Anvil clean-up

[mobility]

Well, I've been looking for an anvil for a while now and have not had much luck. I've seen a few but they've either been $4/# or many hours away. I found this one today and although it's a bit smaller than I was hoping for I figured it would get me up and going until I get a better feel for things and figure out what I really need. It's a 100# HB.

The previous owner was kind enough to give it a fresh coat of paint so the question is:

What's the best way to clean it up, paint stripper, wire wheel, combination of both. I just thought it better to ask before I "have at it" and find out the something is more damaging than I thought.




Might call this lttle fella "Apocalypse" since when I look at the fresh coat of paint I can hear Brando say "The horror, the horror" :)

[arftist]

Cup brush on a grinder.

[orgtwister]

get your forge fired up with a big fire and toss it in i just had to say that the wire cup brush like mentioned ready works great as for me i would take my forge lighter (propain weed burnner)and burn the paint off but thats probable not the most enviormently friendly way to do it

[Rob Browne]

The wire wheel will do it but only on the top surfaces otherwise you are just making work for yourself.

Cheers

[mobility]

Thanks for the replies, I'll get at it tomorrow.

[Dragons lair]

If ya really don't like the blue bottom. Paint stripper ain't going to hurt it. Just oil it up good after flushing.
Ken

[topsawn]

I bought one that was painted, black, and a friend just hit the top with a belt sander 100 grit said that that way iI would not heat it up and weaken the tool steel face. the horn cleaned itself up after about three trips to it. Many happy days with your new anvil. SAFE PASSAGES

[jmeineke]

I recently did a 309 lb Arm & Hammer that was painted. I used a product called "Aircraft Paint Remover" that I purchased from the local Autozone. The reason I didn't wire wheel it was because of the paint dust that you'll get on everything in your shop - not to mention you don't know if there's lead in the paint (not something you want to be breathing). Not too long ago I removed the paint from an air compressor tank with a wire wheel and a propane torch and it was quite a mess - If I had it to do over again, I would definitely use the paint stripper.

The stripper is messy too and it has it's drawbacks (have plenty of paper towels on hand and a scraper and some oil to coat the anvil with when you're done - I like to use Marvel Mystery Oil, also available at auto stores, wally-world, etc.), but for me it was worth not having to worry about potentially breathing lead and having to clean off a coat of paint dust on everything in my small shop.

If you decide to go the paint stripper route, just follow the instructions on the can and you'll be fine. Don't get it on your skin - it burns like crazy (don't ask me how I know this ). Wear eye protection.

If you decide to wire-wheel it, I would personally do it outside and maybe even wear a respirator.

Good luck!

[ThomasPowers]

Paint stripper is generally MUCH more toxic than lead paint! Wear a respirator rated for the chemicals in it! If it's a recent paint job it's unlikely to be lead based. If it is lead based paint then the stripper waste is hazardous waste---including any wash-down fluids.

I'd take it outside the shop and wire brush only the face and horn.

I generally tell folks that painting an anvil *drops* the price of it since we can't tell if someone has done a bad repair to it. I probably wouldn't buy one that I couldn't at least see the face of to check for welding.

It looks like a dandy anvil and a very nice size for starting out and as a travel anvil later; going to make that colour your "tool colour"?

[jmeineke]

Paint stripper is generally MUCH more toxic than lead paint! Wear a respirator rated for the chemicals in it! If it's a recent paint job it's unlikely to be lead based. If it is lead based paint then the stripper waste is hazardous waste---including any wash-down fluids.

I'd take it outside the shop and wire brush only the face and horn.

I generally tell folks that painting an anvil *drops* the price of it since we can't tell if someone has done a bad repair to it. I probably wouldn't buy one that I couldn't at least see the face of to check for welding.

It looks like a dandy anvil and a very nice size for starting out and as a travel anvil later; going to make that colour your "tool colour"?

Sorry, but I would have to disagree. Lead paint is far more dangerous than paint stripper, especially if there are children who could come into contact with the dust; who knows how long ago that thing was painted? Unless you are certain that the owner himself painted it and what he painted it with, then I would assume that it's lead-based until proven otherwise. Lead based paint was used up until the 70's, and these anvils have been around a lot longer than that.

Lead-based paint is no longer on the market for a reason - paint stripper is still being sold. As I said, follow the instructions on the can and you will be fine.

