quint

Thanks guys, good info on the makes. I looked again and couldnt find anything at all and as you say NJGUY it sounds like its not a Fisher then. I had just assumed t was because the shape had scene similar but the fine details are where its at. 

Ill get some more pics of the crack area. It goes all the way threw with the exception of the top plate. You can tell by the rebound and feel of the anvil when tapping. 

Thanks for the help Ill be posting back up after I go get my buddies vehicle out of the ditch. 

Been reading alot and am curious. I wont need the hard facing rod and if I go in a couple passes at a time then let it cool or maybe have the face in that area cooled so it doesnt get too hot then it could possibly avoid the reheat treat dilemma. 

Would take a while thats for sure. Guess something to look into  some more and go from there. 

Once I save up some cash I am looking at getting a bigger fisher. I love my soderfors but would like to have  a big fisher for the sound aspect. My 200lb soderfors does a wonderful job though. 

Hey guys I picked this anvil (and a few hammers) from a nice older gentleman today. So the anvil he has had for the last 30 years or so doing his saw work and he had gotten it from the shop he worked at from back then.

Anyhow it has a crack in it that I used the red line to try and follow. It goes from about mid way down about 2" and across. That side of the anvil doesnt really rebound much more then like 20% but the other half upwards of 90%.

Couple of things,

Does anyone know who made this, it has no markings I can find at all. Two handling holes one each end.

Is there anyway to fix the side that has the crack? I would like to use it and assume if I stick to one side it will work fine but am afraid of knocking off the top portion on the side with the crack. Was thinking if I did or there is no way to fix it eventually maybe have it machined with notches to add various tooling kind of like a Sheffield style anvil, its just a very nice anvil and would rather keep it historically the way it is.
That being said I prefer to have usable equipment, dont have room or what not for collections

Wanted to add she is pretty hefty, 7"x12" face and stands 13.5" tall. (assuming thats running 350lb+


So was thinking of a way to repair this guy.

The top plate is still intact. The crack is in the cast iron portion of the body. I was wondering if cutting out the basically triangle portion of the cast iron, then basically welding the wedge shape portion would work. I am assuming it could be done but I have been wrong many a times before.

Just curious why have 15 of the same model anvil for the museum? I am all for having a collection of various anvils for display but so many of  the same. 

Another aspect is the hardness of the anvil I would imagine. That article talks about the movement of the anvil (if even a very small amount) due to the imparted energy from the blow of the hammer. The hardness of the top plate or entire anvil will transmit this energy differently. 

This may play a bit into the larger and smaller anvil, I dont know from experience but I have read that sometimes larger anvils can be somewhat softer then smaller anvils and thus I could imagine this changes how the blow is felt or transmitted. 

Granted ya put a piece of soft steel inbetween the two and I am not sure how this affects the the ability of the hardness of the anvil to make up for its size and what not. 

http://www.hybridburners.com/products.html  

Well that was odd, anyways the hybridburners work great. Ive got one of the forge and foundary burners and it excells in my slightly larger forge. 

Not necessary at all but will admit I still like my anvils. Granted for making knives which is what I do I could get by with just about anything but I like the various features of my london pattern. 

Now that being said if I had to sell them off for what ever reason I would be trying to beat off crack heads to find a good chunck of steel to use. 

Wanted to add that first video is pretty cool That thing must weigh a ton lol. Nothing like being able to sit on your anvil while you forge. 

I would do the same thing Jerry did with his anvil. 

I mean heck your not gonna hurt it any, if you do succeed with the new top and it works well for you then not a bad deal. 

Thats just me though. 

Great little anvils if there in decent shape. Ive got a 150lber and it performs admirably. rebound is just shy or even with my soderfors which has pretty amazing rebound. 

A flaming anvil huh. Personally I only like black paint on them if any but thats just me. 

Cool pics and grinder looks good. How are your first impressions.

Thats a nice lookin anvil. 

 Ya lucky dog you. When I saw those pics of it looked almost brand new I thought. Good score. 

Can you say which part of the rail you were using. There can be impurities ecspecially in the foot of the rail. Even some of the slightly newer rail from my understanding can be basically recycled steel that is not well refined. I was lucky in getting mine as its pretty darn old and comes out ok. This is just all stuff I have read about it. 

The couple of blades I made from it I did a quench aiming for a hamon. Got a cool temper line and then decided to etch it pretty good. The steel had some really cool grain lines in it (probably from the impurities) and hardened up pretty good. Wanna make another one when I get a chance. Its just hard stuff to forge. 

Yeah just looked back at my notes and realized its more 1060 to 1070 range. 

Thanks Ivan forgot how that term is only used in one specific area. 

Steff that could be true thanks. I am curious if for something this big they would still use the case hardened stuff. 

that is a piece of metal regardless. I agree with vaughn mount that bad boy and bang on it. Personally I would do it in a way so you can take it off and make it more permanent once you have played with it for a while. 

Ive forged a couple of blades out of RR track. It should be about like 1080 or so theoretically. Atleast the older stuff was. Had no problems forging it out except that it was a thicker piece so a realy bear to get moving. 

Why a white heat, isnt that welding temps or higher? Mine forged fine at about 2000F or bright orange. 

Could probably make some little EDC's out of those bearings. Cant tell there exact size from the pic. They are probably 52100

Thanks Dan thats some good ideas. Next time I change anything out Ill try and remember that. Would really secure it to the stand thats for sure. 

The feet, bottom, and hole in the waste looks just like my sodefors. However the rest of the holes are exactly like my PW. 

Man there are two beauties on the flea bay right now. Got the fisher jealous thing going on lol. 

Should have read your tutorial before doing my second forge. I got most of it right. Used stuff not kaowool but something similar I got off a glass smelting guy/blacksmith. 2" thick so used that, coated with castable refractory (forgot which kind) that i got from a nearby pottery place. Coated that with ITC100. This worked great for about 8months. I had some firebrick in the floor and it was pretty much a piece of glass from experimenting with damascus. I redid these by basically casting in new bricks. Probably should have just went with the castable. 

Still does pretty good just takes a little while to get up to heat. Holds 2000f consistantely while forging and I can ramp it up to 2350F pretty easy.

Could always build a nice brick forge in the backyard, just tell her its a nice firepit  :lol:

Just curious is there something against propane or do you just want to keep it old school per say? 

Ive found on craigslist large metal pipe (16" plus in diameter) that would be great cut in half for a longer narrow forge. 

They are ASO's, just keep looking around or find your self a piece of large steel at a junk yard or something. 

Lol good deal then. Enjoy and be sure to post pics.