If you use an arc welder, it will take a lot of heat, too. This will take quite a few rods - you are trying to fill the void between the two. Spot weld it in several places, then remove your clamps and weld the two pieces together.
#VINTAGE RAILROAD TRACK ANVIL SERIES#
Using a series of clamps, or some kind of press, flatten the spring section to the top of the track. Because of the curve, the rest of the spring will be higher than the top of the track. Once your spring section is cool enough to handle, weld the square, forward end to the base of the horn - the point where the triangular horn becomes the same width as the rest of the track. The annealing process removes the stress from the molecules of steel, allowing it to be easily bent and not spring back. I burned myself once on a piece of cast iron that had been buried in ashes for four hours.
You need to anneal it - take it from the heat and bury it in a big pile of ashes, or - less desirable - sand. The simplest way to do it is to cook it on a gas grille until it gets red hot. (Charcoal is the next best way.) If you let it cool naturally, you are normalizing the steel that isn't good enough. You will need to remove the temper from the steel to make it flat and stay that way. You will notice your spring section is curved. One end (the end to be mounted at the base of the horn) needs to be square the other can be ragged for the time being, just be a little generous with your measurements. You may as well torch it, since you are doing it anyway. Depending on how long your track section is, you will need perhaps a foot to eighteen inches of spring. This is where the section of truck leaf spring comes in. The next step is to make a flat surface on the top of the anvil. Remember, dents and rust pitting on the surface of the spring will be transferred to the work, so try to find a smooth piece. You will also need about the same length of a truck leaf spring, so, while you are poking around, looking for a section of track, ask about a piece of spring, too. You can get by with eighteen inches, so that is in your favor. I can even show you places where surveying markers were made out of sections of track driven into the ground! You don't need a lot of track - two feet will be oodles. When they pulled the track up in my area, scraps were available everywhere.
You might find pieces in scrapyards, auto repair shops, antiques shops, or various other places. In the country, especially in areas where there used to be railroad tracks, it is a little more doable. While there may be plenty of track there, I'm almost positive they don't want you pulling it up. That may be easier said than done, especially in more urban areas. First, you find a piece of railroad track.
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