Show me your anvil

[ThomasPowers]

Not even Crown Prince....takes your nasty TINGY anvils, I loves my thuddy Fisher my precious....also my A&H, my PWs, my HBs, my Powell...

Actually you can do a lot of damage welding on that anvil if you don't what you are doing!  Do you know the right temp to preheat to avoid auto quenching to brittle?  A lot of folks will weld up damaged edges only to find that larger chunks break off due to HAZ cracking.

Now if you have some welding skills research the Gunther/Schuler method of anvil repair   Robb was the smith for Sandia National Labs and their method has been proven in on hundreds of anvils over decades of use. They will cover the proper preheat and rod to use.  If you plan to have someone else do the welding MAKE SURE THEY FOLLOW the G/S process!  Accept no others.

[Daswulf]

Oh, and don't weld on it. Use as is for at least a year to see if it doesn't do something you need. Then decide if you need more. It's good as is.

[Dano46]

51 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Not even Crown Prince....takes your nasty TINGY anvils, I loves my thuddy Fisher my precious....also my A&H, my PWs, my HBs, my Powell...

Actually you can do a lot of damage welding on that anvil if you don't what you are doing!  Do you know the right temp to preheat to avoid auto quenching to brittle?  A lot of folks will weld up damaged edges only to find that larger chunks break off due to HAZ cracking.

Now if you have some welding skills research the Gunther/Schuler method of anvil repair   Robb was the smith for Sandia National Labs and their method has been proven in on hundreds of anvils over decades of use. They will cover the proper preheat and rod to use.  If you plan to have someone else do the welding MAKE SURE THEY FOLLOW the G/S process!  Accept no others.

Thanks! I’m actually a welder by trade. I will look into this. I must admit though it’s really just superficial. Even if I was to weld her up I would still do majority of work on the original face. It would break my heart to damage something from the year 1830 that still exists! 

56 minutes ago, Daswulf said:

Oh, and don't weld on it. Use as is for at least a year to see if it doesn't do something you need. Then decide if you need more. It's good as is.

Good point!

[ThomasPowers]

Not to diss you; but I have seen a number of anvils badly damaged by professional welders.  They may have been great at welding what they were used to; but dealing with the hardened high carbon plate on a low carbon wrought iron body was out of their experience---which is why I said to have the welder read and follow the Gunther/Schuler process.

Not many welders work with high carbon steels that need to retain their current heat treat and even fewer welding real wrought iron. Many have never worked with real wrought iron, the material, at all.

Anyway forewarned is forearmed and I'm sure you will take appropriate precautions. BUT be aware if you do a good job of repairing it and it gets known there may be a bunch of folks with battered anvils beating a path to your door!

[Dano46]

33 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Not to diss you; but I have seen a number of anvils badly damaged by professional welders.  They may have been great at welding what they were used to; but dealing with the hardened high carbon plate on a low carbon wrought iron body was out of their experience---which is why I said to have the welder read and follow the Gunther/Schuler process.

Not many welders work with high carbon steels that need to retain their current heat treat and even fewer welding real wrought iron. Many have never worked with real wrought iron, the material, at all.

Anyway forewarned is forearmed and I'm sure you will take appropriate precautions. BUT be aware if you do a good job of repairing it and it gets known there may be a bunch of folks with battered anvils beating a path to your door!

Point taken. I will research the proven Gunther/ Schuler procedure that you recommend. Thanks for your expert advice! It’s much appreciated. 

[ThomasPowers]

If you are posting right under the post you are referring to; no need to quote it all. In fact if you are just near it you could just use the Name of the person you are replying to and not bother to quote.  Tightens up the forum a bit.

I am relieved that you didn't take my comments amiss.  Gives me the feeling you will do well here.  How are you with puns?

[Ironoak_Artisan]

Hi! I'm new here and i thought I'd share my anvils with you.

I've been chatting with Frosty some but thought I'd make my appearance here as well.

I live in Sweden and for some reason it's hard to come by anvils, I know there's loads of them in old barns and such but getting to know which old barn that sprouts anvils is not an easy task.

That said I've finally got me a bigger anvil, I've been spoiled with my 36kg (80lbs) Soderfors that i got for a ridiculously low price, I won't brag about how cheap it was but i thought I'd show some pictures of it as well as some pictures of my new acquisition, a Soderfors 105kg (230lbs) that has some chipped edges and such but when talking to Frosty it seems I've just been spoiled and that it's a really good anvil, this one i got for 5000kr (about 530 USD) and i was worried I'd been ripped but it seems that is not the case, it has excellent rebound and a good ring to it, so good that I will have to dampen it by securing it to a good stump firmly.

Anyhow, enough babbling, here are the pictures

[Dano46]

Well. I traded a guy at a job site I’m on an acetylene tank key (no lie) for this anvil today! He said It had been sitting there not being used for years

Anybody have any idea what kind it is? Or year? Not sure when I’ll have time to take a wire wheel to it. Part of me wants to leave it on the stand the way I found it to preserve it but the other part can’t stand looking at the nasty welds.

Either way any help or recommendations are greatly appreciated 

Is it an Armitage?? 2 Armitage anvils in under a month..... crazy

[jlpservicesinc]

You over paid..   Looks like a Sodefores or another die cast bottom.. Hard to tell from the pics.. Might be a Brooks also.. Large step at the horn.. 

[Daswulf]

Awesome deal. I'll agree the welds are ugly. You could carefully cut it free, clean up the welds and if you like even reuse the stand with different a different mounting type. Or make a way better stand. 

 

[Dano46]

jlpservicesinc thanks! I’m going to have to do some research

Daswulf agreed I can’t look at these welds. Going to have to make a new stand.

