Well I finally got the anvil in last week. Ordered it through a local Ridgid dealer and it was custom made to order, shipped from Milwaukee or something. A buddy hooked me up huge and I got it for less than half price. Still a big ticket item at $1300
This is what I came up with to keep it pinned down tight. The extra chain wraps are to deaden the PING.
View attachment 37204
So the day the anvil arrived I actually tested out things by hammering out this little guy. Made it out of 7/8" round bar.
View attachment 37205
I got some crops of W2 from a bolt making shop a friend works at. It hardened well but as you can see when I tried to take a wobble out (after quenching) it snapped. It only took an hour to get to where I did and to be honest I was pretty tickled. It's a lot of fun
What you see in the pic is 100% shaped on the anvil. The only shaping with the grinder was on the butt end after I cut it off.
SO TODAY THOUGH I got REEEALLY confident and cut a chunk of 1-1/4" round bar about 7" long and starting smacking it.
Jesus Christ is that a whole lot harder. I managed to get it down to a 2-1/2" x 12" x 3/8" bar after getting a buddy to hold it while I gave my all with an 8 lb sledge. When my arm recovers I'll get back to it... honest.