Good substitute for an anvil

Question

Ok. So I really don't have the money to buy an anvil, or even buy something like one from a scrap yard. Can anybody think of something, or does anybody know, of anything I could use that I might have around the house to act like an anvil? Even if it's not necessarily made of metal itself.

I'm not working with anything thick or heavy, just wire and jewelry and such.

Answer 1

I don't know that you could use anything other than metal as an anvil since other materials wouldn't be hard enough or they'd break, etc. And you'd need a really hard metal too or you'll make marks in it from hammering or from the wire/metal, etc. (which will also get transferred to the next thing you hammer).

You can try various junk yards to see what kinds of smooth steel bits they have, even if you have little money... sometimes antique stores will have things like that too, or they'll have old-fashioned non-electric irons which would work well.  

You can even try the sole plate of a regular electric iron (or get an old one from a thrift store).

There are also steel plates at hardware stores (the DH says he's seen strips about 3" wide and 1/8" thick... if they're too long, you can cut them with a hack saw --and even epoxy 2 together in a stack to get more mass).

The back side of a cast iron skillet is hard enough, but it's not as smooth as you'd usually want... guess you could try putting a piece of thin leather or something over it to keep the texture from transferring too much.

HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 2

An abonoded rail road, but wear gloves and eye protection

Answer 3

A wooden cutting board.