On my way to Tahoe for Christmas 2003 I stopped for gas near train tracks. My friend Bill and I walked down to the tracks and found all kinds of scrap metal. I hauled some of it out for later projects including this Anvil.

Train tracks make great cheap anvils. Having millions of Tons worth of train roll over them daily hardens the steel.

I lucked out with a short 12” section of this harden track. A salvaged chunk of beam made a great base to mount my track. I was lucky that the length was such that with the anvil on top I can stand next to the Anvil and place my fist on top of its surface. This has been a comfortable height to work at.

This project might have gone undocumented if not for the comments I received on the mounting of the anvil.

If an anvil is bolted down it will quickly come loose with the constant pounding it receives. To get around this I made two “U” shaped bars to hold the anvil tight against the block. Short pieces of all-thread were welded onto the ends of the bar; this allows the anvil to be tightened as needed over time.

Because this was a laminated beam I was worried that the pounding would break the beam apart. A custom made strap keeps the beam from delaming, it also allows adjusting over time.

A convenient tray is added to both sides so that my hammer is never far from reach.

The Anvil has become an indispensable tool in my shop, I was surprised at how often I use it.

This project took about 10 hours. It was completed on January 4th, 2004.