Anvil

[Oil pan 4]

Here is a rail road track anvil I built up with 10018 welding rod. Milling it was breaking bits.
So I figure I'll anneal and normalize it.
Got it brightly orange hot for at least 2 hours and I'll let it cool slowly all night.

 

[leveraddict]

Folks are asking big money for old anvils nowadays! Good for you making your own!

 

[GreensvilleJay]

you can get $2 a pound for them around here...prices shot up after 'Forged in fire' came out...

 

[Yooper]

Following.

Were you using carbide to mill it? I suspect even after annealing that will be tough to machine. Manganese in the steel is the culprit. If you don’t have carbide now would be the time to invest in some

 

[Oil pan 4]

I guess the way they make RxR track they don't have to worry about machining, they just hot roll it. Yeah they were carbide bits.
I have another smaller rail road track anvil that I did not weld on, I milled as is and it was fine. The one in the fire was built up with 10018 stick welding rods.

The smaller one that's already milled flat is getting tossed in pulled out and quenched, then probably reground flat with a surface grinder.

 

[Dave Ogren]

There is a lot of high speed steel in R. R. tracks. That is why they are so valuable
Dave.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

Were you using carbide to mill it? I suspect even after annealing that will be tough to machine. Manganese in the steel is the culprit.

There's a lot of work hardening, too.

 

[Oil pan 4]

There's a lot of work hardening, too.

The work hardened one milled a lot easier than the welded one.

 

[Lil Foot]

There are lots of vids on this subject. Theses guys must have a lot more free time than me.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=anvil+railroad+iron

 

[Oil pan 4]

I tried to quench my other anvil and it cracked. Turns out quinching didn't crack it, the crack was was already there. Quenching made it bigger.

Then I got to grinding and found a chunk with rust inclusions. The crack had been there for years. Before quinching it was maybe 2 inches long and went through the spine.
Quinching made it bigger.
Had I been looking I could have found it and fixed it while it was small. But I didn't.

Nothing my little 9 inch 240v grinder couldn't take care of.

 

[DustyRusty]

I have a RR track anvil that I got over 50 years ago. So long ago that I don't even remember how I acquired it. I have no idea where it is now, but I know that it didn't get thrown out. Most likely somewhere in the backyard with some other items that were in a building that collapsed from the weight of 2 back to back snow storms. Been slowly picking through everything that was in that building and getting rid of what I don't want. In the spring when I can get around better, I will look for it and post a picture. My big anvil is under the stand-up drill press in my shop. Some day the drill press will be bolted to the floor and the anvil will be attached to a large section of oak for its stand.

 

[skeets]

Back in the ay uncle john had a hunk of track I think it might have been 90 pound track, big and heavy,, Anyways the top being rounded he wanted it flat, and not having a milling machine he bushed up a good grinding wheel on his radial arm saw. It wasnt fast and it was noisy, but when it was done the face was flat and square. Dont know what happend to it, It may have gone south like all scrap on the farm did when the prices with crazy

 

[Lil Foot]

not having a milling machine he bushed up a good grinding wheel on his radial arm saw. It wasnt fast and it was noisy,

Damn, I'll bet it was!

 

[skeets]

LOL,, Aunt Audrey, used words I have never hear her say before when he started

 

[Oil pan 4]

The annealed anvil has a Rockwell hardness in the mid 40s now it machines like plastic, before with the welding filler cap it was about 60.
The quenched and crack repaired anvil has a Rc of about 58.

 

[Oil pan 4]

A 220lb anvil made in 1910 went for $500 at a local auction. I did not buy it.