RR Track Anvil

[oltoot]

This is not first hand, I'm just repeating stories I have heard:

I got this RR rail anvil in 1963 in Alpine, Texas. This was the site of a recently closed machine shop for the SF Railway. The RR machinists, in order to test and tune the tools that they used (ie giant lathes and drill presses) would make these things for their own use and give them to friends. Back in the day, lots of cowboys carried them around to shape horse shoes with. The old original Big Bend Saddlery had 3 or 4 of them laying around and I still have this one (55 yrs later). As has been said: if I had a dollar (or even a dime) for every rivet that has been set on it or shoe shaped, I could buy a new diesel pickup and put fuel in it for a long time.

[480volt]

A round hole in an anvil is a pritchell hole, and is intended for punching. The square hole is the hardy, and is intended to support tooling. Good records of how anvils were made don’t exist, but the hardy hole and the handling holes on the base of my Peter Wright were probably punched while the anvil was being forged. On an ASO, the hole is probably cast.

I’m strictly a hobby machinist, but if I had to do a square hole like that, I’d probably drill (or bore) to the diameter, use an end mill to approach the corners and finish it on my die filer.

You probably could cut a hardy hole on a shaper, but supporting the work would be a PITA. As I have heard from real machinists, you can make anything on a shaper, except money.

[Jake907]

8 minutes ago, 480volt said:

A round hole in an anvil is a pritchell hole, and is intended for punching. The square hole is the hardy, and is intended to support tooling. Good records of how anvils were made don’t exist, but the hardy hole and the handling holes on the base of my Peter Wright were probably punched while the anvil was being forged. On an ASO, the hole is probably cast.

I’m strictly a hobby machinist, but if I had to do a square hole like that, I’d probably drill (or bore) to the diameter, use an end mill to approach the corners and finish it on my die filer.

You probably could cut a hardy hole on a shaper, but supporting the work would be a PITA. As I have heard from real machinists, you can make anything on a shaper, except money.

Thanks @480volt we are thinking along the same lines. And thanks for clarifying the terminology, I worked with a farrier years ago he used the term pritchell hole, then met a blacksmith later and he called it a hardy hole, I didn't know they were both right! lol 

[Rockoboy]

On ‎17‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 4:30 AM, Jake907 said:

So I've changed my design to just feature a round hardy hole

If you are trying to use the Pritchell Hole as a tool hole, you might find your tool can swivel around. If it does move, you might need to make an oblong tool hole (if square is too difficult).

[Rockoboy]

On ‎14‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 0:39 AM, Horsemint said:

(Don't look too close at the sheath, it was a quick and dirty excuse to play with the anvil.)

I like the "no welt required" axe sheath. Simple and effective.

[Rockoboy]

I do like a nice piece of railway line. That might be a result of 4 years apprenticeship with the Western Australian Government Railways.

My little piece of 90lb rail pictured below.