On Wed, 20 Sep 2017 18:14:33 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:
This is what is known as an anvil shaped object. More accurately a door
stop.
Seller: "shop-and-ship" name on shipping account it "Kathy Piscopo"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blacksmith-T...72.m2748.l2649
I've wanted a proper anvil to beat on metal for a while. I really wanted a
200-300 pounder, but with Forged in Fire making every back yard metal beater
think he is a blade smith anvils have gotten hard to come by at a reasonable
price. I was willing to settle for a 75 pounder once I had it properly tied
down to a decent anvil block (stump).
The seller listed this as forged steel in the title. It was a little
cheaper than I expected for forged steel, but a lot more expensive than a
cast iron ASO (anvil shaped object). They claim it has a RC of 52. When
struck it makes a dull thud, and the very light blow of a 12 oz hammer
falling by gravity alone from 12 inches leaves a dent.
Well, I went ballistic. I could buy an ASO from Harbor Freight for less and
go pick it up at the store to save shipping. They immediately refunded my
money including shipping and told me to keep it for the trouble. Now, on
the surface that might sound ok, but think about it. If they can do that
without a second's thought they had to know (in my opinion - lol) what they
were selling and they probably get them so cheap they can just eat one
whenever they get called out for it.
I've got a little piece of 1 inch steel plate that weighs about 20 pounds
sitting on my heavy work bench I've been using for metal beating for years.
Its not hardened (that I know of) but its pretty hard compared to the ASO I
just got for free. I guess I'll prop the back door open with the ASO and go
back to using my piece of plate steel until I figure out what to do with the
ASO. I just looked at my metal plate. Its got hardly any dents except for
a turned corner where I dropped it once.
*******
You know when I first started this post I had a-whole-nuther direction in
mind... and then explaining how I got here turned into a rant. RANT MODE
OFF
I know one of our members here hard faced a piece of metal to make an anvil
a few years back. I think he was using railroad track which is a low to
medium carbon work hardening steel. I'm not sure if hardfacing would be a
good idea with a base of soft cast iron. I suppose I could forge weld on a
tool steel plate and then quench it, but that's a whole lot more effort than
its worth to me. I'm not going to be the next Master Ginsu knife maker. I
just want to beat on some metal. Sometimes hot metal. How about welding on
an air hardening tool steel plate? I could easily mill off the top of the
ASO and leave a weld penetratable ridge down the middle to start from, then
stick a rod down between the plate and the ASO and build it up until I reach
the outside. The thing is I have never done anything like that before. I
don't know if that's worth it either. I expect it would only take half a
day as opposed to a whole day and then some to forge weld, normalize, and
heat treat something else.
Bah. At the end of the day I have an anvil shaped object I didn't have at
the beginning of the day.
You have a RASO... a Russian Anvil Shaped Object...more than likely
originally procured from Harbor Freight who sold them for a number of
years and finally got so many complaints about them that they dropped
them
What I would do..if I was you..would be to get a piece of tool
steel... 1-2" thickness plate of 4140 will work "ok" and weld it to
the top of your anvil, using Nickle 99 or Nickle 55 electrode. Do a
few inches at a time, with a good weight on top of the plate. Weld 2"
at 10 oclock, 2" at 4 oclock, 2" at 8", 2, etc etc until you are fully
around the plate. Grind to profile and voila..you now have a hybrid
anvil that will do most of what you need it to do.
You can..can find a nice wide leaf spring from some farm impliment and
use it as well..shrug..though its best to put some thick metal on top
of the anvil so it has "the bounce"
Breaking the edge of both the plate and the anvil will indeed help as
you indicated. It should only take you about 5-10 sticks of rod..so it
wont break the bank. You can clean up the edges with a angle
grinder..or carbide tooling on a mill...depending on how "pretty" you
want it to be.
Putting a new top on a badly worn anvil has been practiced for a
century and it works.
Gunner
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus