art!

 

[notlob]

Very Nice! Here's an example of one way to mount it:

 

[drivesitfar]

TM: here's one of my RR track anvils that i bought from a guy that put 4 holes in the base to mount it to a bench.

if you want to do electrolysis and haven't done so yet read this thread and you'll be an expert or ask a question like i did about 100 times in it.


http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=237752&highlight=homemade+electrolysis

 

[Fretters]

That's a lovely homemade anvil.

Some large dog nails nailed in and bent over the corners would hold it nicely enough, save having to drill holes in it.

 

[8man]

Great anvil, your uncle had mad fab skills.

 

[jakemac]

^^ I agree, but only to a point ^^

Lightly wire wheel the sides, horn, and base, and then apply several coats of boiled linseed oil, leaving each coat to fully dry in-between. Don't paint it. Leave some age and patina on the old iron and let the oil darken it.

Here's where I deviate from the rest of the BLO supporters. Don't use BLO on the work surface. lightly sand the work surface smooth, and then rub a light coat of polishing wax on the top. Buff it after the wax has hardened. Re-apply as needed.

 

[pendragon1998]

^^ I agree, but only to a point ^^

Lightly wire wheel the sides, horn, and base, and then apply several coats of boiled linseed oil, leaving each coat to fully dry in-between. Don't paint it. Leave some age and patina on the old iron and let the oil darken it.

Here's where I deviate from the rest of the BLO supporters. Don't use BLO on the work surface. lightly sand the work surface smooth, and then rub a light coat of polishing wax on the top. Buff it after the wax has hardened. Re-apply as needed.

I like this suggestion the better than mine.

 

[rsanter]

I would bet it was machined in the railroad shop if she says he made it.

If it was me I would clean it up (de rust) and paint the sides. Then paint the uncles name on the side and put it to use

Bob

 

[ZRX61]

I buzzed the horn on mine with 3M scotchbrite roloc discs. It's now super smooth & shiny.

 

[DuroChrome]

That is a legit anvil! I have seen some functional ones before, but that is a work of art! There is better advice than I have about how to treat it, but what a cool score. Thanks for posting.

 

[Brad54]

I've got a foot long hunk of railroad rail that I've used as an anvil for 15 years or more.
Twisted wire cup in my angle grinder to clean it off. It burnished the surface very nicely--I've never had to re-touch the top, even though I've lived in Florida for 7 years, and Georgia for almost 12. (damn... guess I've had the rail longer than I thought!)

For the sides/body of it, I painted it with a good coat of Rustoleum Hard Hat (now High Performance) red paint.

Been used, abused and neglected, and still looks new.

-Brad

 

[Zeke]

Might want to combine these threads:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=256822

 

[Conductor562]

That is a very nicely done piece. True Craftsmanship.

I sent a 12" piece of rail to a member here in Arizona last year. You should have seen the look on the Postmaster's face when I plopped a 40+ pound hunk of railroad on the counter and told her I needed to mail it

 

[yhprum]

I wish I knew where to find a short piece of rail in queensland, postage from the US would be a bit high I think!

 

[drivesitfar]

Conductor: just curious did they mail it by just putting a stamp on it and an address label? Also curious how much to mail because i think i have 30 pieces of RR i'm going to sell soon?

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Very nice.

 

[Conductor562]

Conductor: just curious did they mail it by just putting a stamp on it and an address label? Also curious how much to mail because i think i have 30 pieces of RR i'm going to sell soon?

Actually, in a stroke of dumb luck, it BARELY fit in a large square flat rate box. Most of what was available to me was 137 lb. rail (that's per yard) so it worked out to about 45 lbs.

If you can get by cutting them down to an even 12" and going flat rate, you'll save half a ton in shipping, literally. Priority postage to Phoenix was damn near $50 (about $1.00 per pound), but instead it was like $15 or whatever a large flat rate is.

 

[toolmiser]

Here is the finished product. I wire wheeled it and then gave the top two coats of paste wax, and boiled linseed oil on the sides and bottom. I doing so I noticed that the "horn" must have been built up with weld when built. I find it interesting that the curved ends are kind of primitive, and the rest is so refined. I guess form follows function.

 

[reivertom]

Coming from a railroad town, I have seen a bunch of shop fabricated railroad related tools.(and some regular tools permanently "borrowed") This is one of the best rail anvils I've seen.