I saw that forge on KSL. If worse comes to worse sell it and build what you want or maybe knock out the refactory and rebuild it with kaowool with a 1/2" layer of refactory and a moveable plug.
I don't have any info on the anvil. But judging on your location there was only one steel mill in that neighborhood. To bad they sold everything to the Chinese steel mills. Glad to see someone salvaged something from there before it was sold off. I'm from just up the road from you in SLC.
I was told this by a car windshield replacement company. Then I started noticing it on our products we had to take apart. It might be due to the fact that it is outside in the weather. But it doesn't explain why since our monuments seams are fully sealed with silicon also so supposedly water can't get into the seam. Maybe it's more pronounced in thinner smaller material.
That is a bull set. Think of it like a 8lbs + chisel with a wood handle attached to it. It is used to break stone. You have one person using the handle to hold it while the striker strikes the bull set with a sledgehammer. I use this tool regularly in my everyday job. I don't know what steel it's made of but it's tough. It will of been hardened and tempered originally but work would of possibly work hardened it also. I would clean up the edges of the face and use it like a Nepalese blacksmith using a sledgehammer as an anvil. Here are some picks of the one I use at work.
I don't put silicon on anything steel. It has an acid that etches steel and causes it to rust. I have pulled apart allot of granite monuments that have been pinned together with stainless steel pins and silicon where the pins have completely deteriorated within a couple of years.
Here is my anvil, it looks like at one time it was used as a torch bench. All the edges have torch damage. But I don't even consider fixing it. I don't want to ruin the 90 + percent rebound. If I need a good edge I use my "viking" block anvil.
Wow BartW that's a nice collection. I only have one "real" London pattern anvil. All the rest are improvised anvils. They work just as good and serve their purpose.