I’ve often longed to have an anvil. Unlike other girls, I wasn’t so much interested in fancy shoes and handbags – I wanted an anvil!
Trouble is, those things are pretty damn expensive! The alternative was to make one. Very easily said – but harder to do, right? Well, that depends. If you can find a good piece of rail, or even a few, there are loads of videos on YouTube to show you how you can turn one into a pretty incredible anvil. Anyway, I wanted my own anvil, and I was lucky enough to have a few pieces of rail lying around, so I pulled out my welder one day, and made this.
Unlike most of the ones I saw on YouTube or Pintrest, I didn’t want to mount it on a block of wood. Not that I had one big enough, mind… so I made a set of legs out of bits of scrap steel I had lying around. I made four angled legs for stability, and two sturdier center legs to bear the bulk of the weight and abuse! I connected them all at the feet to make sure the thing was stable. The hooks I added below the anvil itself are useful for storing my different hammers.
You’ll notice I turned the main rail of the anvil upside down to offer it’s largest flattest area for striking, and I welded a smaller gauge piece of track on the end right side up to provide a rounded shape. I also inserted a cylindrical piece of iron in there as well.
It works great! Best part is, none of my welds has come loose yet, in spite of some pretty hard use.
I originally used this anvil on a gravel/earth floor, which was fine for absorbing shock and noise, but have since moved it into a better work space with a concrete floor, and I may yet need to insert wood or rubber ‘shoes’ under the legs!
Pictures included – enjoy!
Have a DIY day!
Cheers!
All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2020.