Cast nodular vs. cast steel

Tim Wescott

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Jul 27, 2015, 2:02:01 PM7/27/15

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This question is nearly totally idle curiosity, relating to the anvil
thread that's currently getting attention:

Are anvils currently cast or forged?

If not, would a cast steel anvil work?

Would a cast nodular iron anvil work, after heat treatment?

Would a cast nodular iron anvil be significantly cheaper than cast steel?

I know that in the past there were some pretty nice anvils made with
forged steel faces that were welded/cast/whatever to cast-iron bases --
that's about all I know, if you held a gun to my head I couldn't even
tell you how thick the steel part of the face was, or whether the horn
was steel, etc.

(I want an anvil. I can't afford one, and I don't quite want one enough
to wish that it'd fall out of the sky, because it might hit my house,
shop, or truck. But I still want an anvil.)

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Ed Huntress

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Jul 27, 2015, 2:27:03 PM7/27/15

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I'm not an anvil man -- I'm a philistine and use a piece of railroad
track <g> -- but if it's of any help: Nodular iron is just another
name for ductile iron. Anvils have been made of ductile iron.

Cast steel was, and maybe still is, one of the primary materials used
for making good anvils.

Ductile iron is a bit cheaper to cast than steel, but the lack of thin
sections suggests that the casting itself would be similar.

'Don't know anything about heat treatment of anvils.

--
Ed Huntress

Paul K. Dickman

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Jul 27, 2015, 2:29:20 PM7/27/15

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"Tim Wescott" <seemyw...@myfooter.really> wrote in message
news:cpKdnaSJYMeK7yvI...@giganews.com...

Old anvils were made of wrought iron with steel faces. Not cast iron.
Steel could be hardened to resist denting. It was significantly more
expensive than the wrought iron and was used sparingly.

There is no reason why a good cast tool steel, suitably heat treated, would
not make a fine anvil and many are.

Cast irons are manipulated to keep them from being brittle.
It improves their strength in tension but does little to improve their
resistance to denting.
A cast iron anvil will be wallowed out in short order.

Paul K. Dickman

Leon Fisk

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Jul 27, 2015, 2:52:24 PM7/27/15

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On Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:01:59 -0500

Tim Wescott <seemyw...@myfooter.really> wrote:

<snip>

>(I want an anvil. I can't afford one, and I don't quite want one enough
>to wish that it'd fall out of the sky, because it might hit my house,
>shop, or truck. But I still want an anvil.)

I have thought of making one like a laminated transformer. Cut say 1/4,
3/8, 1/2 inch... plate stock, whatever you have a surplus of and then
bolt or rivet it together. 3-d software could probably make short work
of slicing the basic anvil shape and then generate the outline for each
piece needed. Then if you happen to know somebody with a plasma cutter
or better yet a CNC plasma cutter... I was thinking of using vertical
slices but horizontal could probably be made to work too.

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

Terry Coombs

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Jul 27, 2015, 3:10:57 PM7/27/15

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I want one too ... rode the bike out to a second hand store in another
town a couple of weeks ago because my neighbor told me they had a small
anvil for sale - he didn't really look it over though . Turned out the top
was beat to hell and dished , edges were mushroomed over and the horn was
beat to hell . I figger it was probably chinese steel under the rust ,
declined to purchase it . But I did have a great ride there and back , all
twisty mountain roads .

--
Snag

Gunner Asch

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Jul 27, 2015, 3:16:02 PM7/27/15

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On Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:01:59 -0500, Tim Wescott
<seemyw...@myfooter.really> wrote:

Tim...have you any access to pieces of railroad track? The bigger the
profile the better..... and it comes in all sizes. Crane track is nice
stuff..like the stuff that dockside cranes run on.. In fact..crane
rail can be a lot better than regular "railroad track" as it can be a
bunch beefier..the web being much heavier and thicker than regular
railroad track...but for this discussion..Ill call it..railroad track.

Railroad track makes superlative anvils with very little work

https://www.google.com/search?q=railroad+track+anvil&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

http://forum.atomiczombie.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4285&d=1336776386

http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/anvils/making/RR-rail_anvils.php

You may wish to read these next 2 articles

http://www.anvilfire.com/article.php?bodyName=/21centbs/firstanv.htm
http://www.anvilfire.com/FAQs/finding-anvils.php

Chuckle...read em..then we can race each other for the most anvils in
say..a year?

Gunner

Gunner Asch

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Jul 27, 2015, 3:27:15 PM7/27/15

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Ayup. Good post. It should be mentioned that a cast iron anvil
can..can be made into a reasonably decent anvil by welding a steel
top on it..but it will never be "right". Better to build it up with
welding rods of the right sort.

http://www.anvilmag.com/smith/anvilres.htm

Gunner Asch

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Jul 27, 2015, 3:59:19 PM7/27/15

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On Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:28:29 -0500, "Paul K. Dickman"
<pkdi...@ameritech.net> wrote:

>

Larry Jaques

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Jul 27, 2015, 6:28:37 PM7/27/15

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On Mon, 27 Jul 2015 12:15:04 -0700, Gunner Asch <gunne...@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:01:59 -0500, Tim Wescott
><seemyw...@myfooter.really> wrote:
>
>>This question is nearly totally idle curiosity, relating to the anvil
>>thread that's currently getting attention:
>>
>>Are anvils currently cast or forged?
>>
>>If not, would a cast steel anvil work?
>>
>>Would a cast nodular iron anvil work, after heat treatment?
>>
>>Would a cast nodular iron anvil be significantly cheaper than cast steel?
>>
>>I know that in the past there were some pretty nice anvils made with
>>forged steel faces that were welded/cast/whatever to cast-iron bases --
>>that's about all I know, if you held a gun to my head I couldn't even
>>tell you how thick the steel part of the face was, or whether the horn
>>was steel, etc.
>>
>>(I want an anvil. I can't afford one, and I don't quite want one enough
>>to wish that it'd fall out of the sky, because it might hit my house,
>>shop, or truck. But I still want an anvil.)

Grizzly 300# anvil for $299, big, for a budding blacksmith.

>Railroad track makes superlative anvils with very little work
>
>https://www.google.com/search?q=railroad+track+anvil&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Truth, for the smaller anvils. I have a piece I haven't cut up yet.
It's a smaller gauge, maybe 4-1/2" tall.

--
My desire to be well-informed is currently
at odds with my desire to remain sane. --Sipkess

Tim Wescott

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Jul 27, 2015, 6:48:58 PM7/27/15

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If it's not Chinese under the rust it may be worth it to face the thing
with manganese steel, or whatever the heck that stuff is that gets
tougher the more you beat on it.

You just need a deal on the right sticks, and time to do some welding.

Gunner Asch

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Jul 27, 2015, 7:05:52 PM7/27/15

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Even IF its chinese...if you face it properly..it will last for a good
length of time.

Gunner

dca...@krl.org

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Jul 27, 2015, 8:26:44 PM7/27/15

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Google " stagesmith anvil " and you will find all of Ernie's posts about anvils. How to repair them and how to make them.

I have seen Bob Powell's anvil that Ernie made. Very nice.

Dan

Gunner Asch

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Jul 27, 2015, 8:37:24 PM7/27/15

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http://www.stagesmith.com/gallery/shop_projects/index.html