should I weld this anvil?

[dablacksmith]

i picked this anvil a few years ago with the thought of possably useing it for classes but it is a old pattern and ive been looking at possably fixing it up for my demo anvil..I was told it was used by 3 generations of blacksmith for sharpening picks and the pock marks are where they tested the pick.I was thinking of welding it up with my mig ... just lay weld beads to build it back up then grind it to get it looking better ... any ideas ?


by the way the face looks pretty good ... a few small dings but pretty nice considering the age...

[nett]

Is there a photo of the anvil we should be seeing?

Irnsrgn has the dope on repairing anvils and posted a fine blueprints on it:

BP0101 Anvil Repair

[dablacksmith]

for some reason there is no thumnail on it.... try clicking on the x... it comes up on my comp on my anvil the face and edges are fine its the body thats really badly pockmarked (its almost a inch deep in places....)



Thumbnail repaired and photo included into the post.

[HWooldridge]

Leave it alone - shows the honest character of the previous smiths and their work. Also makes a good conversation starter for demo's as most everyone will walk up and ask what happened, then you tell the pick story...

[Chris Pook]

x2. probably do more damage then good welding it up. If you want appearance could do what the Chinese do with the air hammers and any other piece of cast machinery, just bondo the xxxx out of it.

[nett]

If the face is serviceable, I wouldn't do anything to it, although after seeing the photo, I realize the Bondo® isn't that far fetched. Maybe epoxy with colloidal silica filler would be more durable. You could even add some graphite to color it black.

I think adding heat (welding buildup) would be not be a good idea.

[Mlmartin15]

well if you wanted mass with not to much heat, set the anvil in cold water on its side and have the water line just below the top, then poor molten lead in the deep pits on the side

[nett]

Oooo, I like the lead idea. Maybe a 70/30 alloy would have more holding power, like the stuff that was used in auto body work. Still, getting that mass up to heat would be a bear of a job and that tin of Bondo® would be sitting on the bench laughing at you.

[agsolder]

By the time you glued enough 6011 or whatever rod into the side of this old beauty to bring the dinged-up side up to grade you'd have heated the poor thing to the point where whatever original temper the top had would be long gone. Leave the poor tortured beastie alone. If you want a pretty anvil for the audience to look at, buy a new one. Or as the man sez, Bondo this one. Do NOT weld on it. Please.

[dablacksmith]

here is a picture of the face ...i think i will leave it alone for now it is useable as is...