Building and anvil--welding advice needed

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Hey GuysI rounded up the junk I think will make an excellent anvil for bladesmithing.  I got a forklift-fork, and found a drop weighing around #250 in a low carbon "mystery metal".  The fork is about 1/2" wider than the drop.I would like to figure out how to weld a chunk of the fork (about a foot long) very strongly to the chunk of steel.  That way the fork would take the hammer blow, and the scrap steel would be only for weight.The only advice our maintanance guy could give me would be to deeply bevel the edges and weld it multi-pass.  He figured "farmer rod" would work on my AC stick machine.Would that hold up do you think?  I'm going to be beating it pretty hard with 4 pound hammers, once in a while with a helper and a sledge.thanks for any advice (which rod, heat treating/preheat, etc).JohnIt's better to curse the darkness than to set yourself on fire.
Reply:first you need to fix them together ,the fit needs to be tight like a set of gage blocks so wen welded there is no space be tween themChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:PREHEAT the fork, weld the unit.  Good fitup will help.  Low hydrogen rod would be the best, but 6013 should work OK.  Multipass will help the weld not crack.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:John,Ernie Leimkuhler is one of the most informative folks on sci.engr.joining.welding Currently the noise level is very high but here is a link to his anvil article.DETAILS ON MAKING ANVILSand another from metal web newsPIECED ANVILThe second has some good links at the end as well.Good luck and let us know how it works for you. I've wanted an anvil for a while now  and look forward to seeing what you come up with.Jim
Reply:Hi Jim,I did read Ernie's link--and it is really excellent.  But I don't have the cutting equipment....  Then I told a freind at work about my problem, and how maybe I could find a drop, and a plate of tool steel.  Then he gave me a chunk of fork (the other part being used for ballast in a race car!).I will definitely let you know about how it works out.I have another idea.  I have an anvil from Harbor Freight (a "Ruskie") that I'm thinking of hardfacing according to Ernie L.'s article.  I found another drop about 4" think I might weld to the bottom to bring up the weight too.I wish I could afford to go out and get a nice hard anvil.  But new, we're looking at $4 a pound and up!  Don't have a grand at the moment to blow on it.Anyway, you might also look at Anvilfire.com  EXCELLENT info on anvil building, anvil substitutes....It's better to curse the darkness than to set yourself on fire.
Reply:Here is a link:  http://www.abana.org/cgi-bin/discus/....cgi?pg=topicsClick on 'tools and tooling' for lots of info on anvils.Pardon my ignorance, but what is this 'drop' you keep referring to?
Reply:What you have described should have enough inertia not to bounce around while you are beating on it. LOL.  I am wondering how the fork is going to stand up to the heavy pounding you describe without being hard faced. Looking forward to hearing how it works out.
Reply:From what I can gather a forklift fork is made of 4140 steel and I think it should hold up well under the beating.  I hope so!I had thought about hardfacing it instead, but don't know a lot about it and am hoping that just resurfacing the mild steel with a harder plate will do the job.Anyway, had a bit of an awakening today.  The piece is so heavy (345# 5" plate) that the guy at the scrap yard needed to use the magnet to get it into my truck.  On the way home it dawned on me--how am I going to get it out again?!!You're right on about the inertia.  That badboy isn't going to move under the hardest blow.It's better to curse the darkness than to set yourself on fire.
Reply:"drop" is what they call pieces of "mystery metal" cut off of bigger plate.  Mine is plasma cut out of 5" plate--a big chunk around a foot by a foot and a half.  No idea what it's made out of or what they were doing with it, but it's only surface rusted and looks good.It's better to curse the darkness than to set yourself on fire.
Reply:What type of forge do you have? Would it be possible to forge weld it? That would be the best way if you can do it. You would get a complete weld and would end up with one piece instead of two welded together.I have seen two 75 pound pieces of steel welded together in a forge constructed out of fire brick and kaowool and it used three burners (home built). Took a while to get hot enough but it welded and is now an anvil.