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Anyone seen an anvil like mine before (2nd post this page) also any idea if I could repair the table? between the horns and the face as they are both fairly dented in, they look particularly on the rounded horn like it's been used as a chisel block!

 

I keep being tempted to take a flap wheel to the horns to smooth them, the face, minus the chip isn't bad, in fact the edge opposite the chip is decent.

 

Dan

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Dinkytoy,
Can you read the letters on the anvil? I think it is H I B E U  abd the number 42 (inverted). Maybe you can put some paper (thin) over it and use some lump charcoal to trace the letters.


Actually, if you look at the last picture, you can see that it is the letters that are inverted. The 42 is upright.
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I live in Alberta Canada. I have been given 3 different old anvils and the only one that rings like steel is the one I've pictured. I will see if I can get a rub of the letters. And the 42 is is the correct way up and the letters are inverted. Thanks so much for the interest. I was thinking of cleaning the anvil up a bit but thought I should find out what I can before I potentially wreck something good.

Dinkytoy47

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The anvil weighs a lot more than 42 lbs. Don't have a scale but it's a good grunt to lift it.  Tried to get a rub from the letters but it's so marked up that the rub doesn't show very good.  Will post what I did get and also what I saw using a magnifying glass.

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How's it respond to a rebound (ball bearing/hammer) test?

 

There were so many anvils made in almost any shop large enough, it may be impossible to find out who made that one. The letters may be the initials of the guys who made it or were at the BBQ that weekend. that may have been the 42nd. anvil made that week/month/model run/? It sure looks like it weighs more than 92lbs.

 

You'd almost have to run across someone who was affiliated with the company or was there then to be sure.

 

Best of luck.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Hello to all,  I just got this little beauty today, all cleaned up and home, fresh today from an estate auction.

 

Peter Wright 0-3-4 for weight marks and is right over 85lbs on my scale.

 

Has a 1" inch hardy and 5/8" pritchle hole, rings well and rebound is excellent!!

 

Anyway to date these Peter Wrights has 0  0 on front feet under the horn.

 

Also has,  E  D  H stamped under the weight marks??

 

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post-14465-0-83831600-1402790727_thumb.j

 

 

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I just use a little 10 lb vice is this bad?

 

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance.

 

You're using a vise for an anvil? Yes that is bad, it won't work well as an anvil and worse still you're probably break it, damage it at least. Virtually any reasonably heavy piece of steel will work far better than a 10lb. vise.

 

Start reading here, there are lots of stories about expedient anvils: home made, what to look for, how to mount them, shape them, what not to use, etc. Even a decent size bolder with a fine grain makes a better anvil than you'd think.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The face of the anvil is tool steel, forge welded to a wrought iron body (most likely). De-laminating is when the face begins to separate from the body and eventually, breaks off in a chunk. I am only assuming the wrought iron body because of the old style thick waist, stubby heel and short feet.  If the face in fact is de-laminating it would be pointless to just run a bead along the outside so it would need to be ground out entirely (the affected area, not the whole face) and built back up with a suitable hard-facing wire. The same process goes for the crack on the waist except the wrought iron can be welded with cheaper and more common 7018 wire. Pre-heat and post heat is a must for tool steel or you run the risk of the weld failing. 

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Sounds expensive, could I avoid that spot and use other parts of the anvil (I would prefer to spread out the cost of buying and restoring the anvil over some time) or would the shock travel through the entire anvil and break it off anyway? 

Also is there a way to stop this happening elsewhere on the anvil or is it just something that will happen with age?

Thanks for the information so far.

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I can't give you an informed answer about your first question. As to the second question, de lamination happens from an in-complete/inadequate forge weld where the face was not consistently welded leaving a weak spot of poor weld which can hide to the eye and will expose itself and fail over time and use.  To get an estimate of how much if any (it may not be de laminating, just a cracked edge I can't properly tell just from a picture) de-lamination affects would be to take a 1 lb hammer and tap the anvil over the entire face listening to the ring. When you hear a slightly more high pitched but dead sound instead of the ring and feel little to no rebound, it is delaminated at those areas. You can also look up the ball bearing test for rebound (very simple to do) and figure out like that. When you figure it out, mark and avoid those areas until you can fix them but this is where I become useless as to your first question again. Also, do not worry about the horn and cutting table sounding different then the face, they do that. 

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