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Anvil Anatomy


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I found a picture with some labels, but didnt copy it completely (just the rough sketch of the anvil....I cant draw that well). The picture was shown in google images and had a share option (actually I would have used a picture of an anvil but the general sketch looked easier to see....it had no copyrights on it and it was on an informational website supposedly to teach new guys...plus a couple other places). I didn't like the way they labeled everything, so I changed the numbers and labeling, then completely re-wrote the information as some if the descriptions were lacking. In all I used about 4 or 5 different places to get all the info and condense it to this form. For those who might want to do a similar thing, I changed lines and numbers in Paint, then pasted the pic in Word, created the 1-15 list, screen captured (twice) and copied back to paint with a little rearranging, and saved it as a png for easy uploading/posting. I try to be very careful about manipulating other people's work.... definitely dont want the copyright infringement people coming after me. There are quite a few pics out there of anvil parts, but many lack enough numbers or dont have any additional descriptions. For other tutorials, I hope to make the image or take some good pictures, but the anvil I have as a picture would be hard to see the numbers.

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Speaking of "anvil parts" or whatever we're calling it now, is there such a thing as a one piece anvil - in that there's no actual separate piece of steel (as in the face) attached to the body of the anvil?  I don't know if mine is gone altogether or what but the heel is broken off of my anvil so I did some investigative grinding, sanding and filing and I don't see a difference in materials anywhere within 3/4 of an inch.  Is it just that they're welded on so well that they just appear as one piece? 

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CS-  Yes.  There are a large number of high quality cast steel anvils that are homogenous.  Also some of the later forged anvils have the entire top half, from the waist up, forged from one piece of steel.  Later Hay Buddens are the leading example of this.  Some Peddinghaus anvils are drop forged entirely from one piece of steel.  

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captain spaulding, I had a real nice "near new" hay budden with a similar affliction.  That damage is repairable.  You might want to read this thread http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/18628-at-last/?hl=kieffer  It was broken off at the exact same spot, at the hardy hole!

 

Wow, although that is very impressive, it looks like a lot more work than I am prepared for.  This is a hobby for me and I think my question was misunderstood...I was just thinking of having my buddy shave off 1/8 or 1/16 of an inch across the entire face just to take down all the high spots and reduce the depth of the divots.  At this stage of my smithing all I'm making are hooks, bottle openers and candle holders - all using 1/2 inch stock or smaller.  My issue is that all those markings on the face are imprinting on my materials and I'd like to reduce it a little.  I can live with the missing heel for now because I have no immediate use for a hardy (nor do I even have any).  If this hobby progresses further than just a few hours on weekends I'll most likely just get a brand new anvil because the search for good used ones is so frustrating and at some point I'd like to see exactly how a nice anvil is supposed to behave (nicely dressed edges, nice rebound, smooth surfaces, everything where it's supposed to be, etc.) 

 

My anvil is also cracked so anything more than a quick clean-up on the face probably doesn't warrant the time, energy or cost. 

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