Im a retired  and I have a lot of time on my hands these days. money is often tight, so I don't have a big budget for things, and have to catch good deals most of the time to afford things.  I have worked in factories and with my hands for years, and always enjoyed making things, welding, and building little projects etc, so I do have some experience using equipment like welders, chop saws, metal cutting equipment, grinders, buffing wheels, hand tools etc. . I need hobbies to fill my time, and have several hunting, shooting, reloading, etc. I have been watching forged in fire for a few years now, and been really wanting to get into smithing / metal working, once set up with basic tools ( forge, vice, anvil etc ) I see it as a hobby that's pretty cheap, as I can get steel from the scrap yard, etc. well i finally got serious about getting the gear I needed for this recently. My first thing was  a cheap welder I picked up off craigslist for $100.00 recently. it works perfectly, but needed new leads, and power cord.  Welder cost $100. I got a 50' power cable from the scrap yard for $10 bucks, and new leads from the same scrap yard for another $10.  Assembled, sanded, and used $3.00 can of red spray paint = $123 buck welder.

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Looked into buying a anvil, but cheapest I found was $400 bucks. Im not paying that. We hit the 127 yard sale last weekend, and I picked up some stuff, as I said anvils were out of my price range, but I did pick up some stuff.

post vice $100.00, cleaver $40.00, small chunk of train track for the garage free, 40" piece of big train track, $30.00.

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the post vice is 4" I guess. it cleaned up great, it works perfectly. pressure washed, painted and greased.

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but on to the anvil. I have heard a lot about people using train track as a anvil, so I picked up a big piece cheap. personally though, I think id much rather have a wider anvil, so, I have been watching youtube videos and one video, a guy makes what I think would be the perfect anvil for my uses.

he took two pieces of train track, and welded them together, then added a hardy hole, and a piece of ar500 plate on top. im planning to build this exact set up.

here is what I am wanting to build. again, this is not mine, just pictures from the internet as the example.

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I don't really have the tools I need to get started just yet. im going to need a chop saw for sure, as well as a welding helmet. I COULD borrow a buddies, etc, but im REALLY wanting to do this myself, so I will have to wait till next month to try to get a chop saw and helmet at a local pawn shop. I need those tools anyway to work with metal anyway.

heres where im at right now. I took my 4" grinder and ground the rust pits out of the work surface and sides. it only took me 2 hours.

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I will update this post as I progress. as I said, next thing will be to get a chop saw and cut this in half.

1. chop saw, cut in half.
2. angle grind the two pieces till the sit flush side by side.
3. cut the angles for the horn.
4. cut 1/2 the hardy hole in both pieces
5. bevel the sides and weld them together
6. get a top plate ar500 or fork lift tine. get hardy hole machined into it
7. weld top plate on.
8. get a 2-3" thick piece of steel for a base, weld that on.
9. cap one end of the hollow train track base, and fill with lead ( should add another 50lbs or more)
10. weld the other end cap on.

( after I build my anvil, I am planning to build a coal forge, coal is cheap as hell around here, I can actually dig it out of the ground behind my house. )
Have you guys made any home made anvils before?  the above is my plan, the only thing that might change it, is if I can find a big piece of fork lift tine / a entire fork lift tine. if I can get that, ill just cut 4-5 pieces for a base, with the top piece a bit longer for a horn, and weld it all together.

There's a youtube video where the guy makes most of a RR track anvil using an angle grinder for the vast majority of the work.

I don't need an anvil, but it was pretty neat.

Get a forge going and you have what you need to start beating on some metal. Look up a brake drum forge pretty easy and cheap. I will tell you you'll be far better off holding out for a real anvil rather than the time and work you are looking at with that project. Good luck blacksmith in game is a blast!

Making some progress. I picked up some tools I needed to make things easier. I didn't get them just for this project, its stuff I have needed for a long time, and will come in handy in the future.  a dewalt chop saw, spare blades / disks for the chop saw, a welding helmet, welding rods, welding gloves, flux hammer, wire brush, cut off wheels, flap wheels, some wide mouth vice grips for welding, two new chains for my chainsaw, for another project im working on. .

