Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

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Absinthe
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Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by Absinthe »

Well, I have never laid hands on one, but I would love to. However, having seen now 2 different engineering drawings of them, I thought I could do a little CAD for them. One is from Harris' book on knife repair. And the other seems to be a very common image posted on pintrest and other places when the topic comes up. However, no one seems to give it any attribution. Looks like a page from a book. Anyway, here are my two renderings. If anyone is interested in making them I have the measured tech drawings in CAD as well.
6.png
1.png
And here is the book page if anyone can shine a light on its origins...
page.jpg
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Jeffinn
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by Jeffinn »

I gave up looking for a stiddy years ago, they just aren’t available. Dale posted some pics awhile ago of stiddy’s made from pieces of railroad track. Seems like the way to go but I just can’t find the time to make one.
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OLDE CUTLER
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by OLDE CUTLER »

Absinthe wrote: Mon Sep 19, 2022 12:17 pm Well, I have never laid hands on one, but I would love to. However, having seen now 2 different engineering drawings of them, I thought I could do a little CAD for them. One is from Harris' book on knife repair. And the other seems to be a very common image posted on pintrest and other places when the topic comes up. However, no one seems to give it any attribution. Looks like a page from a book. Anyway, here are my two renderings. If anyone is interested in making them I have the measured tech drawings in CAD as well.

6.png
1.png

And here is the book page if anyone can shine a light on its origins...
page.jpg
That is page 19 of "The Complete Book of Pocketknife Repair" by Ben Kelley, copyright 1995.
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by TwoFlowersLuggage »

Am I reading those dimensions correctly? The top face of the stiddy is only 1.5 inches wide? And the thin edge is only 0.0625 inches? Yikes, I didn't know they were that small. It makes sense, I'm just thinking that would be quite difficult to machine.

If someone has VERY deep pockets, 3D metal printing in D2 might be a good option: https://markforged.com/3d-printers/metal-x

Since you already have the CAD drawings, perhaps you could just upload them into their software, and 28 hours later a stiddy would be on its way to you! Let us know how that goes... ::tounge::
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by Reverand »

I also think it was Dale who said that he doesn't use one as much as he'd expected. Instead, used a larger chunk of steel for the anvil part, and when he needed a horn he locked a short piece of angle iron into a vice.
Then again, I am having more "senior moments" as time goes by. That is how I remember the thread, though I could be wrong.
I made a steady, but I don't use it as much as I thought I would, either.
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by Meridian_Mike »

I made my "stiddy" from a piece of RR rail. I generally only use mine while peening rivets.
The steel that RR rail is made of seems to be hard enough to take the pounding that a person will apply to an "anvil". Maybe a similar composition as tool steel??

SO.... If you could take a piece of RR rail and clamp it into a milling machine, then run a CNC program on it..... Well, maybe you could mass produce these cutlers anvils. OR maybe make one for yourself.
I highly doubt there is a large market for these BUT you might be able to sell a few. (Unless the price is prohibitive)

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Absinthe
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by Absinthe »

TwoFlowersLuggage wrote: Tue Sep 20, 2022 2:08 am Am I reading those dimensions correctly? The top face of the stiddy is only 1.5 inches wide? And the thin edge is only 0.0625 inches? Yikes, I didn't know they were that small. It makes sense, I'm just thinking that would be quite difficult to machine.
The width in both designs is 1-1/2"
The length seems to be pretty consistent around 5"
The thin split flat horn for going inside pocket knives with the blades open is 1/8" thick.

What I have decided is that as a whole chunk there would be some serious waste of materials to simply machine it out of 1.5" x 3.5" x 5". Especially if one were to make it from something like A2, D2, etc. I think that as a product in machining, a piece 1/2" x 1-1/2" x 5" could be machined rather reasonably with the bottom support structure as a second piece, perhaps in 1018 or other mild steel.

