How to make an Anvil from old Railroad Track 

I welded a plate to the bottom of an anvil and use it upright as a Pier Anvil. It weighs about 75 lbs, but with the mass concentrated in a smaller footprint, it has the inertia of a much large anvil. Love your work, that is an ambitious project.

So, i use anvils to try and catch roadrunners by dropping them off of cliffs as the roadrunner runs by below. Good Acme anvils have gotten so expensive and are now days made out of cast iron in china. In your opinion, will a railroad track anvil like this be good for stopping roadrunners? Great video, thanks for posting!

Right on! Not only a superb anvil, but a piece of art. Hard for me to use as it would ruin the polish. I would keep it in my living room as the piece of art, I have a beautiful old work anvil already in my shop.

Its really a tough job, needing lot of attention, patience and skill, and you did it wonderfully well !!! Great workmanship and precision !!!

I have never seen anything more beautiful in my life. I would love to make one but rails and tools are hard to come by for me lol.

Кусок металолома +руки из правильного места = отличный инструмент.

This video is a perfect example of why I own 18 angle grinders

Приятно было смотреть на работу, и видеть, как рождается хорошая и практичная вещь.

By far the best home made anvil build I've seen on RU-vid!! Well done. Track - Check; POA - Check; Leaf spring - TBA!! 😁😁😁

I made about 40 of these last xmas, even welded on a hardens striking surface complete with a hardy and pritchel hole, each weighed approx 13 kg. Then I made myself a new one, made from 3 pieces of track about 1.2m in length. Loads of cutting and welding and I had myself a 125kg monster anvil.

Ok, you've inspired me. I bought 20 inches of railroad track at a flea market and now I'm going to try what you've done.

Bless him, it took him over a year to make this small anvil just imagine how long it took blacksmiths to make a giant anvil some 100 years ago, I do agree there a little tooo expensive online as £600-£1500 is a lot for a piece of steel but there built to last.

Very good work. I'm am going to be making one after seeing this for my Highschool friend who I took on as an "apprentice" of bladesmithing and he has a forge I built for him and he now needs a upgraded anvil. Thank you for the inspiration.

To get better contour use the unsupported part of a belt sander. It will give an effortless contour. Also great for making a convex edge on a knife.

It's good to notice after one year having a guard on your grinders. I witnessed a person taken to hospital from a grinder without a guard and it makes me shudder. My cousin mentioned four people taken to hospital by ambulance when a grinder blade shattered. Although this was because improper use. I like the fact using rail road track. The quality of steel coming from China doesn't seem to have the same properties of earlier steel before globalisation. Well done.

Nice work. Ive got some track and ready to make one. Will be following your design. You have one of the best rail anvils that ive seen. Thanks for sharing. Peace

Outstanding looks ,great craftsmanship , nice rebound and sharp ringing , 10 ++ effort. will be making one myself as soon as I can find some 155 lbs per yard rail stock which is a bit hard to find these days but not impossible so the search is on.

A work of art! Who cares if it works or not! I'd put it on the mantel piece and admire it all day.

Super dooper job! You REALY made a nice little anvil! Quite the protect, and I'm glad that you finally got the time to finish it. It's funny how things change in life to sometime change our plans, but you were finally able to get back to it.

I guess that I am the only one who does not find this video to be the best of the best in anvil making. My question would be; Why cut away good metal and thereby, turn a 60# section of steel railing into a 20# anvil when in order to make the rail into a much better anvil with 55# more of steel to work on, all that was needed to be done, was to trim one top end into a forming horn (as was done) and leave the rest of the rail the way it originally was. (i.e.) you end up with a heftier and longer steel anvil top to hammer on and a longer and more stable base for mounting to a stand, table or whatever you choose.

That's one of the better looking railroad anvils I have ever seen

Has a good ring to it! Also, seems that even in Europe, the cheap toaster oven is the blacksmith's best friend for tempering things.

The first cut off piece was all the shapes my dad needed. Good looking anvil

People who make Angle Grinders are hero's.

The piece of track that I have has been roll hardened by the thousands of carloads of materials that have rolled over the track. The top of the rail is so hard that a machine shop could not mill the top "flat" with modern modern CNC milling machine. The cutters just skated off.,

Impressed to see the hardened leaf spring on there. I see a walk along the railroad tracks in my future.

Boys will be boys ! Always game for girls , gadgets ,guns , gaadi ( cars ) , & guitars not in that order though ,am personally being bitten by the DIY bug much to the chagrin of my better half ,God bless you Bro !

That's awesome i really appreciate the craftsmanship and time spent if you ever have 1 for sale let me know i would really like to owen one keep the videos coming God bless you and your family 🙋‍♂️

I have a 170 pound hay Budden. Though I started with a rail track. The picture of the rail track anvil on your thumbnail was beautiful so I had to check it out

Nicely done! I was wondering how you got the horn below the face, and then saw you weld that section of heat treated truck spring to the top.

Nice bounce! Not going to get that from a harbor freight anvil.

Nice job. One of the best RR track anvils I've seen.

You’re a brave man dude. I’ve had many bad experiences with those big cut off wheels in angle grinders lol

I have some railroad steel, I’ve saved for making a field drag... but your video has renewed my thoughts of making an anvil, or two for myself and a few friends. Thanks

Now that’s an anvil a coyote could drop on a roadrunner!

Nice job. I only wish you could put some more details in the video, i.e at what temperature you heat the peace of truck spring in the oven. Otherwise genious!

best example from a rail track .....beautiful work...

Just getting started in the knife world. Having a Blast and would love a good anvil but the cost is more then I can do right now. Just got 26 inches of railroad track and will follow your example as soon as I get a welder unless I can find someone in N Tx to build me one. I will follow your page and learn. Thank You

Все отлично и достойно похвалы, за исключением одного и жизненно важного момента - никогда не работайте без защитного кожуха. Если диск может разрушиться, то однажды это произойдет! И этого одного единственного случая будет достаточно, чтобы сделать из молодого работящего парня КАЛЕКУ! Берегите себя!

