matei campan

the position of the hardy hole, on the side, is typical to the French anvils, as the general shape, too. just a bit worn...

If I were you, I would make a narrow (lets say 4inch wide) faced swedish double horned style anvil like the one in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb54qPC3WPA and instead of the normal feet/base I would weld to the body a rectangular thick plate of steel with holes drilled to bolt the anvil on the stump and to also serve as upsetting block.

A French anvil

the only fix it needs is to secure it very firmly to the stump, not just nails around the feet.

and the bionic powerhammer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKoSUSlvQLo

just check some videos of professional bladesmiths and you'll find that you have a luxury anvil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR7E6cx5C6s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqQBf00lBjg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_cGr_BD3kk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8vryQ_68mQ and here a special bladesmithing anvil as used in Europe by "industrial" bladesmiths: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpeyhC-UIFg

you can make a rectangular steel block to be fixed in the hardy hole, as your heel is short and very sturdy you will have enough efficiency forging on a hardy tool. you can make a long shank (?) to fix the block in the hardy hole, long enough to pass to the other side, so you can cut a slot or make it from a bent over flat steel so you could pass a wedge through it under the heel, so the tool will not bounce/move, instead will be tightly fixed to the anvil. or you can use a bolt, etc. I hope you understand what I mean. for the money and all the fuss to doubtfully "improve" your anvil you can find a flatter one. use this to make several knives, sell them and soon enough you have the money for a "good one". personally I could forge blades very well on that anvil. as I can see In the pictures the "depression" in the face is right to left not back to front so there's no problem for forging blades. they twist even on the flattest anvil, it's a problem of hammering technique. actually I use slightly dished surfaces to dress the bevels and the entire blade. an easy way to dress the blades is to dress them with a wooden hammer with a wide face and good heft - heat evenly to a red heat and proceed.

My airhammer (double action self contained, 63kg ram) wich I hope to install sometime in the near future, could do repeated blows, single blows and could press/clamp the workpiece. before installing that hammer I hope to finish my mechanical tyrehammer and install it. So, hopefuly, I'll have the complementary advantages of both worlds.

well. I heard exactly the opposite mechanical vs self contained, the self contained being more versatile than mechanical. I have seen self contained hammers able to forge either a needle or 4/4inch steel bar. but there are hammers and hammers in each category, from worst to brilliant. there are smiths who own both types of hammers, they complement each other

I can imagine the smiths from TX instantly letting down what they were doing and scrambling to their autos RAF style during an alarm, followed by a mad race like in that treasure/money chasing movies...

You can even replace the angle iron feet with three solid rectangular pipe filled with sand for more noise dampening and floor adapting.

till now it was easy, now comes the difficult part . I think that for that broken "ear" of the bearing you can makes some kind of "prosthetic" repair - I'd forge a "strap" from some thick flat steel to be anchored on the upper bolt and to go down over the broken ear to take it's function. welding it may be problematic and maybe won't be as tough. as for the crankshaft - if the shaft is rusted, maybe you have to take it out and mill the surface on a lathe. does the remaining half of the bearing could be taken out? Is there a bushing inside? I'm sure that the problem could be fixed by a good machinist. maybe you can adapt it to accommodate some kind of split bearing like those: https://www.google.ro/search?q=split+bearings&client=ubuntu&hs=IAh&channel=fs&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJ1rD-3fzPAhUGDCwKHbyOAwsQ_AUICCgB&biw=1301&bih=678#imgrc=bjAu_WFRDkMu3M%3A. I think more experienced members will advise you, I was just doing some kind of brainstorming here.

I can clearly see 131K. and looking to the size - no way that's 131lb.

My first anvil, my little austrian JEB, serves as foot rest under my computer desk so I can have it at reach and in sight, so my wife cannot comment. That's until I'll made a nice stand for it...

Too much for a like new condition?

I keep the fingers crossed for you! as I saw you committed with the Beche, I told another friend about the hammer I found for sale and I hope he will buy it. the advices you got will be useful for me too, as I'm in the same situation as you.

Did you test it before or after removing the rust from the face? Because the rust or paint will cut a lot of % of the rebound. Also you can check the hardness with a file - it must rather skate than bite (depends of the hardness, good anv8ls may have from ~50 to over 60HRC), if bites in like on soft steel it's either not hardened or it's cast iron. It could be also told if it's steel or cast iron by the spark test with a angle grinder.

very nice anvil! It doesn't look like a Fisher, rather like an old English one (?)... very cool stand! I won't change it unless it's way too high, even then you can solve the problem.

No, 2750 all inclusive, from which 900 being the anvil. They are good hammers. I'll send the link tommorow. The price is very good for a working condition hammer, usually for that price are advertised hammers like your one, rusted outdoors. Btw, I also bought mine by the weight, at a time when scrap prices were double than now...

I just saw a hammer like mine in running condition not far from the HU-RO border, near Oradea/Nagyvarad for the equivalent of 1500euros (maybe negotiable) . If you are interested I'll send you a link tomorrow.

hello Gergely I have it's cousin, a romanian kind of copy of that, a 63kg powerhammer. still to be inspected, fixed and installed. it works with a 7,5kw motor, but I think I saw others like mine working with a 3,5kw motor. it's total weight is 2750kg, 900 the anvil, so yours might be lighter.

Make stuff you can easily make on your anvil and sell quickly, simple bottle openers, etc. Make 30 of them, and you could make enough money.

If that anvil was used for forging on it and survived in such a good condition it might be a good if not excellent anvil. Also it's so well made, so clean, unlike the usual ASO counterfeits. So it might be an excellent anvil or an outstanding ASO

it couldn't be too hard from Italy. for the money you pay for an anvil in Italy, you could buy a French one like that and get shipped to you. for example this is for sale from two days ago: https://www.leboncoin.fr/outillage_materiaux_2nd_oeuvre/1032505309.htm?ca=12_s

that convexity over the face is very handy. I have two french anvils which have the same feature, a little cavalry portable one with exactly the same geometry as the S&H, and another one with less convexity but still present. once you are used to that features, you miss them on other anvils.