Or even a buildup could be done, from 2 pieces of 1/8" and a piece of 1/4 where one piece of 1/8" was 5" long, and the other two pieces (1/8 and 1/4) were each 4" long. Having the longer piece sandwiched between the two shorter pieces and one end even across them all should give you a top, that could be screwed, epoxied, welded, or silver soldered together. Then a hefty chunk of anything could be attached below and voilà you are in business. Or in lieu of a base just have a tongue that could simply be held in a vise. I may try drawing that design up later today
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by FRJ »

I have one made by caddyman1973 or his brother. A2 or D2? I do not know steels.
I bought mine from a second party.

Search "Stiddy for Sale", in Knife Mechanic's Swap Forum. caddyman1973
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Absinthe
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by Absinthe »

Okay, here is one anyone can make... :) It's "built up", and can be held in a vise. I did the drawing with 2 pieces of 1/4 and one piece of 1/8, but the only thing critical is the 1/8. I have seen designs where the step is 1/8 and others 1/4 so meh. I guess, use what you have. :) The 1/8 piece should be hardenable, and the top should be hardenable. Beyond that, I don't personally see why it couldn't be all A36 or 1018 or whatever.

Not sure how this all goes together. But you could certainly do whatever you like. Screws, silver solder, welding, probably even epoxy. Let me know :)
built up version
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by Reverand »

That looks like it would work super well!
I never thought if a build-up method - I made mine from a piece of short-line railroad track, and flattened the top on a belt sander. It took WAY too long.
I wish that I'd thought of this method.
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by edge213 »

Here is one that I have. A friend made it from a piece of railroad track.
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by eveled »

Everytime I see these, I wonder if you could make one from a straight claw framing hammer.
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by eveled »

Everytime I see these, I wonder if you could make one from a straight claw framing hammer.
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by Meridian_Mike »

Speaking of using a hammer.......
My stiddy is a piece of RR rail with a part of a pry bar welded to the end. I welded the piece that has the 2 prongs sticking out to my piece of rail.

pry bar.jpeg

The bar I used has more of a 90 degree bend. (I will see if I can find a picture)
I used weld metal to better form a 90 degree surface where it meets the rail.
Then, I used an angle grinder to thin the prongs so they would fit inside the the liners of a knife while it is still assembled. The steel that the pry bar is made of is strong enough so it won't bend even though it is that thin. Normal A36 of A572 steel will bent easily if it is that thin. Those types of steel are made to have elastic properties.
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by orvet »

Reverand wrote: Tue Sep 20, 2022 3:18 am I also think it was Dale who said that he doesn't use one as much as he'd expected. Instead, used a larger chunk of steel for the anvil part, and when he needed a horn he locked a short piece of angle iron into a vice.
Then again, I am having more "senior moments" as time goes by. That is how I remember the thread, though I could be wrong.
I made a steady, but I don't use it as much as I thought I would, either.

You are correct Rev, I did say that.
A piece of 1-1/2" angle iron can be thinned enough to slide into a knife to tighten a loose handle pin. Remember the piece only needs to be as thin as the blade thickness, not necessarily as thin as the ground blade.
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Absinthe
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by Absinthe »

Okay folks, first try. Did my best with the band saw, and took a whack at it with the belt grinder. It's not perfect, and I have a bit of stuff left to do to it. But here's what I's starting with:
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It is made from a 6" round of D2 1-1/2" thick. The initial cuts were done with an 18tpi blade. It was later replaced with a 10/14 blade. I think I can somehow get an 8/11 which might work better. This is a tough steel to cut on the band saw. All of the grinding was done at full speed and a 2x72 36 grit aluminum oxide belt. So far it still looks to have a lot of life left in it. I started grinding vertically with the stiddy laying on its side. I was able to flatten the top (somewhat) and cut in the step/ledge. I did the 4 corners then changed orientation. I thought I might be able to get a better surface that way. After some time at that I switched to the 2" small wheel and ground the remains of the arcs. I took this opportunity to thin the small horn (tongue) to where the smallest part is right at 0.125. This is not quite thin enough for most usage and will need to be thinner. However, I would like to finish the rest of it on the mill. I think if I can flatten either the top or bottom, then I can do the other side parallel. There are several holes, and grooves I would like to drill/mill int this, and then once completed the D2 should take a good heat treat.

