The thing that makes all the things

[N555]

Here is a rail road track anvil I milled flat and it milled flat a little too easy. The Rockwell hardness was about a 52 or 53, everytime I touched it with a hammer it dented, that's why I milled it because the surface was rough. This winter I heated it up, quenched and tempered it. Now the Rc is about 58, hammer hits usually don't dent it. I guess RxR track is hot rolled, air cooled ect not super hard.

Remember if your anvil is cold bring it inside and warm it up a little.
That's almost how hot I anneal my brass with the induction rig.

 

[Armored farmer]

That took a pretty good fire to bring it up to temp.
Nicely done.

 

[Mk-211]

https://railroadrails.com/knowlege/railroad-metal-material-property/

https://www.railjournal.com/in_depth/next-generation-super-premium-rail-steels-hit-the-tracks/

Little reading material on rail.

And for those of you that want to see how they weld ribbon rail together...

 

[N555]

Mine is definitely old track, probably 1080 with some manganese.

 

[hso]

No insult intended, but I gotta ask...are you using the top or bottom of the rail for the anvil face? The top that the train runs on is what folks use because it is work hardened.

 

[redneck]

58 sounds way too hard. Wear eye protection and be careful hitting near edges. My 125lb JHM Journeyman anvil is only advertised as being between 48 and 52RC. There's a lot of knives out there that are under 60.

 

[Slamfire]

This web claims rail road track is made from 1084 steel.

What Grade of Steel is Railroad Track? Uses and Tips


Properties and Heat Treatment of Train Track Steel

This is a rail road track manufacturer and what he uses:

ASCE75 steel rail

AS1085 60kg AS steel rail

 

[N555]

58 sounds way too hard. Wear eye protection and be careful hitting near edges. My 125lb JHM Journeyman anvil is only advertised as being between 48 and 52RC. There's a lot of knives out there that are under 60.

Yeah it was about 52 to 53 before and every time I hit it I got dents.

 

[N555]

No insult intended, but I gotta ask...are you using the top or bottom of the rail for the anvil face? The top that the train runs on is what folks use because it is work hardened.

After I heated it up to about 1,400f and allowed it to heat soak it ain't work hardened no more. I used the top, as in the part the the wheel rides on. The bottom is only about 5/8 inch thick it's so hard it could break if hit with a hammer.