Introduction: Railway Iron Anvil
Inspired by a few designs on here and elsewhere I decided to try and make an anvil using a bit of scrap iron I found on the farm. Even if it's practical application is limited it was still fun to make, and at worst I can dismantle it and I will have a couple of attractive doorstops!!
What you need
Materials
A scrap bit of railway iron, I would say at least 30 cm long to start with
Tek screws
Optional - tree trunk (and saw to cut shelf), mounting plate from scrap steel, small castor wheels
Tools
Grinder - I used a 125cm and 230 cm grinder to cut the horn
Die grinder or files to smooth cuts
oxy torch to cut curves, or find a mate who is happy to do it for you.
grinder flap discs - I used 40,60,80,120
Optional - welder
What you need
Materials
A scrap bit of railway iron, I would say at least 30 cm long to start with
Tek screws
Optional - tree trunk (and saw to cut shelf), mounting plate from scrap steel, small castor wheels
Tools
Grinder - I used a 125cm and 230 cm grinder to cut the horn
Die grinder or files to smooth cuts
oxy torch to cut curves, or find a mate who is happy to do it for you.
grinder flap discs - I used 40,60,80,120
Optional - welder
Step 1:
This Instructable involves using angle grinders, oxy torches and welders and assumes that the reader can operate this equipment safely.
Get your bit of iron and roughly mark out your design, Then get an oxy torch and cut it to your liking. Personally, I have no idea how to use an oxy so asked someone who does to use their equipment to do it for me. I did initially also try and cut the curves progressively with a grinder which didn't look too bad but I decided to to get them tidied up with the oxy.
At this stage I had tried shaping the horn by using a grinder but it doesn't look that great.
Get your bit of iron and roughly mark out your design, Then get an oxy torch and cut it to your liking. Personally, I have no idea how to use an oxy so asked someone who does to use their equipment to do it for me. I did initially also try and cut the curves progressively with a grinder which didn't look too bad but I decided to to get them tidied up with the oxy.
At this stage I had tried shaping the horn by using a grinder but it doesn't look that great.
Step 2:
Next step is to just tidy up the oxy cuts which were pretty jagged. I used a die grinder to get rid of the worst of this but a hand file would work as well
Step 3:
I decided that I didn't like the horn so used a cutting disc on both my angle grinders to re shape it.
I then decided to tidy up the top and ended up going a mad on the finish using the grinder flap discs - not sure how long it will last!! I started with 40 and went through to 120 grit.
One side of the horn has a sharp edge and the other is rounded
I then decided to tidy up the top and ended up going a mad on the finish using the grinder flap discs - not sure how long it will last!! I started with 40 and went through to 120 grit.
One side of the horn has a sharp edge and the other is rounded
Step 4:
I probably shouldn't have done this before I polished it up, but I decided to
1. Drill a hole in the anvil
2. Drill some mounting holes - in hindsight, bigger holes and using better bolts would have probably looked a lot better than tek screws.....
I then decided to take inspiration from another Instructable I found (https://www.instructables.com/id/Railway-Line-Anvil) and a couple of others I found on the net to finish things off and provide a bit more flexibility.
I mounted the anvil in a tree trunk together with another bit of iron mounted vertically - the vertical iron is welded to a scrap of steel to provide more fixing points to the tree trunk. I then put wheels on the back so that it was portable around the shed when tipped backwards......
I found that the vertically mounted iron is much quieter when being hit.
Hope this is useful to someone.
1. Drill a hole in the anvil
2. Drill some mounting holes - in hindsight, bigger holes and using better bolts would have probably looked a lot better than tek screws.....
I then decided to take inspiration from another Instructable I found (https://www.instructables.com/id/Railway-Line-Anvil) and a couple of others I found on the net to finish things off and provide a bit more flexibility.
I mounted the anvil in a tree trunk together with another bit of iron mounted vertically - the vertical iron is welded to a scrap of steel to provide more fixing points to the tree trunk. I then put wheels on the back so that it was portable around the shed when tipped backwards......
I found that the vertically mounted iron is much quieter when being hit.
Hope this is useful to someone.