The band saw threw a tire, which for Bosch is an in-house repair. Luckily for me it is a warranty repair. However, the second one is still pretty chunky in the arcs and I will probably wait for the saw to return so that I can reduce some of that mass, before attempting to grind it into submission. I am also considering investing in some ceramic belts to see if they might take some of the drudgery out of it. As well, I am hoping that a 24 grit might do better than the 36.

All in all this has been a fun project so far.
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by glennbad »

That looks more than serviceable!
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by C-WADE7 »

Looks good!
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by eveled »

Looks great! Well done.
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by Absinthe »

Thanks for your wonderful comments. It is almost there. But the second one, is definitely going to wait for Bosch to send me back my saw. :)
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by Reverand »

This is not as fancy as Absinthe's beautiful steady, but I found this small anvil in antique store recently and bought it just to pass along.
I already have a steady that I made from a piece of short track.
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I am not looking to make any money on this so I left the price sticker on it, I am just hoping that it will make a good steady for someone who will pay the original price plus shipping.
I believe that it would work okay if you bolted a piece of angle to the back of it in place of the square "loop". Similar to what I did when I built mine:
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I thinned the angle on a belt sander, split it with a hacksaw, and bolted it on with three 1/4-20 screws. I left the edge of the angle sticking up 1/8" for that "step" when krinking a blade.
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by orvet »

Absinthe, nice work, and very creative! ::tu::

Band saw tires can be a real pain, especially if you get the inexpensive polyurethane. I have had to replace the tires on my Delta 16" bandsaw several times in the last 15 years or so. At first they were a rubber type compound and they held up pretty well, but when they introduce the polyurethane tires, I had trouble keeping them on the wheels until I found a particular brand that seem to be better quality. IIRC, I got them off of eBay but I'm not sure who the seller was.
You are right to consider the 24 grit ceramic belts! I find they cut much faster than 36 grit and last far longer than AO belts. Ceramic is much harder than aluminum oxide and Tri-Grit has some economy ceramic belts that are a good value, in my opinion. I use these in 4 x 36 for hogging off a lot of material quickly, and without heating it up as badly as a 36 grit or finer belt will heated it up.
The single price for these belts in 2 X 72 is $7 each, a Norton 24 grit, 2 X 72, ceramic belt is $11.15 from Tru-Grit. I tried to look up the price on the Norton belts from Jantz Supply, but they are currently out of stock, and it doesn't show the price for items not in inventory.
I have used the economy ceramic belts from Tru-Grit and was quite pleased with them. I usually use the 24 grit on my 4 x 36 belt sander, I use it to flatten handles, bone, stag, blocks of wood and metal. I found it to be a quick and economical way to remove a lot of material quickly.
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by jxr1197 »

Here are some pics and measurements of my stiddy:

The round base is 1-9/16" tall with a 5" diameter.
The anvil section is bolted to the base through the bottom and is 1.5" by 1.75" (flared out to 2.75" at the top) and is 2.5" tall.
The face (surface) of the stiddy is 1.5" by 4".
Stiddy - Top Down Offset.jpg
Stiddy - Profile.jpg
Stiddy - Top.jpg
Stiddy - Rear Offset.jpg
Stiddy - Front Offset.jpg
Stiddy - Weight.jpg
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Re: Stiddy, Steady, Cutler's Anvil

Post by BIGHEAD »

I have a machinist milling one for me as we speak out of D-2 steel. When he is finished I will ship it to the heat treater. For a hardening to about 57R. ::tu::
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