I will say cutting this train track is a bitch, its hard as hell. I can see now I really wont need to add that hard plate to the top of the anvil, this stuff is hard enough on its own.  I cut a 1/2" off one end to square it up, and im now halfway thru the center of it to cut it into two pieces. WHEW !.

I know this project is pretty pathetic compared to what a lot of you guys do on a daily basis, but it keeps me busy, and I enjoy making things with my hands. im really looking forward to getting started blacksmithing, as I can see that enabling me to build a lot of cool stuff. my main goal will be knives, swords and axes, with a occasional decorative piece. I cant wait !

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I acquired some RR track but found an anvil shortly after

I think stacked and welded steel plates make a more useful anvil. The track will certainly work though. It might be more difficult to make anything flat on it since it is a curved surface. On the other hand, that is an advantage in certain operations.

I made a mild steel striking anvil that I use to forge all the time.  If I ding it, I can just weld it and grind it flat again.  I have a Sodofors anvil,  but the larger surface area and sharper corners on the striking anvil are a better fit for some things.

the chop saw was not up to the job, picke dup a 7" angle grinder, it worked great.  also found a craftsman drill press that was like new for $100 bucks at the pawn shop.

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got it cut in half.

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cut the inside feet so the two halves fit together.

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started working on the hardy hole.

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also did some cutting to get the ends matched up better, also did a lot of cleaning, grinding, sanding etc to get it cleaned up.

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the hardy hole is not completely done, I need to get a 1x1 piece of tubing before I can finish it. also going to swing by the scrap yard to look for some thick plate to weld to the bottom, and maybe find a piece of fork truck tine / ar500 for a top plate. I know I can get the top super flat with work, but still would like a top plate partially to add more weight. this project is a budget project though, so im looking for cheap metal, so I wont be buying anything expensive, basically scrap price only. tools don't count towards the project cost, as I need them anyway, especially for future projects, making knives, welding, etc.

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one problem im having. should I make a horn? if so, how long of a horn? I have 20" of anvil right now, how big of a horn? 6"? 8" ? 10" ? I want to have plenty of workspace, but really don't know how much I need.

so, horn or no horn?  how big?

picke dup a 1.25" thick plate for the base today. cut it down to 8"x20". base plate weighs 52lbs. reweighed each section of rail and they both weigh 51lbs.  so the three pieces weigh 154lbs. not bad. :-)

base plate before cutting
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after cutting.
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finished the hardy hole.

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next up is working on the horn.

Great progress buck19delta.

I have been looking for an anvil of similar size to what you're building and I think this will be a good solution if I can't scare one up.  I know of a couple places that probably do have some anvils and leg vises but I'm told they won't sell them even if they're not being used

I may have to do some offering once I know the people better.

iv been trying to figure out how to make a horn. iv decided im just going to add another 8" piece of train track to the end of what I have so far. weld everything to another 1' steel plate as a base. take the new 8" track and round it into a horn. a single piece of track makes a pretty nice horn. then im going to put a 5 1/2" x 20" piece of ar500 on top for a work surface. this will give me a 5 1/2" x 20" work area, and a 8" horn, with a total weight of around 225lbs.

add another piece of track to the end.

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then round it into a round points horn something like this, but more rounded and more pointy.

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I hear ya. when im done I will have a 28" long ASO / anvil. 5.5"x20" work surface, and a 8" horn, and weight of around 225lbs. total cost will be $100.00. including steel, track, cut off wheels, grinding wheels, flap wheels etc.

im not counting tool cost in the anvil cost, as they were not just bought for this one project. I needed the tools anyway, and they will be getting a lot of use in the future on other projects, blacksmithing, welding, farming, construction etc.

its welded together, and painted. im about 1/2 done with it I guess.  still need to work on the work face some more, and get the ar500 plate welded to it, add the horn piece and weld it all down to another base plate.

