Thread: railroad track anvil

Today I'm picky by up a 12" piece of railroad track... There is very short supply of anvils and so really the only thing I can find that effective is this railroad track in getting lucky on... So this will be a thread of this adventure! I'll be shaping her with an angle grinder I only have a 4 1/2 which I was thinking about picking up a new one before I start lol...

the he plan is to cut and shape the horn with some nice radius on the track... I am also thinking about getting a hardy hole in her which more research is needed to figure out that portion of the anvil... Also making the back end have a sharp corner... That's my plan and I will keep this post up and just post pictures when I get her and though the process! Should be a fun one! Can't wait

Stay tuned!
Fonz

I helped a local blacksmith make one out of railroad rail once. Being the top part is convex I clamped the thing in the Bridgeport and used a 3" shell mill to get it flat. As for your hardy hole, drill a round hole the appropriate size and push a series of incrementally larger square broaches through it on a press.

I made a bunch of RR track anvils for pinning razors. So yeah, get another grinder, and lots of wheels LOL

I reckon it will be a lot of work, as far as I know track is hardened steel.
I have a piece in my garage that is intended for the same use, I haven't needed it yet, but I wasn't planning on doing any real shaping

Originally Posted by outback

I made a bunch of RR track anvils for pinning razors. So yeah, get another grinder, and lots of wheels LOL

Originally Posted by Benz

I helped a local blacksmith make one out of railroad rail once. Being the top part is convex I clamped the thing in the Bridgeport and used a 3" shell mill to get it flat. As for your hardy hole, drill a round hole the appropriate size and push a series of incrementally larger square broaches through it on a press.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

I reckon it will be a lot of work, as far as I know track is hardened steel.
I have a piece in my garage that is intended for the same use, I haven't needed it yet, but I wasn't planning on doing any real shaping

So the local smith I got it from suggested to take the guard off my angle grinder and actually use a 6" wheel on my 4 1/2 but that I would be required to use gloves and a mask if I did so... But I'll let everyone one know how many wheels it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop lol

Thanks for that, I was wondering how I'm going to make my hardy hole, I don't have a very big press so I still have something to figure out lol

It definitely doesn't seem like an easy task and I agree the steel from what I know is hardened... I was actually shaping it for the horn and some angles so we will see... I'll keep everyone posted on my failure or success, we will see!!! Very excited!

Railroad rail isn't brittle hard like our razors but it is tough and springy because it has to flex under the weight of the train. When I milled the top flat on it I used carbide insert tooling.

Originally Posted by Benz

Railroad rail isn't brittle hard like our razors but it is tough and springy because it has to flex under the weight of the train. When I milled the top flat on it I used carbide insert tooling.

That makes sense... I was also looking at putting a magnet on it to help with the ringing? I'm sure it will save my marriage lol

Considering the cost of grinder wheels, have you thought about taking it to a local tech school and see if their welding class can rough the shave in for you. A plasma cutter or oxy-acetylene can do the bulk shaping in under 30 minutes pretty cheaply. Still lots to grinding to do though.

First a draw on this bad boy and show where I want to cut this for the horn...: then I'm cutting underneath it to give some room... More pictures to come to show where the cuts will be... Pictures of that I'll be posters shortly... I got about 5 cut off wheels for this adventure i hope that's enough lol!

One thing I would like to point out is that the steel appears to be tilted to the right? Now I'm not sure if all rail road track is supposed to be that way...

Originally Posted by criswilson10

Considering the cost of grinder wheels, have you thought about taking it to a local tech school and see if their welding class can rough the shave in for you. A plasma cutter or oxy-acetylene can do the bulk shaping in under 30 minutes pretty cheaply. Still lots to grinding to do though.

The local smith actually suggested the same.... But I was thinking about at least attempting it myself, then finding other means if necessary....