Anvil question

panch0

panch0

Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
3,415
I want to start tooling up so I can start learning to forge blades. USA Knife Makers has the NC Anvil, it is an affordable price for me. Has anyone owned or used on of these? Would this work for someone learning to forge? I am also looking at getting an Atlas forge in the future, when funds become available. Thanks!
 
I wouldn't recommend a farrier's anvil for forging knives or steel in general. The face is pretty small, and you get bells and whistles for shoeing that you don't need and can even get in the way. The casting isn't very massive. I prefer old anvils of the London or American pattern. More working face, good rebound from the face having more mass under it.

I don't know if you've been combing your local classifieds and CL, I'd do that to try to find a good anvil.

I don't know why several knife supply companies sell farrier's anvils as "forging anvils" for knives. Just my$0.02.
 
There is oone like this locally, soo I wanted to see what you guys thougt. I can probably buy it for175if I made an offer.
 
What Salem is pointing out is that the waist of the anvil between the heel and the horn is on 3"-4" wide or so, at 73# there is very little mass under the hammer.
I imagine you could re-sell it if it doesn't work out so you likely won't take a loss if you get it for a used price.
Think about finding a piece of 5"square solid and making a post anvil as another option.
 
Thanks for the heads up.

Brian, I know 4160 is a good anvil steel, but wouldn't it have to be heat treated. I would be afraid to use my even heat for that. what other steel is there that would be ready to go as is?
 
That NC anvil would be good, light on mass but it is where it needs to be, not like you will be forging blade out on the heel or horn LOL.
 
The only post anvil I've used was a friends. It was mild steel I believe. Untreated and while it didn't have much rebound(50-60%ish), it had enough mass to move metal well. Maybe see what's available at your nearest scrap yard?

There's a scrap yard locally that has something like 5" rounds of 52100. I'd like to get one for a post anvil someday. Triple anneal, triple quench and triple temper then I'm off!:eek::rolleyes:;)
 
Being another maker from Texas who has searched for an anvil, I can tell you that there isn't much of a supply of used anvils locally. The ones you find from ranchers or farmers are typically used hard and put up wet, if you know what I mean. Frank, I found my Hay Budden 148# on E-bay for a decent price, but with shipping, it was still a bit pricey but came in under $400. The cheapest decent new anvils I've seen out there are 150# Emersons, but you'll pay over $800.

I'd say in a pinch, you could do some decent forging on a little farrier's anvil if you stayed in the sweet spot directly over the waist. It would be kinda like forging on a post anvil just with extra face all around :).

If you find some decent length 4140, I've heard of some guys heat treating the face by heating up a 1/4" or so in depth with a torch and letting the mass of the rest of the post suck the heat out. Combine that with misting or compressed air, and you may get some hardening, but I don't really know. Maybe someone else could advise if this would work or not.

--nathan
 
I second (third?) the NC anvil. It will work fine for most knife forging. Drawing damascus by hand???? - maybe not so good. It will also be portable. A good wooden base will add about 50 pounds to the mass.
 
Not that I know what I'm doing but I bought a NC Tool Big Face anvil off craigslist last month and put it on 18" round oak base from the local firewood guy. That does seem to work better than the NC Tool metal stand that came with it. I haven't finished forging a blade on it yet (need better tools and tongs) but it will move metal around. I looked locally for over a year before I found anything resembling an anvil at a decent price.
 
Well the on I saw on craigs list was sold but he had another one around 75-80lbs. I am going to go see it this weekend, if time permits. Then I will ask here if its good enough to start on.
 
Hey Frank,
That anvil is better than the railroad anvil I started with. They are hard to find in this state. I got lucky and found a Mousehole in an abandoned barn. I literally started going up to peoples houses like the guys on American Pickers and asked if I could check out their old barns. Some were cool about it and others not so much. I figured the worst they could do was say no, I was only wrong once and his 12 ga. made me move quickly to get away. I found all kinds of crazy stuff. My Mousehole was buried under a ton of crap and I only saw the tip of the horn (it has a cracked foot due to being shot in an anvil shoot). I dug it out and asked what they wanted. They didn't charge me anything and helped me load all 180 pounds of it with a tractor. I made the guy a knife and now I get to use his land to dove hunt. Good luck
Daniel Combs
 
I've looked around for a rail road track, and haven't found a good piece yet.
 
Well if you make it up here anytime soon, I have 54" of it sitting in my metal pile. I looked at shipping before and it is expensive. If you have a way to get it I will hold it for you. Not that it helps but at least an offer.
Daniel Combs
 
How would I go about cutting a RR rail into a more manageable size? I have a lead on a few places that I can pick one up for super, super cheap, but they're 10-12ft long. Will an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel do the job, with enough elbow grease that is? Other than that, I have several of the plates that RR spikes are hammered through to hold the rails in place. I plan on bolting them into something to make a pseudo post-anvil. What would be the best to do that with? Lastly, I also have a 1" thick hardened steel plate that is roughly 1ft square, will that work better than the RR plates?

I really want that RR rail though. If y'all say its better than my other two options then I'll make some calls and get one, and figure out how to cut it into smaller lengths. Please don't tell me to save up the money for a real anvil, there is simply no money to save up, even for a used one.

Thanks for any help.
 
Broom, that 1" plate will work great as a knife-making anvil. All you have to do is stand it up on edge and use the 1"x12" face to pound on. Remember, your hammer's face isn't appreciably larger than 1" square so you don't "need" a big london-pattern anvil's face. The mass directly under the hammer's impact point is what makes the difference. Many folks have used broken forklift tines to make post anvils and the face usually measures something around 1.5"x4", and it works great.
 
Broom,
I do not think an angle grinder would do you much good. I have it cut at a friend's welding shop. My little cutting torch wasn't doing very well either. He charged me 10 bucks to make the cut (but that could have been friend price). How would you be moving that big of a piece? My piece weighs a lot at 54" and takes 2 people to move it, at the length your discussing I hope you have a tractor.
Daniel Combs
 
Is there no one around who launches anvils? They seem to find all kinds of them, there must be a couple that have ok faces that you can get for cheap. If you use a RR track, make sure you have one end cut square (which you wont get if you try and cut with an angle grinder) and see if you can flatten the top a bit. They have a slight round to them that can curve your work.
 
Hey Tattoo,
That is what broke my anvils foot. We call it anvil shooting. You fill the void under the anvil with gunpowder, set it on another and light a fuse. Loud boom and an anvil flying in the air. It's amazing what rednecks will do for fun. If you haven't seen it before it is crazy. Here is a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEZCsa2vnhU
enjoy,
Daniel Combs
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top