Thread: portable anvil

Originally Posted by ScottGoodman

Please do not use water over oil.

I am a VFD and was also a firefighter in the Navy. Before someone says everyone is a firefigher, I went to a month long school on it, there is more to it than "put water on it and it will go out". Lots of nasty stuff would/could happen if you use oil over water. Fire needs three things to exist: Heat (we will have that), fuel (oil above flash point around the hot steel), and oxygen. If the anvil had enough volume to it, when it hit the water it would boil VIOLENTLY. This will add oxygen to the flashed oil and in the violence you would have the potential for a VERY large flash of fire.

I don't know the exact size of your anvil, but my recommendation would be about 1/3 of a 55 gallon metal drum that would have about 3-4" of space from the rim with the anvil in it. Heat the anvil to temp and drop it (I like Tim's idea) in the oil & cover it with a metal "lid". There will be fire on the dunk, the volume should be ok to avoid flash point of a large volume of fire, but it will be a little spectacular. I would still do it outside and have an ABC extinguisher handy...i doubt you would need it.

Side note, I saw a video somewhere where anvils were just dropped into a pond or lake for HT...but it wasn't O1.

I think I would heat the face with a rosebud torch & only heat about 1" to critical keeping the rest of the piece as cool as possible then quenching in as much oil as you can. I think the larger the surface area will help cool the anvil face faster. The ball bearing test does not mean much to me. Anvils are for working hot metal that is pretty darn soft & if you are only doing mainly razor & knife making on it, you don't really need it all that hard Charlie.

I was thinking the same thing having been a fire fighter & worked in the boiler room on the USS koelsch. Water & oil DO NOT MIX!!!

Slawman

We hardend the anvil, at my friend's hammer-in.

Wrapped in kaowool and heated with propane burner, similar to picture in first post. Heated a little past nonmagnetic.

Quenched with a water hose on a stick, it worked well and was pretty anticlimactic.

I took some video, I will post when I get back home.

I did not have time to video the beginning of the process, we were working quickly to remove the burner and kaowool and propane before quenching.

All and all it was not much of anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwxW...ature=youtu.be

Originally Posted by spazola

I did not have time to video the beginning of the process, we were working quickly to remove the burner and kaowool and propane before quenching.

All and all it was not much of anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwxW...ature=youtu.be

That was the most simple solution apparently, and it is a little anticlimactic. However safe is always way better than dramatic.

Did you or are you going to temper after the quench?

Originally Posted by bluesman7

Did you or are you going to temper after the quench?

It is not super hard, I am not going to temper it. At least now when I test it with a bearing, the bearing does not dent it


I used it this weekend it works good enough, I am a happy camper.

Good for you Charlie!!

I would have come if I hadn't made plans with TC

Originally Posted by ScottGoodman

I would have come if I hadn't made plans with TC

I know what you mean, it is always TC's fault

Hopefully you can make it next time.

Originally Posted by spazola

I know what you mean, it is always TC's fault

Hopefully you can make it next time.

that's right I,m always to blame. my wife says the same thing! Tc