SPARKLIESSS!!!!!!!

THAT, is what I heard from a youngun when I was working on this.



yup, its a piece of Rail that my cousin found in a ditch near the railroad. I figured it would make a fine Anvil for the limited amount of work that I do in the smithing arts. BUT it needed a couple of additions for proper work. One being the Hardie hole for accessories.

How do you cut a square hole in a large chunk of steel? You drill, baby, you drill. In this case, you pilot 5 holes. One in the center, four on the periphery of a circle in a square shape. You can do triangles, or even hex shapes. Much more than six and you start to lose the 'edge' and it just starts to look like a round hole. But you drill to the depth your main hole will be, then once you have all 5 to depth, you step up on the center hole. By the time you get to the size you need, you are beating hell out of a bit so you have to take it slow. But it works. here is an example of the result.


Now, you aren't done yet at that point. For smaller holes such as this, you really need some extra help. In my case, it was my mill. I used that to smooth out the sides of the hole to accept my hardie tools that I welded up yesterday. This one is a bending fork. Talk about a useful tool. I can bend up to 5/8" rod in this one. I will make another that can do 1" but it can wait.(lots of heat helps but you can bend plate with just annealing it)

And this is how it will sit in the anvil when needed. Of course turning it 90 degrees is an option too, depending on needs. I also made a 'roll bar' and a hot cut chisel that also fit in the hole. I am sure that there will be others that I come up with.


Now, obviously I am not done at this point. I still need to finish making the beak on the anvil, and cutting out the mounting holes. Lots more to do yet and lots more 'sparklies' to create in the process. I have cut the beaks main shape out (sorry, was too busy handling a gas powered chopsaw to take pics) but it is rough at this point. Rail is some tough ass steel, let me tell you. Should hold up to the minor abuse I will throw at it.

But, its keeping me busy on my day off and keeping my mind off politics. Plus I end up with a decent tool for future projects. Double win for me.

Now, where to find a large oak stump to put it on,,,,,