mattinker

Hi,

for the moment, I'm not in a position to be able to reforge the anvil, I would be reluctant to have to heat treat it! I am tending towards the cut it off square and use it as it is solution!

Regards, Matthew

Hey here is an idea, If you determine it is wrought iron, and since we are all blacksmiths, heat the horn of the anvil and forge it back into shape, a team of 3 heavy strikers and a large forge should be able to do the job, if your a member of a blacksmith assoc maybe at next meeting see if you can get some members to help, be a good group project, grinding to re-point will just remove metal, forging will just reallocate it and u lose nothing in weight and have a professional job when done. The next best thing, I agree with Bentiron1946 comment to just leave it as it is,

Hi,


interesting idea, I could go bigger than that, I have big size taps available. I may just cut it off straight and us it as it is with a small home made Anvil like I describe in my reply to Bentiron1946.

Regards, Matt

I know that you are hot and bothered to weld it all up and such however it is really alright the way it is you know. Smooth out the area that were broken off so you don't damage yourself and have a good time forging on it as is. Now I have read a good many of the articles written here on IFI and if my mind ain't playing tricks on me it seems if "hard face" rods were the least favored of the rods for building up and anvil. I not all that interested in rereading all of the old posts on welding anvils but you may want to do that, I'm just a big fan of welding up old anvils. I feel this way about it, if you want an anvil that looks like new, well then go buy a new one. I understand the Turks make a pretty nice anvil at a fairly reasonable price.

Hi,

I wouldn't describe myself as being "hot and bothered" to weld it up! My original project was to leave it as it is and build a small square and round horn anvil using RR track, but vertically with a stubby "T" with the two "horns on it along the lines of http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/anvils/making/RR-rail_anvils.php This would allow me to make what I couldn't without the points. Then I read the "Rob Gunther" article, and checked out the Castolin equivalents of the rods he uses I haven't got the same resources you have in the US!. I thought that I would give it a go! Now I'm coming back round to my original idea, but I still have to get some 7018 rods to weld the RR track. It could be use full to have a blunt ended anvil!

Regards, Matt

I know that you are hot and bothered to weld it all up and such however it is really alright the way it is you know. Smooth out the area that were broken off so you don't damage yourself and have a good time forging on it as is. Now I have read a good many of the articles written here on IFI and if my mind ain't playing tricks on me it seems if "hard face" rods were the least favored of the rods for building up and anvil. I not all that interested in rereading all of the old posts on welding anvils but you may want to do that, I'm just a big fan of welding up old anvils. I feel this way about it, if you want an anvil that looks like new, well then go buy a new one. I understand the Turks make a pretty nice anvil at a fairly reasonable price.

In one of my books, the hardie is shown with the curved shank. I have only seen drawings and photos of this on early Franch anvils. I suppose one could carefully forge the shank while leaving a lump on top for the future hardie blade. You could drive the shank into the hole, hot, to curve it, and draw out the blade later.

Cast iron has a peculiar spark shower...nigh invisible carrier lines coming off the wheel, dark red color, with a very occasional, odd shaped burst at the end of one carrier line. This is quite different from wrought iron which has a brighter, more visible color and a fairly straight line shower, sometimes dashes on the end. You will get small, straight line sprigs off the carrier lines, but no bursting, as with mild steel and higher carbon steel bursting. Always check an unknown to a known.

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

are there any spark tests or something?

look up Rob Gunther's method of anvil repair. Note that welding on real wrought iron can be quite tricky due to the slag entrained in it. Horns are usually pretty soft compared to faces.

Mattinker, I found another pic of my anvil, with writing on it. Story I was told when I bought it was this anvil was brought to the USA from France to Kenneth Lynches shop when they repaired the Statue of Liberty with the French shop that made it. They did not want to ship the anvil home with them. I have never got the writing translated (can't read French).
Rob

look up Rob Gunther's method of anvil repair. Note that welding on real wrought iron can be quite tricky due to the slag entrained in it. Horns are usually pretty soft compared to faces.

Being French does it say " I surrender" after each hammer blow?

I dont know, ask Lafayette!

Those horns look pretty massive. Rather than try to weld on, could you re-grind them to a better point? Or is this a major no-no?

Can you differentiate between a cast iron spark and a wrought iron spark? They can be quite close at times and I would believe a wrought iron body over a cast iron one for that anvil.

That first pic looks like this one. Even the welding machine in the same spot. What other info do you have on your anvil? Are you in France? Mine is 400 lbs and has had a new tip welded on the round horn. That was done long before I owned it so I don't know what rod was used.
Rob

Hi,

I've posted pictures of my old French Anvil, I broke my old weighing scales trying to weigh it. Rough calculations put it at about 115 Kgs. It rings well. I have started cleaning up the corners which were not broken, but slightly mushroomed. As you can see, both point are broken off, I'm afraid that if I weld new points on they will just break off!

I just did a spark test on the work formed ridge on the horn. Long orange sparks that explode at the end. Like cast but an exploding end

I would be grateful for your comments particularly on what it's made of and is it weld-able!

Regards, Matthew

Thank you everyone,

now I need to get some practice! I would like to learn to forge weld not only for myself, but so that I can show my grandsons, they're only little for the moment, but I want them to see as much as they can. I'd love to be able to show them how to make a hammer from scrap!

Thanks again, Matthew

In the alchemy department: mixing the shavings from turning brake drums---a type of cast iron--- with the saw filings could result in a High C total; but you really need to work out the chemical balance to get it right between the say 20 point mild steel and the 200 point cast iron...

Hi everybody,

I need to understand about how to go about forge welding dissimilar steels. My long term project include hammer making. I have a lot of 40mm (1"1/2) square bar and some old leaf springs. I would like to weld hard faces to the hammers. How does one heat the carbon steel to welding heat without driving off the carbon? I could ark weld around the joint with 7018 rods and heat the mild end so that the welding heat arrives from the mild steel, but I need to understand how it would be done traditionally to learn the process!

Regards, Matthew

Nothing wrong with a spatula if that is the intended result. You can also use this material for decorative items like insect wings and blade furniture.

You could add some carbon bearing material to the can (charcoal dust?) mixed with the mild shavings, but that is getting into alchemy. The results would take some experimentation.

Phil

Ive actually done what your talking about it and it worked quite well... I have also filled a box with copper rods and bandsaw shavings to make iron/copper mokume... with that one you have to be very carful to build a real sturdy box and not hammer to hard when its really hot... it sucks when the box breaks and molten copper comes out in a pressure jet!

Lots of mild + a small amount of medium or high carbon = mild steel.

It will look pretty cool, just don't expect to be able to harden it.

Phil

I earn my living in part making steel structures for television and film. I have a small metal cutting band-saw, the filings from the mild steel I cut with it seem to mee to be a good "additive" for bearings or bicycle chain Damascus steel. Recent reading has lead me to believe that surface rust shouldn't be a problem for forge forge welding. I was thinking of Mig or stick welding closed a box full of filings and bicycle chains bringing it up to welding heat and hammering it to turn it into a billet. Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

Regards, Matthew