Piece of old railroad track

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I need to build up my arm muscles *a lot* by basically hammering before I can take a blacksmith course that ends with bladesmithing. I took a 2 hour intro course with relatively little hammering and my arm couldn't really handle even that! But the guy teaching it said that you want something at least as sturdy as a railroad tie for vibrational control while I build up my stamina before the real course starts. On the other hand, I won't be doing forging at home, so I don't need to buy an expensive anvil. A railroad tie is a good choice for what I need he said..
 
Dave Martell said:
Craigslist
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Yup. Rail yards in Reno, so I assume there'd be scrap rail local. Over the hill in Roseville would be another place to check.

OTOH- the folks over at I Forge Iron seem pretty down on rail as anvils. They seem think 4" x 6" x 12"+, on end, makes a better small anvil and you might find that cheap at a scrap yard.

gic said:
I need to build up my arm muscles *a lot* by basically hammering before I can take a blacksmith course that ends with bladesmithing. I took a 2 hour intro course with relatively little hammering and my arm couldn't really handle even that! But the guy teaching it said that you want something at least as sturdy as a railroad tie for vibrational control while I build up my stamina before the real course starts. On the other hand, I won't be doing forging at home, so I don't need to buy an expensive anvil. A railroad tie is a good choice for what I need he said..
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Tie or rail? I guess beating on a tie would be good exercise. I've never looked for RR tie, but would start with Craigslist and landscape suppliers.
 
You probably have this covered already, but if not; you can read up a little on helpful technique to make it easier. Like body stance and swinging technique. Like try to stand fairly close, let the hammer work, only work the steel in forging temp range etc.
 
The wooden ties are restricted goods in some countries because they were treated with "no half measures" grade fungicides and sealants... creosote, mercury salts, .... and environment men don't want that stuff re-used outside contaminating residential soils...
 
RDalman said:
You probably have this covered already, but if not; you can read up a little on helpful technique to make it easier. Like body stance and swinging technique. Like try to stand fairly close, let the hammer work, only work the steel in forging temp range etc.
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Exactly. This is more important than muscles.

Also;

Don't lift the hammer with your wrist.
Keep your elbows in.
Don't squeeze the handle (or hold the tongs too tight).
Don't try and "push" the hammer into the work.
Lift it up high and swing that sucker down with a snap!
Slow and steady.
 
....as well as

Anvil face should be about where your closed-fist-knuckles end up with your arms at your sides.
Try to keep your hammer blows in one general place and move the work underneath the blows...this encourages consistency.

Rail anvils are okay for small, small projects. You need MASS underneath a hammer to really move metal efficiently.

-Mark
 
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