To fans of Japanese carpentry tools

[Elmar50]

I'm looking for an anvil appropriate for ura-dashi. No luck in Japan Woodworker, Hida tools or eBay. I'm aware the this is a forum for German power tools. But I do not belong to any Japanese woodworking tool forums, and some of the posts indicate familiarity with Japanese tools, so it's worth a try.

 

[peter halle]

Perhaps this link will help:  http://shop.wnwoodworkingschool.com/Anvil-Anvil.htm

Looks like if you find a piece of a railroad rail it would also work.

Peter

 

[Elmar50]

Thanks! I've seen this approach in a YouTube video. A friend I've lost contact with had another version which I would prefer- more old-school. But if nothing comes up, I'll get the railway tie

 

[JeromeM]

Thanks! I've seen this approach in a YouTube video. A friend I've lost contact with had another version which I would prefer- more old-school. But if nothing comes up, I'll get the railway tie

The section of railway rail is virtually the only shape I've seen in the shops here.

FWIW you really don't want a railway tie as they are wood or concrete or even sometimes plastic (otherwise known as railway sleepers)

 

[BMAC]

A railway track section is a perfect small anvil.

I made this one about 40 years ago in metal shop when I was in high school. Still works perfectly.

The key to be able to work the hardened wear surface is to heat it in the furnace till it is red hot and to allow it to cool slowly which annealed the metal. Then it was roughly shaped using a milling machine, then fine shaping and finishing was using an angle grinder with a series of abrasive disks, then flap wheels of progressive finer grits.

Finally, it is again heat treated with a series of quenching in oil and water baths. Can't remember which one came first and I also remembered some special powder being applied to the tip to make sure that the tip wasn't too hard or brittle to prevent it from breaking. I'm sure there is a YouTube out there that has the full steps as my memory might not be that reliable some 40 years later. [tongue]

 

[Ed Bray]

Great job, looks fantastic.

 

[Elmar50]

[member=40924]BMAC[/member]- nice anvil! With regard to rail tie vs track, I was going by William Ng's web site where he calls what he made the anvil from a tie not a track. Figure he knows best what he made the anvil from.

 

[Brent Taylor]

I had a piece of 1/4" angle iron let into my old bench , that along with a steel vice that I can mount into my woodworking bench vice  (this I still use for metal work in my shop trailer ).