Speaking of Anvils

[Jim Koepke]

Here is a home made anvil picked up for $3 at a yard sale.

It is made of a piece of train rail.

Before this, my anvil was a rough & worn 6 inch piece of rail.

jim

[Ray Sheley]

Nice score for $3, and you still have your beater rail for when you really want to wail away!

[Todd Burch]

Nice hunk of iron. Looks like it was relegated to an aerosol painting station prior to it's sale.

P.S. Put a dust cover on the welder man! (Miller?)

[Cliff McNeill]

Very Nice find!!!!

[Jim Koepke]

P.S. Put a dust cover on the welder man! (Miller?)

I think what you are seeing as a welder is actually the shop dehumidifier. Won't work with a cover on it.

jim

[Kevin Brenton]

Nice little user made job .
I made one a few years back from rail iron ,very handy size.

[Jim Koepke]

Nice little user made job .
I made one a few years back from rail iron ,very handy size.

That is a nice one. I like the top hole for holding tools and the bottom holes for attaching it to a stump.

jim

[Todd Burch]

I was at an Antique Fair a few years ago. It was a hot, hot day. I saw this awesome anvil. Maybe 150 lbs. I got to joking with the merchant about being able to lift it. He said "If you can carry it to your car - you can have it for free". I was amazed he would say this. I looked at my wife - then looked at the anvil - back at my wife and then at him and smiled.

I bent over, grunted, and picked that sucker up. Man was it heavy. He didn't know I had parked fairly close to his booth. I held it for about 30 seconds, and set it back down.

I told him "thank you, but not today." I could have carried it, with difficulty, but I could have done it. I didn't feel like getting all sweaty as it was early in the day and we had a full day of shopping to do. I would have been completely soaked carrying that thing for 50+ yards. (And I say I could have carried it - I don't remember what kind of shape I was in then)

It was fun. We all laughed.

[David Keller NC]

Hmm - that might've been a mistake, but maybe not if it was a "modern" anvil of cast iron. A forged iron anvil in that size, like a Peter Wright, for example, is worth about $600.

[george wilson]

I saw a beautiful railroad rail anvil years ago at a flea market for $15.00. I mean it was NICE.The top was flat,and the horn had been very accurately filed nice and round. I was just getting started,and was parked some way away,and did not feel like carrying it all over the flea market. Been kicking myself ever since.

A friend brought in a piece of rail,and it was worn off to an angle on top from trains running over it. The steel was probably work hardened. I milled it flat for him,but it was quite a job. I should have put it into the electric furnace and annealed it first.

The Arabs used to steal British rails,and sit in the dirt in a cave,and file out copies of Webley revolvers from the rails.This was post WW1. I'd like to have seen how they managed to do that!! Rail steel is pretty tough stuff to work even with machinery.

[Richard Dooling]

Heavy.

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