Pulsepushthepopulace

Good vibes sent...

Looks like a very serviceable 162 pound Hay-Budden... With an abnormally thick heel... then again, there are a great many look-alike english pattern anvils...

That would be a anvil manufactured by West, Made in Cleveland, OH... High Quality Cast Vanadium Steel...

That would be an Arm & Hammer anvil, considered a premier quality American manufactured product... Tool steel plate forge welded onto a wrought iron body...

Awesome. If there are any other suggestions regarding what might work from the open forum, I'll review the method on my end...

They had one on there a few weeks ago that was about 8 inches tall and had 1" jaws... Too cool...

I knew a smith that forged ornate nipple picks for black powder rifles... I believe he used tungsten filler rod...?

I voted because I like checking boxes... How'dyah say it in Esperanto?

You'd have more uniform results if you just had a textured swage. Uniform as in a definitive texture, not uniform as in cookie-cutter... Or just chew up a cheap sledge... with positive and negative reliefs....

Not arguing against your post specifically, just the idea of using 7018 in any "heavy" application of repair doesn't yield good "working"results. It serves as a good color match aesthetically, and a good build up rod, but its soft when it comes to forging. You might have an instance of it working better on smaller repairs, and the idea of it mixing well with the parent metal is legit, but anything larger than a small nick is no bueno.

it looks similar to the Clark Equipment Co. anvil mentioned in AIA... but then again... it doesn't... its uglier...

Take it down to clean bare steel, 7018,10018, 11018 will repair it, but don't count on the weld being hard, even after peening. it will dent with the slightest impact... Build it up then go with an impact resilient specialty rod... anything in the realm of 40-55 hrc...

Theres a happy medium that must be kept in mind... Hard facing, in some cases, can be equally bad...

To add a little bit more to the puzzling mystery presented by wd&mlteach... of the same outsourced manufacturer breed.... No handling hole at the stepped feet, horn is stamped with 2 sets of numbers on each side of the shelf, the shown side is #5 the other is #55... Has the solid wrought circle and a little bit of the trenton diamond shows through on the heel... Looks like someone too a belt sander to it and then lightly stamped it again...Base looks interestingly un trenton like as well...

I bet if you emailed Steve Fontanini directly, he'd bring some sort of resolution to the table. His reputation seems to hold a lot of clout amongst the smithing community, one "aww poop" doesn't get rid of a thousand "atta boys" if you correct the mistake...

Agreed on the 7018. not confessing just relaying that little revelation that everything on the internet isn't true... I've read it on here quite often, hence the experimentation with it on my anvils. The areas in question were torch cut and in areas of the anvil that won't see any heavy work... anywho, I'll go back through them and use a better method, no harm no foul... The recommendation of 7018 in it's entirety needs to stop... It's bad information, work hardening by peening gives you no noticeable advantage. none, nilch, nada... So to all that propagate it as a solution, I'll argue against it with video and photographed evidence. after peening the ball bearing dropped from 10" shouldn't mar the surface, but it does... it might be a tough material, but it's not fit for the working surface of an anvil. I just foresee a chewed product with any heavy usage. I'll try some of my newly ordered 10018, but it looks as if the jury knows whats gonna happen there as well... It's a good build up rod though... so all is not in vain... mg710... looks like a good avenue of approach...

I and my father had a great time at the event. Everyone was very kind and inviting as well... There were three individuals whom befriended us from the initial start of the event to its closing, Curt and Noah of The Red River Smiths and Mr. Carothers of Salt Fork Craftsmen Artist Blacksmith Association, and hopefully those established relationships carry on strong to the 80th ABANA convention.. I really enjoyed their company and priceless advice, and look forward to seeing them again. As far as the event was concerned, it had it's moments of of bordem along with lengths of excitement. Politics and the arguments of purists fell silent to the real magic of the weekend; The Founding Fathers of ABANA and their commitment to the craft and it's preservation. It sounds so cold and damp when translating the event in words hardly doing it justice, but to tangibly see it with my own eyes, and feel the warmth of those that carried on the craft from 1973 to present was just awe-inspiring. I've never felt such a sense of purpose in my life, and the resulting thoughts of smithing myself to death pleasantly haunted my thoughts on the drive home. There is such romance in the pursuit of mastering the medium of iron, and I, for once in my life, found comfort in the idea of never being content with the ascertainment of skill and knowledge, and invited the notion that acquiring said benchmarks would not, by any stretch of the imagination, bring me any closer to the end of the proverbial rope. The craft may yield very little in way of fruit, but the struggle of it all seems quite sweet and filling...

So the evaporation of water doesn't help when it comes to keeping the face cool? It seemed to keep the face of the 60 pound Columbia I was welding on last week in control? Granted they were sigle passes on the edge, there was no loss of hardness in the adjacent area of face... maybe the small mass had something to do with the result? The 10018 will suffice as good build up if anything. The guy at airgas mentioned that it had impact resistant properties... The gunther method has had satisfactory results, but I've got a feeling there are more methods out there that yield comparable results... Re-inventing the wheel, or a new way to skin a cat, whatever you want to call it...

oh, and the reasoning behind post heat is to alleviate the stresses caused by the weld deposit. In a way it's similar to annealing, but on a much more controlled scale shy of temperatures that would have any effect on annealing the plate. From the past threads I've been privileged to read, If you preheat the anvil accordingly, post heat can be carried out by the mass of the anvil...

