Still have to countersink the heads of the carriage bolts, and if you’ve already got the chisel and the hex bolts it’s not going to add a ton of time.
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This is a miniature anvil:
https://www.picard-hammer.de/en/products/products/PICARD-Watchmakers-Anvil-No-202/p-0020200/
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For scale. Though I think this one is slightly bigger.
My grandfather has one of these kicking around. Though I can’t imagine what he uses it for, as he was a small engine, car and airplane mechanic.
Though he has a tendency to make his own washers, so maybe that’s it. It may just have been a gift. His best friend in the old country was a jeweler.
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That’s the purpose of the wooden stand, so that he can flip it and use the flat bottom of the rail.
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Yeah, I know. I was responding to the notion that eBay had lots of anvils for under $100 but I guess that’s not what you were saying.
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Patience rewarded. I was wondering, why did he leave that extra cavity at the base of the plywood? WHY? Then he hot-swaps the rail, flipping it in the process, and has a lovely flat plate to hammer on. Genius.
This kind of video is very satisfying: a competent craftsperson with every tool imaginable.
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No I meant they have lots of railway track.
A lot of them seem to be pitched as anvils, also as “rare” and “vintage”. Because Ebay.
But the point is it seems to be pretty easy to source a big chunk of that particular kind of steel for around $20.
Anvils come in all shapes. Here’s a couple of anvils for jewellery making, made from railroad spikes to continue the railroad theme.
And here’s a tinsmith’s combination anvil/dildo.
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Which brings to mind what a friend once said about hammers: “Whatever scratches you don’t polish out of the hammer head, you’ll have to polish out of everything you work on.”
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To drop on roadrunners?
You definitely DO NOT want to deaden the ring:
(skip to the 1:10 mark)
(can’t believe the guy making the anvil didn’t use this for the audio)
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We’re in the North East US. I don’t think we have much in the way of tiny tiny road runners.
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My Dad had a piece of rail as an anvil when I was a kid…good for riveting, pounding things on, boys own bicep curl bar, probably not a good replacement for a real anvil. Don’t really see any value this wooden case adds; if it’s to reduce noise, maybe you should just wear good hearing protection anyway. Interesting thing about rail is the variety of steel used; I worked at one small station where there was a spur that hardly ever got used (South Slocan BC to Slocan city, FTWAI) . The steel on the spur never showed any rust on the rails, whereas the main line would start to rust after eight hours idle. This piece of rail in the video also seems to be pretty light; I think North American rail is usually 130 LB/Yard, but the piece in the video seems much less.
This.
I’ve got three real anvils (two antique {a Peter Wright and a Phoenix}, and one modern English cast steel {Vuaghan-Brooks}), and have used a cheap cast iron Harbor Freight “anvil”. I use quote marks for the cheap one because “shitty no rebound heavy chunk of shit” was too long.
Honestly, a piece of rail isn’t great, but will work for small work. That being said, making friends or bribing the guys at a local metal recycling center or junkyard will do you way better. I’ve known guys to use forklift tines (set on end), large piston sections, etc… All you really need is a semi-hardened piece of heavy steel.
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In high school I made one of these. Milled most of the top flat. It was a bear! Glad I did though the flat surface made a big difference.
Rather than plywood I keep it chained onto a stump that is just the right height. Ergonomics are important. Anyhow this makes me want to dust it off and make some gifts.
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Looks great for skateboarding
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