Making an anvil base

[MartiPedia]

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a little anvil for a very reasonable price off Facebook Marketplace. Now while I had no immediate need for an anvil in the garage, if you love tools, you probably love anvils too

Naturally an anvil needs to sit on a sturdy base and I didn't just want to settle for the old tree stump solution. I wanted something epic, preferably medieval looking with a mix of charred wood and bare steel.

So I started off with a 100x100x2400 timber post that I cut in 4 and glued together to create the 200x200x600 blank to work from. I used a power planer to get the sides relatively flush without completely ruining it's rugged looks, and also threw a bevel on the edges while I was at it. I traced the anvil's footprint and used my router to drop it by about 10mm so that the anvil sat nice and snug and couldn't slide around. I also used the router to create 2x 25x3mm channels around the base, 150mm from the top and bottom ends.

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Once I was happy with the shape and size, I used a blowtorch to char the exterior and really bring out the wood grain, followed by a quick Scotchbrite scuffing to blend it nicely. I sealed the charred base with two layers of boiled Linseed oil.

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Finally, I created the 2x metal straps that fit snugly in the channels I had milled, welded the ends and drove 16x 45mm coach screws through it to bring it all together. Overall, I'm super happy with the outcome. The last step will be to add the tool holder to the top and secure the anvil with some brackets that I'm yet to make

PS: Below you will see the welds I did where the ends of the flatbar met. I welded this in place because the strap sits in a channel and could not be fitted over otherwise. I did these with a little Ozito gasless MIG I bought last week: The new one, where the feed and voltage are both adjustable rather than just the feed rate. It works like a charm

Happy building!

[MartiPedia]

Quickly etched a little brass plaque last night and affixed it to the base.

(Pro tip: The back of that plaque says "NO Junk Mail" 😬)

[MitchellMc]

That's so cool, @MartiPedia! Could you please run us through the etching process you used?

Mitchell

[MartiPedia]

Sure thing! It's super simple and requires very little in terms of special equipment or chemicals.

The first time I attempted etching in brass, I was convinced that I'd need to get hold of some Ferric Chloride or similar acid. I only managed to get Sulphuric Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide at the time and this did NOT work at all. It only stripped the zinc / tin from the brass and did nothing to the copper so it just became discoloured instead of etched.

I did a bit more research and found another article that suggested etching with electrolysis which turned out to be the winner in the end, only requiring salt water and an old, stupid car charger that doesn't apply any clever charge profile and just supplies 12V until you turn it off.

In short, I attached the positive wire to the brass plate I wanted to etch with only the logo exposed to the surrounding water, and the negative wire to a sacrificial piece of metal in the form of an old galvanized coach screw. Flipped it on for an hour and voila! Etched 👍🏻

Note that these little brass sign plates come covered with a lacquer to prevent oxidation, so give it a good sanding with a Scotch Brite pad before attempting to etch.

[MitchellMc]

Awesome @MartiPedia! The ingenuity of our members constantly astounds me. I've done a little bit of electrolysis before whilst cleaning old coins I've found metal detecting. I was using a standard 9V battery, and it seemed to work reasonably well. Thanks for sharing your method.

Mitchell

[MartiPedia]

Quick update from my side: I finally managed to complete the forging of my first knife. While it won't be winning any awards, it was a great learning experience for me. For interest sake, that knife was made from things you can buy at Bunnings

- Blade: Cold chisel (Tool Shop), annealed, forged, ground, hardened, polished and cold blued.

- Handle: Merbau Garden Bed Edging (Garden Section), cut, attached with quick set epoxy, ground, charred, sanded and oiled.

- Brass Pins: 3mm Brass Bolts (Fastener Section), cut and ground.

I didn't want to do anything to the blade after the hardening process in order to maintain some glimpse of the journey it had been on, but believe me when I say it holds a keen edge.

On top of that I am also in the process of making myself a hammer rack to go with my anvil, because forging with hammers strewn haphazardly upon the garage floor turns out to be not ideal

Here's a little sneak peak of my progress so far. This one has been constructed from some left over pallet planks I had in the garage. It was constructed primarily to be functional and given that those planks are crooked as, I ended up spraying it with finishing nails until it behaved. Thankfully the charring and oiling hides my impatience a bit It too will now receive 25mm flat bar straps on the ends, along with a rail for holding tongs and couple of places to store punches and drifts.

[EricL]

Hi @MartiPedia

Thank you so much for the photo updates. This is starting to look like a very serious hobby. That hammer rack is very impressive, the charring and oiling make it really feel like it belongs in a blacksmith's shop. That first attempt on the knife looks very impressive. You've certainly come a long way from that first anvil. I'm sure our members will be keen to see your next creation.

We look forward to seeing your next update.

Eric

[Noyade]

The knife looks good.

How do you do the riveting for the handle?

I noticed the precise regulator adjustment on your propane bottle - does the forge consume a lotta propane?

Keep up the good work!

Cheers

Graeme.

[MartiPedia]

Hi Graeme (@Noyade )

Thanks mate, I used some brass bolts for the pins that were ground down to a snug fit, hammered in and epoxied in place along with the handle blanks. After that I finished it all up on the belt sander.

As for the forge, it operates at 1.0 - 1.16 Mpa so it does use a fair amount of gas. I probably used 1/3 to 1/2 a 9kg tank since I got it 

Cheers, Martin

[Noyade]

Cheers for the feedback!

Always wondered how to repair some of my knife handles that have the brass rivet system.

Thanks.

[Noyade]

Afternoon Martin.

You're the only person I know close to being a blacksmith, so I wanted to ask you about a small project. It's a fire bucket made from a 50 litre air-compressor and I want to 'expand' the middle area by stretching out the sides with a car jack.

Total failure - it does expand but once you undo the jack the sides simply return to there original position.

Expand and apply heat somewhere?

Air-compressor steel is somehow treated?

Or a waste of time. 🤔

Thanks.

Graeme.