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I have almost that exact same railroad track anvil only in much used condition.

Found it at a flea market in Ruidoso for $20.

What i have found us anvil weight is overblown. A 10 ton block of 1095 won't do shit if you can't swing a hammer. I thought weight equaled skill when i started. Now i know it's heat and technique.

yeah, id rather have spent $20.00 to buy the same thing.

the upside though, is it forced me to buy some tools I needed badly. ( chop saw , &" angle grinder, and welding accessories to get my welder running). its also gotten me back into cutting metal, grinding, and practicing my welding. I cant finish this thing until I get my beads looking a little better.

I agree. for most of history people were beating on random pieces of iron, and were able to create some amazing weapons that way. I just want a super solid anvil to beat on, which has a decent sized working surface. I don't expect any issues with it, but if I do its easily welded.  I will eventually get a real anvil, when I can find a great deal on one. im just not willing to pay $4-5-6 a pound for one.

which begs the question....

what are you willing to pay?

A while pile of shop time

$200 max. When I get serious about buying one, I will start putting ads on Facebook, craigslist, etc. Little doubt ill find one, iv bought a lot of cheap stuff that way, even when everyone else was scrambling,  to buy it at 3x-5x as much.

Time is something I have plenty of.

Still stocking up on forgable steel, and useful steel for building things. I had a good day today ! Picked up some REALLY good stuff from the scrap yard. All total I brought home 1250lbs of steel, and 40lbs of lead today. ( Wednesday I brought home 200lbs of steel, and 85lbs of lead.

Big score today, was a welding table ! REALLY been wanting one. this thing weighs about 300lbs. im going to clean it up, and paint it, add wheels to the bottom, a vice on top, then make a shelf under it where i can mount my welder, cables and accessories. basically a rolling welding station.

Welding table.

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the next thing I found was  a scrap table I thought would be perfect for building a brake drum, coal forge. its a table saw table with a cast iron top. even has wheels on it. going to clean it up, paint it, and build my forge on it.

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next is a striking anvil ( big chunk of mild steel ). its two big pieces of bar stock welded together. weighs about 150lbs.

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the rest of it.. angle iron for making table frames and legs, steel bar stock, pieces of steel plate, hardened threaded rod about 5 feet long, axe head, adze head, pick axe head, mower blade, knife blade, big farm pulley,  big piece of steel tube to make a quench tank, 5' chunk of light train track, old chainsaw bars and chains. plus over 100 feet of steel cable.

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here is some more of the steel iv been bringing home. this was 3 weeks ago, 150lbs of steels. mower blades, bushhog blades, leaf springs, jackhammer bits for hardy hole tools, brake drum for building forge, coil springs, car axle. a big bucket full of 8-10" guard rail bolts, and eye bolts. ill use the bolts to built my barn next year.

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im not a packrat, I don't keep things unless they are useful, and im sure I will likely use them down the road. im going to make a steel rack, so I have a place to store all this steel im collecting.

Are those um axe heads?

one double bit axe, one pick axe, one adze.  the big thing beside the adze / axe is a old rusty farm pulley.

finished my welding table.

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Damn, You're putting in a ton of hours to build this. And all with a $100 tombstone welder.

started making a horn today. I cut up a piece of train track to make it, id rather the piece be longer, but I think it will work out ok. I just stuck it into place for the picture to get a idea of how it looks.

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I had a arfcommer offer to send me a piece of AR400 steel. unfortunately ar400 is not hard enough. the train track im using as a anvil body is already the equivalent of ar400 at Brinell of 40. a real anvil has a Brinell of the mid 50's, so, I need to hold out for a piece of ar-500. I have a piece of 3/8 ar500, but its not thick enough for what im doing. I need 3/4-1" thickness, because it will lose some temper when its welded, but I don't think it will lose it all the way thru a full 3/4-1". maybe lose temper in 1/2 the thickness, which still leaves plenty of hardened steel.

