Once again a tool building post. I asked around for an anvil, and found a Ridgid-Peddinghaus 35Kg anvil going for about 550 Euros. I also checked various scrap yards for old anvils, but found none; I have seen some in the workshops of metal welders (I guess it is their grandfathers' anvils which they don't use or know how to use, but keep anyway) but they wouldn't part with them.
So I surfed around the web and figured out that the Japanese smiths use just a big block of steel. I also read that AISI 4140 steel will work, heat treated or not, so I managed to find the closest Uddeholm steel equivalent from a local Uddeholm dealer, namely Uddeholm Impax, a low Chromium-Molybdenum-Nickel steel. Had it professionally heat treated to about 52 HRc and voila!
Dimensions are 11cm x 26cm x 16cm, and weight about 35 Kg. Cost, 200 for the steel and 85 Euros for the heat treatment. Still pretty steep, but half the cost of a commercial anvil.
And the hammer rebound is AMAZING!!!
Where can I get one of those??
ReplyDeleteYou will have to make it. I offer all the details in the post.
ReplyDeleteDid you have the entire block heat treated or just the working surface?
ReplyDeleteIts such a huge piece that any quench will only harden it to some depth, a few cm I guess. I ground the first 1-2mm to flatten it and it still is dead hard inside. Another note. A more proper steel for an anvil might have been Uddeholm Hotvar, but its 3 times the cost, so I use it only for hammers.
ReplyDeletenice work
ReplyDeleteBlock anvils are the way to go. I personally find them to be much more utilitarian and customizable...if you are willing to put the work into it that is. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a decent alloy without having to donate a few limbs and my first born son, so I will be opting for a 8cm x 10cm x 25cm A36 main body and a heat treated 4140 top plate; 4cm x 10cm x 25cm. How did you end up anchoring the mount to the stand?
ReplyDeleteI just spread some silicone paste on the bottom, and it stuck. The sheer weight of the anvil keeps it pretty much stable... Also for bladesmithing one usually strikes the anvil straight down on the face, so there are no lateral forces...
ReplyDeleteThe big question is how you attach the 4140 plate to the rest of the steel block...
ReplyDeleteThat IS the big question, actually! I've spent about a week researching possible weld options that won't crack under a 4.5kg sledge, but haven't come up with much luck. The steel compositions are just too different. I might just do with a much thicker A36 and toss the 4140 all together.
ReplyDeleteCan you tell us how the anvil is holding up after all this time. Would you have done something different and do you have any advice for someone who is planning to try something similar?
ReplyDelete