Now that I have an anvil in good condition, I was thinking about trying to recondition my old one. would anyone know what a safe amount to mill off the face of a Hill anvil would be, if any?

I was thinking if I could lose 30 to 50 thousandths, I might be able to draw file it to a nice finish. But, I'm not sure how much I'd really need to lose or how thick the face is.

Thanks.

alot comes into play.... what kind of anvil? if its a newer tool steel anvil you can cut as much away as you want but the deeper you cut the softer it will become (the heat treat only goes in so far) if its a older tool steel top it depends on the size of the anvil and how thick the plate was to begin with... a 75lb anvil might have a 1/4" tool steel plate where a 400lber might have a 1/2" plate... taking .050 off one is alot and the other not much... I think its safe to look at it and make a judgment call.. Dont hawg half of the plate away to make it flat.. but if it will clean up with .030 and its 3/8 thick to begin with Id say go for it...

If you do decide to mill the face make sure to mill the base parallel to the top first with a clean up cut. Most anvils are not close to parallel for machining purposes and you do not want cut a wedge of the top.

What He said! I've seen an anvil where they threw it up on the mill and "cleaned up the face" ending up milling completely through the steel and into the wrought iron because the base being hand forged on big open hammers was not parallel to the face.
So IF YOU MUST do this, clamp it down face down on the table and then mill the base parallel to the face and then flip it over and just kiss it.

Not knowing how worn the face on your anvil is makes it kind of hard for us to tell you what you *might* be able to get away with---like me asking you how much I can trim off my fingernails without bleeding!

However generally smoothing a face with a belt sander is sufficient---smooth is often much better than *flat* as a shallow sway allows you to true up items easier.

And remember old smithing books advise you to take any sharp edges on your "new" anvil and dress them back to rounded. "Sharp" edges seem to be a modern perversion!

I also have a friend who had an anvil that was milled clean and flat, it was then too thin to use and so he kept it for years until we had an anvil repair clinic at a meeting and a professional welder spent 6 hours building it back into being a usable anvil.

Its about a 180# Hill anvil. I'm not sure how popular they are or if anyone is familiar with them.

Thats a good tip on making it parallel. Thanks for the replies.