Although lead improves paint performance, it is a dangerous substance. It is especially damaging to children under age six whose bodies are still developing. Lead causes nervous system damage, hearing loss, stunted growth, ADD, ADHD and delayed development. It can cause kidney damage and affects every organ system of the body. It also is dangerous to adults, and can cause reproductive problems for both men and women.

One myth related to lead-based paint is that the most common cause of poisoning was eating leaded paint chips. In fact, the most common pathway of childhood lead exposure is through ingestion of lead dust through normal hand-to-mouth contact during which children swallow lead dust dislodged from deteriorated paint or leaded dust generated during remodeling or painting. Lead dust from remodeling or deteriorated paint lands on the floor near where children play and can ingest it.

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Lead_paint

[ThomasPowers]

I worked as a professional paint stripper when I was first married. Later we moved into a 100 year house that we had a *FULL* health department lead survey done on it, (previous owner used the basement for a shooting range). They did swab tests, timed filtered air tests and solid sample tests---had to recalibrate their instrument for the sample from the "range" as it was set for micrograms and the sample measured in *grams*. We had this done as we had two small children in our family.

Their report suggested a tsp wash of all surfaces and no planting of edible plants in the yard.

So yes I have some real world experience with both issues. I also have a couple of BS degrees with the math to evaluate statistical claims. I still would worry more about the stripper than the possibly lead paint.

Now when you have lead in your stripper waste---how are you going to dispose of that? Wash it into the ground/groundwater? Dump it in a landfill? Best method is to save *all* of it and present it at a hazardous waste collection site. Rather a mess what with rags, aerosols, rinsing---you don't want to leave a film of easily disturbed toxic waste on it---especially if you will have hot iron on it!

They still sell cigarettes too even though they have killed both my mother in law and my grandfather rather horribly so something still being sold does not indicate to me a proper level of safety.

I will however change my suggestion to: that if you feel it may be lead paint; try scraping the surface with a paint scraper first to remove the most of it in a manner easily collected and stored for proper disposal. (They also sell swab test kits for lead paint)

Currently I work in a town that has problems with arsenic in their water and live in one that has Uranium-238 above the legal and Radium 226 and 228 above the suggested limits. I don't worry so much about straining at flies while swallowing camels; until the danger gets above what I experience driving to and from work each day---something I do without a thought, I don't worry much about it. After all blacksmithing coal is a known source of radionuclides and mercury!

[Bentiron1946]

Thomas, Thanks for a different perspective on the dangers involved.

[pkrankow]

There are some rather effective, and "non toxic" soy based paint removers on the market. They remove all types of paint products, although require a high dwell time wrapped in plastic. The waste is as hazardous as the removed paint however.

I would leave the bulk of the anvil painted.

Phil

[mobility]

Thanks guys, good info about paint on older items I may come across. This one has been "freshly painted" by the previous owner (can almost smell the paint still) so no lead to worry about. I didn't really like the idea of buying one that had been painted for the same reasons mentioned by Thomas but I just hit that point where I was frustrated with had to get something to get started.

Anyway, thanks again guys. I'll post a pic when done.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Clean the working surfaces off, and pinstripe the body with yellow. An anvil doesn't have to be black. A little color in the shop is nice.

[jmeineke]

I worked as a professional paint stripper when I was first married. Later we moved into a 100 year house that we had a *FULL* health department lead survey done on it, (previous owner used the basement for a shooting range). They did swab tests, timed filtered air tests and solid sample tests---had to recalibrate their instrument for the sample from the "range" as it was set for micrograms and the sample measured in *grams*. We had this done as we had two small children in our family.

Their report suggested a tsp wash of all surfaces and no planting of edible plants in the yard.

So yes I have some real world experience with both issues. I also have a couple of BS degrees with the math to evaluate statistical claims. I still would worry more about the stripper than the possibly lead paint.

Now when you have lead in your stripper waste---how are you going to dispose of that? Wash it into the ground/groundwater? Dump it in a landfill? Best method is to save *all* of it and present it at a hazardous waste collection site. Rather a mess what with rags, aerosols, rinsing---you don't want to leave a film of easily disturbed toxic waste on it---especially if you will have hot iron on it!

They still sell cigarettes too even though they have killed both my mother in law and my grandfather rather horribly so something still being sold does not indicate to me a proper level of safety.

I will however change my suggestion to: that if you feel it may be lead paint; try scraping the surface with a paint scraper first to remove the most of it in a manner easily collected and stored for proper disposal. (They also sell swab test kits for lead paint)

Currently I work in a town that has problems with arsenic in their water and live in one that has Uranium-238 above the legal and Radium 226 and 228 above the suggested limits. I don't worry so much about straining at flies while swallowing camels; until the danger gets above what I experience driving to and from work each day---something I do without a thought, I don't worry much about it. After all blacksmithing coal is a known source of radionuclides and mercury!