**** I'm far from an expert, but I'll further explain my reasoning... Say you have a useable portion of the anvil that isn't damaged... In my specific case If you have a near mint useable portion of of the face, and one edge is heavily damaged running along the entirety of the face... I want to build up the edge without taking the temper out of the usable face... So the t-shirt in a way enables you to keep the usable face cool and under the critical region of the possibility of annealing the hardened steel. By my understanding, preheating the anvil allows for a better weld deposite, eliminates moisture contamination, and is a preventative measure when it comes to HAZ cracking. I'd leave it up to the mass of the anvil to post heat, wrapping it in kaowool to further the post heat if need be... The balancing act of manipulating the form without manipulating its existing function.. Hopefully a more knowledgable source can shed a bit more light on my vague understanding on why it's necessary, but the above mentioned is my layman's understanding.

I have not tried, nor have I looked into Mckay Hardalloy 600... I'm going to be investing a lot of time, money, and research into these techniques, and possibly try out a few others. All in effort of seeking the good, better, and best in regards to method. I'm also looking to get a tig setup for minor face blemishes... From my understanding a lot of these anvils, as a result of hardening, the edges are almost always harder than the meat of the face because the steel cools faster away from the mass. So if the edges are built up with a strong electrode, and it's impact resistant, it should be a good match for a build up on edges... The face is likely a different monster...

I'd preheat enough to keep the moisture out of the weld joint... use temp sticks (300- degrees) for the area around the weld in check (face). Remember the HAZ will heat up the anvil as well. I'd keep the area you don't want to heat up as cool as possible within that 300-400 degrees, I used a wet t-shirt to keep it cooled. I've been researching this a great lot as of late. 7018 is very soft, TOO SOFT!, even after peening as mentioned above. I've done it on two anvils as of last week and the results were meh at best... A ball bearing rebound test gives me 20% at best and it marks up the weld... Luckily these areas are in the heel and don't see any heavy usage. My next attempt will be with 10018 rod, and then 11018... These rods yield better impact resistance based on the manufacturer's write up specs, and their designed for welding tool steels like the ones used in anvil manufacturing, but in reality everything I've mentioned (7018, 10018, and 11018) are all Mild Steel. After the above mentioned, I'll experiment with the gunther method... There has to be other secret methods out there...

Rigid Peddinghaus is of exceptional quality. It's one of the best anvils in existence today and the only drop forged anvil on the market. Many of the other anvils mentioned are top quality choices as well when you decide to go "NEW". I only purchased the #12 because it was a steal at $650... It's function is beyond my talent and skill level, but it's comforting to know that I will never "need" anything else, and there's nothing else out there that exceeds it's quality (within reason). The big pros working for the peddinghaus #12 is it's versatility, weight, and design function, and the 1"hardy :)... I don't have the slightest bit of worry when it comes to forging on the horn, and the upsetting block is a nice little treat. The double-bick design is still new to me, so I'm still exploring all the benefits... That being said, I'll be completely honest that in a bare bones reality of it all, I'm still very partial to working on Fishers... My 200 pound Fisher Norris is a dream and the difference in rebound between it and my #12 are parallel. I could honestly the same about my little 110 Fisher... If you're just learning and new to the world of blacksmithing, the luxury of a new anvil is a shiny trinket of awesomeness, but in the same breath a conscientious tidbit of truth; I don't feel that it's fair to say that (#12) it's any better than any other anvil, new or used, that I've had the pleasure to move hot metal on... The nooks, crannies, and character of an old beat up anvil can serve you well, and sharp edges can be had with a simple hardy tool or a block of steel from a metal supplier. The development of experience and skill is the priceless commodity of the craft... Everything else is a distraction... I tell myself this bit of truth on the daily... sometimes it sticks... sometimes it dosen't...

#110 dated 1897 (sold) #100 (estimated weight) Pre-1860's era marked with "A" #200 dated 1905

Being new to the learning process, I can say that the idea of an ergonomic tool has a very desirable tone to it... The >$100 price tag just kills it for me though, as its beyond my realm of budget... I'm not saying that the craftsmanship behind a great many hammers doesn't warrant the cost, it just makes me ponder exactly how much of a noticeable difference is there between it and a harbor freight hammer with a properly dressed/treated hickory handle and face? I do feel a noticeable difference between my HF cross-peen and a my Heller Brothers cross-peen both are the same weight and shape, but I personally feel that difference is how they "feel" in the handle, as the heller bros. just seems to be a better handle to head match. I like to think it's more important that younger smiths understand ergo-dynamics has more to do with proper hammering technique, and how to properly dress their handles and hammer faces to fit "their specifics" and what "feels" comfortable. To say that something is universally "out of the box" ergo-dynamic just doesn't make any sense to me be it that we're all built different, have different physical characteristics, and furthermore move differently. Pattern specifics are a different subject entirely. I see more of a benefit to the heavier rounding hammers as the pattern yields more of a functional advantage (both in weight and variations of radius). Again this is a noob perspective on the matter. Maybe when I get a few decades of seasoning I can provide something that warrants a little more weight in the argument.