shiny anvil

[fixiehorse]

I have just purchased a peter wright anvil. The man I bought it from was considering playing around with blacksmithing but his trade is a self employed machinist. He had the anvil for a few years but never found the time to start. I have seen plenty for sale but this is in perfect almost unused like shape. I have a problem with it though. This guy's place was so neat that you could eat off the floors. For some reason the only flaw he could find with this anvil was some very light surface rust on the horn. he polished it to a mirror finish while the rest of the anvil is black( no rust). I did not even get it home it seems before just the moisture in the air started to rust it in the polished area. Now I am polishing to control it because even some damp air will rust it. What can i do to give it back a black patina. I know all anvils will rust if left outside but this will be inside my shop.Thanks ahead.

[ThomasPowers]

Let it rust, remove any loose rust, oil or wax very much in the same way you would russet a firearm in the traditional way.

I sure hope he didn't mill the face any! Had a friend who picked up a very nice anvil that had the face milled too thin to use.
Took a professional welder (and smith) 6 hours to build it back up to a usable thickness.

I've also seen an anvil where the machinist milled the face flat, only the face was not parallel to the base and so he milled right through the hardened face and into the wrought iron at one end, (instead of milling the base parallel to the face and then flipping it over and just kissing the face to clean it up)

[Thomas Dean]

Let it rust, as Thomas P.said. If you are that concerned about the surface rust take an oily rag and wipe the face off with that then cover with same when not in use. You haven't mentioned you location and if you are in an area like me, HIGH humidity, than you will always have that problem. (with this new look here on IFI I'm not sure how you can add your location to your profile but I encourage you to do so, will help us help you better) Using it is the BEST way to keep it shiny

[Bill Roy]

Fixiehorse,
I had a similar problem after I bought an old Peter Wright. I wirebrushed and beltsanded it a bit to knock off the years of rust. Was looking sweet in the shed until my son dumped a bucket of water near it. You could almost watch the new rust forming.

I used an old towel and soaked it thoroughly with WD40. Now I leave the towel wrapped around the anvil when not in use. Works great.

[jmeineke]

I've had pretty good results using Marvel Mystery Oil. I've wire brushed all my anvils (and my post vise and blower) to take the surface rust off and then put on a light coat on them and haven't had to do anything else to them so far.

[Paul42`]

PB Blaster is a great product for controlling rust!

[fixiehorse]

Thanks to all who replied. No he did not mill anything. he just polished the horn. I was just wondering how these anvils look black in areas that don't see use and how to get it back like that. I once made a muzzle loader from a kit and they sent a chemical to "brown" the barrel. The gun manufacturer said that it would give a brown patina and minimize rust which it has. I thought perhaps there was something done to anvils the same way.I don't remember the name of that chemical but it worked great. I can deal with the anvil just wanted it to look more like it did before he polished it.Thanks again.

[Dragons lair]

I also like the black look, I do everything but the face,table and upper half of the horn.
I use stove polish stove black. Get it at fireplace store or hardware store. Scrub it on with a fingernail brush
Let it dry a bit buff with an old towel. oil the shiney areas.
Ken

[CurlyGeorge]

I don't know anything about black anvils. All of mine show some surface rust. As soon as you start using it the surface rust comes right off. It's a tool to be used. Not a show piece. Let the surface rust happen. You said that it will be in the shop and not exposed to the weather. The rust won't get real bad and ruin the anvil. Putting oil on the surface won't hurt it, though. My 2 cents. :D

[David Einhorn]

My shop is not heated. I find that wiping a bit of car polish on stuff helps control and prevent rust.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

To get a black patina just wipe off the orange rust that forms, do not polish. The stain that forms will eventually become a nice patina---patience. My pocketknife has a patina on it from several years of use in all kinds of conditions.

Gun bluing, and browning are forms of controlled rusting. Remington was one of the companies that used to rust blue their guns. An acid mixture was wiped onto the parts, then they were put into a high humidity area. After a time they were removed and brushed to remove the rust that had started to form. This process was repeated until the proper color had been reached. Modern bluing salts do this in minutes instead of hours.

In actuality I would say do not worry about the rust, and just use it. Slight surface rust is not anything to worry about. If it is not going to be used for a long period, and you are in a high humidity, or salty area then I would say cover it with some oil,grease, or wax. Rags can hold moisture though, and make rusting worse, so I would lean more to a wax. I have had to reblue a few guns that were stored wrapped up in a rag, and had some deep pitting from being stored that way. Even pitting on an anvil is not that bad. Look at some of the surfaces on the various anvils that the guys are using, and the work that they turn out. You wouldn't know by looking at the piece made that he anvil was dinged, or pitted.

[Rob Browne]

Why worry about a bit of surface rust. The first bit of hot iron hammered on it and it will be shiney again.