Setting the horn in position, and pressing the short pegs into the body of the anvil leaves marks for where to drill matching holes.
To get the holes to line up, I drilled the holes in the horn first and set short pegs in these holes. The dowels are glued in the holes with regular white (PVA) glue. It dissolves the styrofoam a little, but creates a chemical bond that holds much better than PVA glue.Įven though this is just for display, I wanted the horn to be attached more securely than just with glue, so I cut three pegs (about five-inches long) from quarter-inch diameter dowel, and drilled holes for mounting the pegs in the parts that will be mated together. Next time I may try using 3-M Super 77 aerosol glue. Clamping pushes out most of the glue, and I ended up having to re-glue several parts, where it seemed like there was too little glue to hold the pieces together. I also think the glue works better if you don't (or only gently) clamp the styrofoam blocks together. It looks and smells like regular PVA glue (Elmers), perhaps a bit thicker. I bought this "special" foam glue, but it wasn't very impressive. Be sure to keep the top block in mind when mounting the horn, so it doesn't come out too low. The horn overlaps the joint between the body of the anvil and the top block, and you can either glue the top block in place first, or add it later. Don't worry if you make small mistakes, the entire surface is going to be covered with spackle, and it's easy to fill in gouges, though you may need to apply the spackle in stages, for large repairs. Just be careful not to make the cuts too deep, or you'll have to glue the feet back on. This big block is too long for the hacksaw blade, so I used a regular carpenter's saw to cut off the upper part of the sides. The last cuts are the flat, side cuts to narrow down the upper part of the anvil.
I wasn't paying attention and ended up with a big cleanup. If you're using a shop vac, be sure you have the hose hooked to the vacuum side, not the blower side. This contains most of the chaff, but you will also want to have a vacuum cleaner handy to pick up the chaff before it blows around. I found that I could do some of the shaping with the work piece inside a large plastic bag. You don't want to do this outdoors on a windy day. Working with styrofoam is super easy, but really messy. Just shape it by eye, we're not making a piano. The excess material on the "horn" is roughed out with a utility knife, and finished with the microplane grater to get a nice round shape of the horn. It's easiest to make the profile cuts (front and back) first, then stand the piece up and make the curved side cuts (as viewed from the top). I found that it's best to lay the block flat, while cutting the shape, being careful to keep the blade vertical while making the cuts. To cut the styrofoam blocks, I'm using a (worn out) hacksaw blade, attached to a handle that came with a small hand saw. Later, after I glue the blocks together, I'll go over the final shape with the grater and sand paper to blend the parts together and make sure the glue seams don't show.
I'm using several blocks to piece the anvil together, and it's easier to shape the rough outlines of the blocks separately. I had most of the blocks I needed for this project on hand, but for the body of the anvil I bought one large styrofoam block, measuring 17-inches long, by 11-inches tall, by 7-inches wide. The key is learning how to apply a convincing paint job. Getting the overall shape of the anvil is absurdly simple, and surprisingly fast. The grater brings the surface down to the final shape, and a couple of layers of spackle hides the popcorn texture and fills in any holes and seams. You just sketch the outline on the foam blocks and cut a little outside the lines. Making one of the heaviest objects immaginable out of one of the lightest materials imaginable, what could be more fun! Styrofoam is easy to shape, using a hacksaw blade, grater, and sand paper. Finally, it occurred to me that I didn't really need a working anvil instead, why not make a model of an anvil - using my prescious blocks of styrofam. Not only are anvils noisy (when in use) and difficult to move, but a good anvil is both hard to find and extremely expensive (not to mention shipping!). "I just want one" is not a convincing argument. I have been reminded that they can be recycled, but I have insisted that, someday, I'll make something out of them.Īs it happens, I have always wanted an anvil and I have been trying to make a convincing argument for getting one. I hate having to throw away big chunks of styrofoam, and I've been saving some blocks that arrived as packaging.
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