Finally got my anvil up to 50 pounds after years of using scrap railroad track

I been using this old piece of railroad track for like 5 years now. Finally saved up and found a 50 pound cast steel anvil at a flea market near Cleveland for $40. Figured I'd share cause my hammer hits feel way different now. Anyone else make a jump like that and notice a huge difference in their work?

4 comments

4 Comments

king.eric11d ago

Did you ever try dressing the face of that railroad track to see if you could improve the rebound on it? Cause I've heard some guys say that with a good dressing and a solid base, a heavy piece of rail can actually get you pretty close to a real anvil for basic work. Just wondering what made you finally decide to pull the trigger on the switch versus keeping what you had and maybe just modifying the setup a bit.

reese_hayes7111d agoMost Upvoted

Had a buddy dress his rail face for months and still ended up buying a beat up Fisher off an old farrier.

bennett.harper11d ago

Maybe the railroad track was working just fine though.

murphy.tessa11d ago

Did you ever try bolting that railroad track down to a big block of wood? My buddy welded a piece of 3/4 inch plate to his rail and it actually worked pretty decent for a while. I started out with a chunk of forklift tine on a stump and when I swapped to a proper anvil I couldnt believe how much less ring my hammer had. The whole shop sounded different after that.