jmeineke

Not sure what happened to the pics but maybe the admins know.  I can check to see if I still have them.

I used angle grinders with standard grinding wheels - 7" for the initial more aggressive removal followed by a 4.5" flapper disk (150 grit I think....)  I just used a straightedge to check for highs and lows and kept touching up till I was happy.

-- edit --

I just realized I wrote this up a little bit on my personal site back in 2011.  Here's a link:  http://joemeineke.com/?p=218

I know we don't know each other, Jake, but my prayers are with you.

Sorry to hear that, Steve.  Prayers going up for you and the family.

I am so sorry to hear about your son.  I will certainly pray for you and for your family.  I have four sons and can't even imagine what you must be going through.  My sincerest condolences.

Does it warn people that American anvils are not marked in stone weight? I've run into a bunch of folks getting the weight wrong on American made anvils through trying to make them out as stamped in stone weight.

No, but that's a good suggestion. I'll add that to the description on the app download page.

Good catch. Fix has been released - should be in available for update shortly. Thank you.

I just published an application for Android devices for calculating anvil weight. It's free - hope someone finds it useful.

https://play.google....droid.anvilcalc

Yeah, sounds like the same kind of reasoning I went through (plus I needed an excuse to buy a DC stick welder!)

I wouldn't recommend you go by what I say for the amperage. Hopefully a professional welder can chime in and give some better advice (anyone?). But since you asked, this is what I did:

I ran 1/8" 7018 on DC+ as high as I could go without blowing my 30 amp breaker (which translated to 120 amps on the welder). If I had 50 amp service in my garage I would have run it higher.

I didn't pre-heat the rod, but I did use a fresh pack. The HF rod had it's own set of specs and I stayed on at the highest amperage I could for it as well (it may have been lower - I can't remember what the recommended amperage was on the pack, but I know I stayed within it's limits).

Keep in mind a good grinding & polishing can make about any weld look nice. I still don't know how it will hold up under actual use.

That came out amazingly well.... I need to do something similar ,but instead of a chunk of the face missing mine has a missing heel...it was broken off flush with the main body. I want to make a replacement heel and re-attach it and then HF the entire face like you've done so well. My anvil still has an intact original face ,but it's so beat-up it's almost unusable as a tool... I'm assuming you built up the missing portion with the 7018 rod and then finished off the 7018 with the HF rod... Did you HF the entire face and then grind the entire surface ?...or... did you just re-face the repaired portion and then grind the entire face smooth ? You didn't happen to take any "in progress" photos of the method used and care to share them with some of us contemplating something similar did you ? I'd be interested in the way you laid on the rods as you went along.... Any additional information or photos you could share would be greatly appreciated..

Sorry - no pics of the welding process. There was just too much going on - I was focused on laying the welds, peening, wire brushing, checking the temperature from time to time - not to mention the occasional jog to the breaker panel when I welded for too long (I was plugged into a dryer outlet :wacko:). I didn't HF the whole top- just built up the missing portion and capped it with HF / blended it with what was left of the plate.

Anvil resurfacing is well documented. Robb Gunther & Karl Schuler did a lot of homework on it. I basically did what they described but used different rod (see http://www.anvilmag....th/anvilres.htm). The Stoody rod that Robb & Karl used was too much $$ for me.

The bottom line is I can't say the one I did will hold up. I if it's not abused, then like any other tool I think it will be okay. But, it only has 3 layers of HF and that's not very thick. It's nothing like the Hay Budden that it once was. It's probably comparable now to a thin-faced Vulcan - Maybe ... If it ends up back with me, I'll treat it as such (I gave this one to my dad. I think he uses it occasionally to straighten things on. When he passes it will probably end up back with me).

You have to ask yourself some questions about doing a repair like this before you hit the "go" button. If you're trying to learn like I was, then a project like this is definitely worth it. If not, then It may be worth it to save both and put it towards a new (used) one.

If that were my anvil and I decided to go ahead and repair it - and this is just me - I'd true up what's left of the heel, dress the horn, fix the face using a method as close as possible to Robb & Karl's and then use it as-is (heelless). Good luck & keep us posted!

Yes, I got it up to around 400 degrees before I applied the 7018. I gave it to my dad as a gift. So far it's held up just fine, but I can't say he's used it to heavy.

FWIW, were's what I did with one that was in similar shape (mine had more face left and the hardy hole was intact, though): http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/16234-anvil-repair-on-the-cheap/page__st__20.

If nothing else, it might make a nice surface for hot cutting. Horn is in good shape too, so it's still useful in some ways as-is.

Prayers from Ohio. God bless!

nice! congrats!

Nice score, Mark. Can't beat free. Congrats!

Jeff, I am very sorry for your loss. Prayers from Ohio.

Prayers from Ohio.

Pretty cool, Mark! I like the creativity in re-purposing it. I personally think you should leave the orientation like you had it originally. The second set of pics look like the coats could slip off.

Very nice anvil! Congrats.

Prayers from Ohio.

I did one that was in similar shape (hardy hole was still intact, though) and it turned out pretty good. I gave it to my dad and he uses it now: http://www.iforgeiro...r-on-the-cheap/

If you have the rod or the money for it, I'd go with the Gunther repair rout. It's tried and true. The one I did was strictly done out of consideration for cost and was somewhat of an experiment. The face is holding up, but YMMV.

Yeah, I see it now too. The mark at the bottom of the zero was throwing me. I had to blow up the area and run a sharpen filter on it to see it. But yeah - looks like a nice anvil.

If my eyes aren't playing tricks on me, it looks like it's stamped 1-2-16 (184 lbs).

I feel bad for the people who end up getting taken like that.

I just hope the folks selling these things aren't doing it intentionally, that it's just a case of guesstimating value or because, "on eBay they go for ..... " as opposed to outright hoping for a sucker to come along.

Prayers from Ohio.

Forever?

Let's hope so.