Justwood&iron

I've spent $160 in all for the anvil. All thats left, is to weld the A2 steel top plate on. May have enough welding rods left to finish that. If not I'll have to spend another $15 bucks to get more and finish it. Once its welded I'm going to follow the heat treating hardening instructions to harden it. Will build a fire brick pit, then use a couple weed burning torches and propane cooking burner to set the anvil on, add a forced air inlet to it and get it up to temp. Then air cool with some help of water to get it down in temp. fast.

Can annealed A2 steel be dented by a 3/4"-1" ball bearing? Also, does anyone know the rockwell hardness when it is annealed? The reason for the questions, I bought some pieces online, they are 3/8" technically 7/16" thick by 4" by 8" and they didnt have any markings on them to show they were A2. Just have to take the guys word for it. Dropped a ball bearing probably about 10" high, maybe not even that and they both put a small ping in the metal. Will be using this steel for a face on an anvil.

BIGGUNDOCTOR.. Thank you so much for that info.  Have done that, hints the question on here. Cant find online.

Can anyone tell me what 4140 is going for right now per lb.?

When welding an anvil together with 1" thick pieces, what degree and depth of bevel is the best?

What amperage is required? 

Can you use E7018 or E7014 electrodes?

When building an anvil should you weld the steel blocks horizontal or vertical? Can you do a combination of the two. We are talking a 400 pounder.

bluerooster: Yeah, I had thought about that too. I'm not sure what carbon strength I have though, got the steel from a scrap yard. I guess I could try to ask someone. Is 1030 harder them A36?

I'm wondering if you can harden a full anvil? I'm welding together an anvil, it'll end up being around 400lbs. The face will be 4" wide, 16" long, 10"+/- tall, full length will be around 24". Right now I believe the pieces are definitely a mild steel. Can dent them with a hammer, for sure on the sides not so much on the faces. So when I get completely finished, can I just put it in a fire pit, pull it out and quench it in oil?  Or should I just weld it up, then weld some 4140 on top? Or any other ideas?

I appreciate the feedback guys. Thats about what I thought, looks janky. 

Is this a good or bad concept for an anvil? It's not mine,someone is selling it for $150. It has 2 large heavy excavator teeth welded on railroad track plate, and mounted on steel column. 

The guy told me it had a hand with a hammer Vulcan patent says 1875. I was thinking about just buying some chunks of steel and welding them together to make an anvil. Have some piece picked out on ebay. They weigh around 168#, thats 10 pieces total. Two 1"x4"x23" 4140 annealed for the top two plates, a 4"x3"x8" 4130 for the middle area, 5 pieces of mild steel most are a 1" or 1 1/8" thick by 3"-4" wide 8"-10" long those would be in the middle somewhere also, lastly 2 plates 1/2"×10"×11" for the bottom with holes in the corners to bolt it down. 

Is that to much work or even possible to weld? Total would be $277 shipped for a 168 pound anvil plus the sticks to weld it. Dont know how much that would cost.

I don't actually have the anvil in my possession, just someone in my area selling it, and I took screen shots of it. I'll try to get some answers from the seller about that stuff. Thank you for the info,tho.

Is this anvil worth $375? Dont have a manufactures name or serial numbers, so don't know who makes it. It wieghs 125lbs. Is the face salvageable?