Most excellent work! It's so nice I don't think you should use it. LOL! At any rate, just for your safety, operating that grinder without a guard is pretty risky. If you have ever experienced a fibre disc exploding apart, then you'll understand the harm that it could inflict on you. Just saying. Thanks for sharing! Cheers!

Nice job.. But please use some oil when using the cutter and drill..

Crazy man, using angle grinders without protection

"It looks stupid but it works." if it's a stupid idea and it works, it's not stupid.

Very nice, lots of work but the results were great.

Exemple of a piece of excellent craftmanship

Tu voluntad y tu persistencia es ta fuerte como ése riel, bueno un poquito mas, porque lo dominaste. 💪💪

Que buen trabajo, excelente transformación que se le dio a ese pedazo de riel y lo util que es en el taller, muchas gracias....

Congratulações,Iam Brazilian.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

Nice anvil. It's got a nice ring to it.

Nice anvil, looks good, sounds right and has a great bounce. That size anvil would work just fine in my garage, any day of the week, over any bought cast iron piece of junk, that some of the critics probably own, lol.

good job big brother pure steel from the rail i like this anvil for my diy.this video is very informative coz i subvrives this watching from makati philippine at my work sunday while breaktime mabuhay ph

Excelente trabajo saludos de Peru

Skills and dedications...I've never forged but lately I've been watching too many forging videos and is curious now. Lol

Amazing work! I just had some doubst: - Isn't the welding on the end affected the heat treatment? - Is that the proper heat treatment, as tenacity is one of the most important properties (as hardeness)? I would say that annealing and surface hardening would be better

Heat treating steel is done after welding not before!

What a beautiful anvil, thakyou from Mexico

If you stand the track section on end you get a much more useful anvil. Having all the mass under the the hammerhead when you strike as opposed to just that thin web makes it feel many times its mass, and you're only using a small area at a time anyways. A 3' section of track standing on end will feel like a 200# anvil if you can hit the sweet spot.

Lo mas genial del video es el casco

Thats the best track anvil ive ever seen

Хорошая работа! Аккуратно и без суеты.

I tried this 35 years ago as an apprentice, having an anvil was desired and using rail track seemed an easy way to make that happen! Anvils need to have a lot of bulk, need to be heavy cast iron with a lot of mass, rail track is just not heavy enough!

I bet your neighbors were stoked

Хороший музыкальный инструмент получился.

Fabuloso trabajo, felicitaciones!!!👍👏👏👏

You did a great job.

This vid deserves more likes

REALLY nice! - but no squared hardy-hole?

Should try Oxy cutting for the shape. Works well for complex shape

Sr.very good work.

Great work, but put the guards on those grinders !!

Damn, I’d totally buy an anvil like that!

Don't know alot about anvils, but welding after tempering the top? Im guessing only the center part stays hard, but maybe that's a good thing not having brittle edges?

This is a very iron and steel masterpiece!!Cheers!Gorgeus job!!

I wanted to see how you put your symbol on the side

Me gusto mucho tu video pero hay q tener en cuenta el hierro q esta curado y el hierro q en parte q le falta igual a las soldaduras si se soldo a su buen punto de no quebrarse o si esta vulnerable a un tiempo de impacto continuo si se la banca

Gran Trabajo, saludos desde Uruguay gracias

I like the profile better than a antiquer....That is perfect size....I have some track,how much to make one.lol...family heirloom there..All counting hours,about how many would you say?

Like I have been trying to say.....hook up your truck a trailer and go to a empty parking lot.....and use the lines in the parking lots to learn to back up straight...........

looks great! I made one some years ago with cutting torch and hours of angle grinding gut i just ground the top surface as flat as my eyes could tell.. I'm surprised what it will bring on craigslist 150 -200 bucks keep on shaping..

Ok, I see my anvil is finished. Now where's yours? Oh you have it in the back of your shop, thats fine. But getting back to my anvil, is it ready for shipping? By the way has anyone told you that you do a right fair job Makin these. When you ship mine, please pack it good an tight.

I have one that belonged to my grandad, there is actually a collector's club for anvils made from railroad track, this concept has been around for quite some time.

Very nice , can you compare cost between off the shelf and homemade quality ?

Best one i seen made..great job

excellent job! I made mine recently!! seemed to take forever cutting!

SWEEEET! I'm off to steal some train tracks!

Fantastic workmanship. Great video.

Well done !! You Sir are a Craftsman !

“Delayed for a year” My kinda project! 🤣

Nice job, I am going to try putting a plate on mine. Looks like it worked real well.

Belo trabalho. Vou tentar fazer uma. Parecida é claro.... Brasil.

I watched this twice because it's so badass!

That came out awesome!!!

1 year off,was it from a injury form an ungarded tool,I noticed a gaurd on the grinder after returning from a year off,(Foot note - if you have to take a gaurd off a tool your using the wrong tool.)

There are 9 idiots in captivity confirmed. Like your tools,please, reminds me of a glass shop my dad worked at in San Francisco at Bendel and Sanders glass. All the grinding and beveling wheels, along with all drilling and cutting stations were powered by a single power supply fed with belts twisting and turning directions of imagination.

Muy buen trabajo amigo 💪👌🙌🙌🙌👋👋👋

It’s not the top, its the heft and support under the top that’s important.

unfortunately in Indonesia train tracks cannot be purchased ☹️

Looks like I found some new plans for the summer holidays. Nice work though!

A Yeah! Time to make the donuts/artifacts.

Much better than the HF anvil. Nice job.