I respect your knowledge, Thomas, I really do; but I still can't agree totally with what you're saying. If you want to treat the whole pile of rags as hazardous waste, then so be it - either way you're going to end up with waste, whether it's ground off, brushed off or chemically removed. I know I personally don't want to be breathing lead dust, I don't want my kids around it, and if there's a product out there that will keep that from happening, and it's generally regarded as safe to use when you follow the directions on the label, then I say go for it.

I do agree with you, however, that it's not correct to say that because it's sold in a store then it must be safe; thanks for pointing that out. I know first hand what smoking does to your body as I just had to have a stent put in one of my arteries due to it being 85% blocked. I smoked for 25 years and agree it's nothing but poison. I'm sorry to hear you lost your mother-in-law and your grandfather to it. I lost my father-in-law to smoking induced cancer too, so I know what you're talking about.

Having said that, though, we also need to keep things in perspective - Many, many things are carcinogenic, and almost everything in large quantities (including drinking too much water) can kill you. You can't drive down the road without breathing carcinogens, and you can't grill a steak over a flame without producing benzopyrenes which, incidentally, are one of the same carcinogens that can cause lung cancer in smokers. Heck, the gas fumes you breathe when you fill up your tank contain carcinogens (benzene and ethylene dibromide).

I would argue that the occasional use of paint remover is one of those things that one should not worry about any more than inhaling fumes while filling up their gas tank or eating a flame grilled steak. The stuff I used is along those same lines - it even states that it is for occasional use only and to use in a well ventilated area. It's called "Low Odor Aircraft Remover" (it has an evaporation retardant). Maybe the stuff you're talking about / familiar with isn't something you'd want to come close to without a bio-hazard suit - I don't know...

Having said that, I'll modify my suggestion to this: IMHO, I don't see anything at all wrong with using this particular product. If you use the same stuff I use, follow the instructions. If you're concerned about the waste, do as Thomas suggests and take it to a hazardous waste collection site.

[jmeineke]

Thanks guys, good info about paint on older items I may come across. This one has been "freshly painted" by the previous owner (can almost smell the paint still) so no lead to worry about. I didn't really like the idea of buying one that had been painted for the same reasons mentioned by Thomas but I just hit that point where I was frustrated with had to get something to get started.

Anyway, thanks again guys. I'll post a pic when done.

Mine actually had two layers - a bright yellow thick top coat and a darker orange underneath that was much harder to get off. I know it's probably pretty rare to get one with two layers, but just be aware that under that new coat there could be some old stuff too.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I still say just clean the top, and use it.

Now something else you could do is paint a number on it, stick some stickers like STP,crane cams,mallory, etc.. and say it was used in a NASCAR pit by Jr Johnson,or King Richard Petty. Hmmmm it is pretty close to the old Petty blue. Yep, paint a 43 on the side of it. :D

[arftist]

Too big a deal over nothing. Drag it outside, put on safety glasses and a dust mask and cup brush the topplate and the horn, and start smacking hot metal.

[ThomasPowers]

Pinstripping???? Red and yellow and orange *FLAMES* is what that anvil needs!

(And don't forget to stamp your name on the bottom just in case it wanders...)

[Ferrous Beuler]

Nice! Once you get the paint off and get used to it you'll probably forget to keep searching for another one. That's a sweet anvil, even if it does sorta look like a stage prop from Blue Man Group... B)

[Dragons lair]

I may get hammered for this one but here goes, If there are concerns about paint hiding flaws why would ya leave it on. I picked up only 1 out of 5 painted. Cleaned it checked it for cracks or other nastys. then blacked it with stove black like the others. BTW stove black won't hide flaws. I was raised to value and take care of my tools rust(patina) is not an option.
Ken

[Steeler]

I may get hammered for this one but here goes, If there are concerns about paint hiding flaws why would ya leave it on. I picked up only 1 out of 5 painted. Cleaned it checked it for cracks or other nastys. then blacked it with stove black like the others. BTW stove black won't hide flaws. I was raised to value and take care of my tools rust(patina) is not an option.
Ken

I'm with you Ken. In my humble opinion, rust is nasty when you talk about tools in use. For unused collectables, if that's what collectors want, fine.