Making a small anvil from Train rail scrap

If you are planning to do any metalwork, the "Must have" item before you even fire up the forge is an anvil.

Most people know of the classic anvil shape (like the one from "Acme" that was always landing on Wiley Coyote's head) Store bought anvils are quite expensive as they are generally sold by the pound on top of the added expense added for any special features about it, when we are talking about a 100 or 200 pound anvil, the dollars go up fast. But nearly anything of a substantial weight made of metal will do in a pinch. I once used an old engine block as an anvil and it worked fine. But here I'll show you how I made a small bench top anvil for working on small knives and decorative metal pieces.

Now where in the world can you find railroad track? A couple places to start looking is your local scrap yard. They often pull out these pieces from the pile and set them aside, just ask around. If you live near a rail depot, the railhead often has chunks laying about from the last time they replaced a section of a line, or you may have the luck that I had. I was walking the tracks close to my home looking for spikes (they are great for metal projects) and ran across a piece of rail only 2 feet long laying along the tracks. Apparently it was a small section that was replaced and not worth hauling back with them, so it was discarded right where it was pulled from. I was more than happy to haul it back to my truck.

Scrap rail found along the tracks near Paige, TX

Because this type of steel is high carbon and tempered to take the pounding from rail cars, when you strike it with a hammer it will give off a deafening ring. We'll resolve this a bit by annealing the whole thing later on. So.... First things first. If you are going to make your own, your going to need a few things. If you are serious about doing metal work, you probably have most of these items already.

1. oxy/acetylene cutting torch with "0" size tip.

2. soapstone marker

3. protective gear (welders helmet and leather gloves)

4. a fireproof area to work

5. bench or angle grinder, cutoff wheel, files

I started off marking the rail with the soapstone to the approximate shape I wanted it to be

.Marking off the shape to follow with the cutting torch.

The rough shape ready to cut.

I wanted it to be in the classic anvil shape, in the top photo you can see the shape of the horn and the step that will be tempered when finished. The second photo shows the marks for the mounting holes, the side shape of the horn, and the overhang on the rear for the pritchel hole.

Next step is setting up the torch and a place to cut. I use an old steel barrel and a couple steel bars laid across the top as my cutting platform. The barrel catches most of the slag and sparks and the work piece is supported above the opening by laying it across the steel bars. I set my torch to have a neutral flame and started on the front corner of the base.

Starting the cut.

Because of the thick middle section, I couldn't just cut all the way up to the horn from the bottom in one pass. I cut out all four corners first, then worked on the middle section, and finally cut away the shape of the horn and the back end.

Touching up the cuts.

Shaping with grinder.

The horn taking shape.

Now with the rough shaping finish with the torch, It's time work on the fine details. As I mentioned earlier, this is hard steel and you would burn up the grinding wheels and your patience very quickly if you don't anneal the iron first. I made a fire of brush and scrap wood and built up a good size pile of hot coals, then dropped the iron into the middle and covered it with a fair amount of coals. I kept feeding the fire to keep it hot because the entire anvil must get to a cherry red color throughout for it to anneal to a softer state that can be worked easily. Once it reaches this color, pile up more coals and ash on top and cover the entire thing with dirt for insulation. For this trick to work and anneal the steel as best we can, the steel must cool very slowly. I left the anvil buried for about two days (sorry, no photo)

After digging the anvil out of the dirt and ash, it was still hot to the touch, a good sign that it cooled slowly. This is where the anvil really starts looking like an anvil.

I broke-out the angle grinder and started on the horn, as it's final shape would dictate the rest of the body shape. The fire pit annealing worked well, the grinder bit into the steel easily.

Horn shaping finished.

. Side view of anvil.

With the horn shaped the way I wanted, now I worked on the step which will be tempered when I'm all finished. The Step will be where I need to hammer something flat and don't want the anvil to give, but it's a tricky technique because if you temper it to hard, it will be brittle and not hold up to the hammer blows, but too soft and it will deform and pit. But the beuty of steel is, if the temper is not right on the first try, just reheat and try again.

The Pritchel hole located on the tail of the anvil is usually next to the hardy hole, but this small anvil really doesn't have the room for both so I decided that tha pritchel hole for bending hot bar stock and such would do fine. With the anvil annealed, it didn't take long to drill through this thick steel with a half inch drill, but remember, the bit will still get hot and anneal itself and dull faster if you don't keep it cool. this can be done with cutting oil dripped frequently on the bit in the hole, or stopping now and then and dip the end of the bit in cold water.

I use a home made concoction of cutting oil: 12 parts Olive oil, 1 part borax, 4 parts Kerosene. works as well as the store bought I think.

Drilling the Pritchel Pritchel finished

After cleaning up the edges and the final touches, it was time to temper the steel. So back in the fire again, but this time I take it out of the fire while still cherry red.

See my Blacksmithing page for details on tempering steel. So I'll just say here that the step was tempered to straw color, the top to a blue, and the horn was tempered at peacock blue color.

With the temper finished, I then cleaned it up with Ospho (phosphoric acid) and it's now ready to take it's place on my work bench.