carburizing and anvil?

[Iron Clad]

I would just use the anvil. It doesn't look that bad. Most anvils will dent when hit. The idea is to learn hammer control to the point to where you don't miss! When I teach blacksmithing to newcomers, I grab a piece of 2x4 wood and have them strike that for awhile before they ever hammer steel on my anvil. The idea is hammer control, proper swing, and hitting the same spot every time. After that they can hammer steel on my second older anvil! :unsure:

[^MG]

i have a 190lbs pete and the face is abit soft... it will ding if you miss a strike.. ... but it works just fine for many years... you have to think... how soft is a piece of yellow hot iron... and will that dent it if worked on the anvil.... if not... then your good to go !... just move past the idea of denting the anvil... your to work on denting the yellow hot iron instead...

by the bye... my 125lbs pete is extremely hard.. break your hammer kinda hard... i think they had an easier time quenching the small anvils, but the larger ones are usually a tad softer ..


have fun
Greg

ps.. if you need sharp crisp hard edges... just get a small anvil block that fits in the hardy

I like the way you look at things! Thanks Matt

[^MG]

After re reading the first post. A missed hit put dents in it. If ya hit the anvil with the hammer it will dent.
If ya hit a piece of cold steel it will dent the anvil. If the face is too hard and ya miss. It will chip.
Ken.

I hear exactly what you are saying. I guess my fears about denting this anvil are partly due to the fact that I have been working on farrier style JHM's and Future anvils. I have found that I don't really have that many dings on either of those farrier style anvils after years of bending horseshoes. I am wondering if these PW are a bit softer than the other anvils that I have been working on, and thereby exposing my lack of hammer control. Just the thought that crosses my mind. thanks for the input

Matt

[^MG]

Matt,

There are two good blacksmith groups that have monthly meetings near you (Lynchburg). Search on Old Dominion Blacksmith Association and also Blacksmith Guild of Virginia. Both have websites and are affiliated with ABANA. Get to know some of the guys there and they should be able to help. I live about 50 miles from you.

My link
My link

Tom

Thanks for the info, I am going to try to check these links out.

[^MG]

I'll be interested to see if you can find a local heat treater who wants to try this.

What article are you talking about, exactly?

The article in particular that I am talking about is in the July/August 2006 issue of the Professional Farrier magazine. It is currently the official publication of the American Farriers Association. The article is titled "FIRE! A Shop, An Anvil, & Family Heirlooms", written by Scott Davidson, CJF. It might well be that after reading the article that you find that it might not have been necessary to carburize the anvil. After all, I am just a farrier myself, and wouldn't consider myself a smith. I am always looking to increase my skills on the anvil, as it is a huge portion of my job. In the farrier world, there are far better than myself at forgework. At the end of the day, this whole Q and A deal that I have been privileged to participate in has taught me much about anvils, metallurgy, and how not to treat an anvil. If you can get your hands on a copy of this article, I would be curious to hear your thoughts. It just happens that I try to keep all old magazines and journals associated with my trade and remembered this article in question. That is what got me to thinking about this whole thing. I now understand that my anvil doesn't need carburizing and I also understand why. The important thing is that I learned. Hope to hear from you soon

Thanks

Matt Grimm

[^MG]

After re reading the first post. A missed hit put dents in it. If ya hit the anvil with the hammer it will dent.
If ya hit a piece of cold steel it will dent the anvil. If the face is too hard and ya miss. It will chip.
Ken.

After reading the thread concerning the $300 I beam for sale as an anvil, another thought has occurred to me. It is quite possible that the farrier anvils that I have been working on for years are made more hard that real anvils that real smiths use because it is expected that lug nuts like myself will beat the xxxx out of a good anvil LOL. Just kidding a bit, poking fun at myself.... last comment not meant to offend any anvil makers, farriers, or even real lug nuts for that matter.

[MattBower]

I can't find a copy online, but I can't help suspecting that the author may be slightly confused, metallurgy-wise. If you could possibly scan it and email it to me, I'd really like to read it. If that's too much trouble, I understand.

[ThomasPowers]

I'd like to read it too!

[^MG]

I can't find a copy online, but I can't help suspecting that the author may be slightly confused, metallurgy-wise. If you could possibly scan it and email it to me, I'd really like to read it. If that's too much trouble, I understand.

Well, I have found the author of the article on-line. I really didn't want to do something potentially illegal by scanning a copy of the article and posting it without the proper permission. I just got done e-mailing the gentleman and told him about the thread. I hope that he comes and checks it out and can possibly put up the article himself. I can tell you that the process of carburizing and heat treating on that anvil took place at Inland Northwest Metallurgical Services, Inc. It shows the business in the picture. From the looks of it, I'd say that they qualify as one of those places that has a lab with all that fancy equipment. Just a guess. Hopefully the author will visit this site so that all of the questions can be answered.