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Oh ok. Actually I mainly used a wheel wire brush with the drill, and just a little bit of flap disc with the grinder at the beginning. That's probably why i did so little "damage". I'd really like to start. Must see what other gear I've got there. There's a hand crank blower forge but I'm afraid it's so rusty it wouldn't stand the heat? The brazier part looks very thin, almost sheet metal. There's a post vise that my wife's father used for his DIY projects and I understand now it might come from the same time. There's plenty of hammers too, maybe I'll post some pictures in the proper section asking for help to identify what's relevant - if any - and what's not. So farm blacksmithing was really a thing. I've also seen the textbook from 1901 in the download section, that's very interesting.

Thank you all for your replies guys, I didn't expect such a warm welcome, I really appreciate it! No more grinding, I promise. Maybe I'll use a powered wire brush in the future, but I think I'll stick to a hand wire brush for the moment or better yet I'll leave it alone I've put my location in my profile as suggested and Frosty I'll try and take some better pictures next weekend (we spend weekdays in another town). As for the blacksmith craft being lost, I didn't mean generally. I meant that it is lost as a family heritage in my area. It's not uncommon here that people still have an anvil (together with a couple scythes etc.) from their ancestors laying around in their basement but the skill to use these items has not been passed from a generation to the next anymore. My wife has recollections from her childhood (so in the early seventies) of her grandfather forging (as a farmer and livestock dealer, not a professional blacksmith) but not of her father, though he was quite a handy man before retirement.

Thank you guys it's good to hear that I didn't do too much damage. For those sparse "shiny spots" you see in the pictures, should I assume that I took off the hardened metal there, or just the bluing? Twistedwilllow, the anvil weights around 107 lbs (48,5 kgs). It belongs to my wife, until a couple of generations ago most families here (a hilly area in northern Italy) were involved to some extent in agricolture and farming, and brazier and anvil were quite standard household items used to fix livestock tools and the likes. Unfortunately, the skill to use this equipment is usually lost. As for the tests, the anvil seems to ring fine to me, but I'm 100% unexperienced. I mean, it definetely doesn't ring dead.

Hello everybody, I had an old anvil rusting in my basement and I mindlessly decided to use a grinder + sandpaper flap disc and iron brush disc to remove some rust. I understand now that this is not recommended as you may remove the hardened top and ruin the anvil beyond repair. Now, I grinded very lightly, yet in some points the shiny metal is exposed. Is there any way to tell if I messed up? Thanks.