Edited March 22, 2019 by Mod30
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[Daswulf]

That's basically the only situation I recommend taking a grinder to an anvil. 

There is a beautiful anvil at the last body shop I worked at. No matter what I tried they wouldnt sell it to me. Its still there. Last I visited a friend , now manager there, they had welded brackets to it to mount it down better than the bent nails it had before. I was a little sickened and the reasoning was the safety committee/ OSHA. Ugh.. 

[anvil]

On 3/12/2019 at 7:42 PM, Dano46 said:

I will look into this

Heres the Gunther method. Thomas is right. It's a good way.

http://www.anvilmag.com/smith/anvilres.htm

[BartW]

Oh my ... I'll make a couple dozen of those keys, can I get a couple dozen of anvils ???? ;-)

You made a great deal. And I agree, the welds look ugly. I'd cut it free, and clean it up.

There are only 2 situations I'd recommend taking a grinder on an anvil.. 1 for removing welds, 2 for severly beaten up faces, I'd grind it flat again *once*, preferably with those 36 grit fibre cubitron discs,  Fix the edges, and than start sanding, usually to about 240 grit, so it's nice and shiny, and you can maintain it with a simple scotchrbite pad.

[ThomasPowers]

Does that stand actually fit you?  I've seen a lot of folks wanting to save a stand that will give them back issues if they used it! I claim a million+ years of tool using hominids in my ancestry---modify your environment to optimize if for *YOU*!

[Frosty]

NICE TRADE Dano!  I'd lose the stand soonest, besides being ugly it isn't as stable as it should be. Hammering isn't the only thing a smith does on an anvil, it wouldn't take very hard bending to tip it over. A few minutes with a disk grinder will take care of most of the chicken tracks a sharp cold chisel should do for any a disk won't reach on the inside of the feet.

The Show us your anvil stand thread here has pictures and reasoning behind a bunch of basic anvil stand designs, most pretty good a few stinkers, it's a good place to skim through before building one.

Please NO grinding on the face! A little chipping on the edges is pretty normal and dings in the face aren't worth grinding years of useful life off your anvil. A wire brush in the disk grinder will do all the shining up she needs and hammering hot steel will clean up her face, dings, etc. and all. 

Let's talk about the edges when you get her cleaned up and better pictures. If you can't find markings on the sides, cast proud or stamped, dusting it with chalk, flour, etc. and wiping the surface helps make them more visible. Lighting from a shallow angle to one side really makes surface features like markings stand out in photos. A direct flash glares them out hiding them.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Dano46]

Frosty the Lucky, BartW, Thomas Powers - great advice! Thanks

[jsawyer191]

On 4/29/2017 at 8:33 AM, Happy Fish Forge said:

After 6 months of trying to locate a decent anvil near me I gave up and bought new. It's a 110 lb. Kanca and I'm happy with it. I wanted larger but the wife insists her car goes in the garage at night and at my age moving 110lbs.is still possible any larger ... not so much.

How where your hardy and pritchel holes? My hardy hole looks like it was water cut maybe?? I think I will have to clean that up any suggestions as to the best way?

[Latticino]

I have successfully "adjusted" a hardy hole with a flat file, but my anvil is wrought/steel face rather than cast steel.  Depending on how deeply your anvil was hardened you may be able to do the same.  It is a bit of work, and like any similar sizing project, go slow and check often.  Remember to leave  a slight bevel at the top opening and slightly break any corners to avoid potential stress risers.

[Happy Fish Forge]

20 hours ago, jsawyer191 said:

How where your hardy and pritchel holes? My hardy hole looks like it was water cut maybe?? I think I will have to clean that up any suggestions as to the best way?

I've recently changed hobbies and sold the anvil but I didn't have any issues with the hardy or pritchel holes, both were smooth.

[Андрей]

 

[JHCC]

Very interesting. Thanks for the video.

And welcome to IFI! If you haven't yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!!

[jsawyer191]

On 3/26/2019 at 7:19 AM, Happy Fish Forge said:

I've recently changed hobbies and sold the anvil but I didn't have any issues with the hardy or pritchel holes, both were smooth.

Here are some pics of my Hardy hole.

[Pepr]

A couple days ago I picked up this Peter Wright and the stand it was mounted on for $100. 146lbs that had seemingly been heavily used, but not too abused. This is my first real anvil. In one of the pics it is sat upon my RR track anvil that I've been using for the last 4 or so years.

I am curious if anyone knows what some of the stamps may mean. There is the letter "F" stamped underneath the maker's mark and the letter "H" stamped on the foot of the anvil under the horn.

Some may find it blasphemous to take a grinder to an anvil, but it would have been pretty useless to leave that jagged edge there.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Pepr, glad to have you. I don't know what that stand was for but it's not mounting an anvil. The F and H stand for Frosty's Home, meaning it really wants to come home I'll sacrifice room in my too crowded shop to make her comfy for you. I'll PM my shipping info to you. 

That mushroomed edge is a safety issue it is NEVER blasphemous to address safety first. I'd lay that beautiful old lady on her side and perform 9" Milwaukee surgery on that edge as soon as she was in my shop. 

Just don't get crazy and try to square up all the edges or remove what few dings you see in her face, she's in fine condition. She only wants a proper stand to your best working height and some hot steel hammered to put a beautiful healthy shine on her face.

Check out the "show me your anvil stand" section for good anvil stands. A nice: block of tree trunk, lumber stacked on end, welded steel, sand box, etc. there are many options Check em out do some reading. Ask questions, we'll be more than happy to make up some plausible sounding tall tale. 

Oh, if nobody's said it yet, that is one SWEET deal, excellent score!

Frosty The Lucky.