Made a bottle opener on my junk anvil
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got it all welded together. just need to take a flap wheel to it, and weld a plate on top for a work surface.

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Good job, Buck

@Inquisitive_Spaniard

thanks buddy !  its looking pretty good. right now it weighs 185lbs. I just need a piece of ar500 to weld on top and its finished. which should push the weight up to around 225lbs. im already working on making a stand for it, just need to pick up a few pieces of steel from the scrapyard. I cant say its awesome, but its turned out pretty solid, and i dont think I will have any issues with it. if I do its easily welded.

Next, ill start making a coal forge anyday now, as soon as I get enough steel from the scrap yard for it. iv got about 700lbs of steel stacked up at the scrapyard right now just waiting till I get paid to pick it all up. ( 1/4" thick 2" tubing, coil springs, leaf springs, mower blades, grader blade, 2 buckets of railroad spikes, railroad clips, steel cable, all thread, 1" square bar stock, pieces of 5' rebar, 1/4" thick pieces of plate steel, and other odds and ends, and I add more every other day as I find new stuff ) after I get the coal forge finished and a  decent stock of coal I will start thinking about building a propane forge.

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my coal forge will look a lot like this, ( except im using a brake drum / rotor ) and using a hair dryer as a blower. from what iv seen, hair dryers work well enough, and are cheap and easy to replace if you have issues.

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I have a Russian 110 lb steel not cast iron anvil from Harbor Freight.

It seems that they are not on the HF website these days.

Your project is NEAT!!!

Bring the finished anvil up to temperature to release the stresses from welding then heat treat the face. I wouldn’t want the stresses to cause it to crack.

I'd fill the void space with lead.

Nice work.

@Inquisitive_Spaniard

another arfcommer is cutting me a piece of steel for this project to use as a hardened workface.

Looks like I will be welding a piece of 1.25" thick AR400 type ( hardox 400) steel on top for the workface. that should hold up well. its around Rockwell 40 in hardness, and 1.25" thick, so even if I lose a little hardness in the workface when I weld the underside I should have PLENTY of hardened steel left to beat on for a long time to come.

Totally finished with the anvil, added a 3/4" thick hardened plate / work surface to the top yesterday, its finished. total weight is 218lbs. still need to finish the anvil stand and build a coal forge next.

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Looks really great, how many hours in are you now?

probably around 10-12 hours in all.  cutting thick steel plate with a angle grinder is time consuming, not to mention cutting train track with same. that includes all the cutting, and grinding, and welding. it was a learning experience as well, if I had to do it again I could do it a hell of a lot faster. was a fun project.

finished the stand yesterday. baseplate is 3/4" plate. the stand weighs 100lbs.

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Gravity.

the base has 2" high lips,  no chance the anvil will work its self to falling off. I put a piece of rubber mat between anvil base and the stand to cut down on noise.

If needed I can always add a chain, bracket, etc to physically lock them together.   Anvil and stand together weigh around 320 lbs.

Anvil looks great.  Can't wait to see more work done on it

Nice. Good job.

I started on the coal forge yesterday, and got maybe 1/2 done with it. i can say I love it, as im using scrap steel I have laying around, vs nice new steel that all matches, but it will work great and be pretty nice. my top layer is 1/4" thick, 24"x48", with angle iron legs. theres really not much to a coal forge, basically a table, with a brake drum mounted in it, 2" pipe leading out the bottom, with a place to install a hair dryer.

this is what im building. this is not mine, just a example, but mine will be pretty close. maun differences are mine will have a brake drum for the coal, and a hair dryer for the blower underneath.

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Your anvil turned out great.

What made you decide to use a coal forge vs propane?

Are you going to make your own charcoal?

Call is all around me. I think I can get a ton for $100.00.  Honestly I like the idea of not needing resupply , I can actually dig my own coal , at a few places locally, as well as make charcoal if needed. I guess it's prepper thing. Lol.  I will probably eventually get a propane forge as well, because propane is easier, I just want to learn both ways.