How to Build Your Own Metal Working Tools

Every serious metalworker needs an anvil and a few basic hand tools. Making these tools requires a semester or two of metal shop classes at a local high school or community college or six months of equivalent welding or metalworking experience. If you understand basic tool usage, you will be able to create a few basic but vital tools to open a blacksmithing or metalworking shop of your own.

Things You'll Need

• 12- to 16-inch length of railroad rail
• 4- or 7-inch right angle grinder with cutoff blades
• 24-grit grinding wheel
• 80-grit flapper or mop disk
• Fine wire wheel
• Bench grinder with coarse and fine wheels
• Jackhammer bits
• 1.5-inch-diameter or larger ball bearings
• Railroad spikes
• 110-volt gasless MIG welder
• Welding hood and leathers
• Cutting torch (optional)

Instructions

Railroad Rail Anvil

1. 

   Lay out anvil profile on the 12 to 16-inch section of railroad rail using a black permanent marker or soapstone marker. The blue portions will be your anvil. Remove all portions in yellow.

2. Use either a cutting torch or a right-angle grinder with cutoff blades to shape your anvil profile. It is much easier to accomplish this with a cutting torch. This will require more grinding in the next steps.

3. Use your 24-grit grinding wheel to shape all surfaces.

4. Finish-grind with your 80-grit mop disk or flapper wheel.

5. Wire wheel all surfaces to a brushed finish.

Cold Chisels and Punches

1. 

   Make cold chisels and punches from jackhammer bits. These are some of the simplest tools to make as well as some of the most useful. Diagrams of four common cold chisels and punches accompany this step. Make the basic cold chisel first.

2. Ask the parts manager of your local tool rental or construction company if he has any broken jackhammer bits he would like to unload. Often, he will simply give them away, but you may wind up paying a nominal fee versus the cost of purchasing new steel.

3. Use a 4-inch or larger right-angle grinder with a cutoff blade to cut the jackhammer bits to your desired chisel length.

4. Grind all surfaces and your cutting edge to the desired shape and edge angle using a bench grinder with a coarse wheel.

5. Finish-grind all surfaces and edge angles with a fine wheel on your bench grinder, followed by a wire wheel.

Ball Stake

1. 

   Weld a 1.5-inch-diameter or larger ball bearing to the head of a railroad spike as pictured in the image that accompanies this step.

2. 

   Grind the weld as shown, and remove any burrs and sharp edges.

3. Drive your ball stake into a wood stump or lock it into your vise.

4. Use as you would any other ball stake.

Tips & Warnings

• According to 20-year-veteran blacksmith Gypsy Wilburn, "A railroad tie anvil is large enough for most medium-size blacksmithing projects, such as basic wrought iron fence work, knife-making and small tool and household utensil manufacturing. It will also be sufficient size for most architectural iron projects such as pot racks, fireplace tools and chandeliers." Anvilfire.com blacksmithing instructor Jock Dempsey also uses railroad rails to make anvils as well as a number of other tools, such as fullers, power hammer rams and cutting hardies.

• Always wear appropriate safety gear when welding, including a hood and full leathers.

References

• Gypsy Wilburn; Artisan and Industrial Blacksmith; Carrollton, Ohio; tool-making demonstration September 2, 2009
• Jock Dempsey: Demonstration #45: Railroad Tools

Resources

• Using a Ball Stake: Planishing Armor
• Safety Hints for Users of Cold Chisels
• IForgeIron: Lessons in Blacksmithing