protecting anvils from surface rust.

[ricejm01]

So I just bought a sweet 101 pound Brooks anvil on ebay from Matchless antiques (Steve). Anyway its wrought iron and it appears that Steve use some sort of blasting medium to clean off the surface rust. It is awful pretty right now and i would really like to keep it that way. No I know what your saying its in a blacksmith shop its not supposed to be pretty, but this is an 1885 wrought iron anvil and it is in remarkable shape and I want to keep it that way. However it's starting to rust again. I don't really want to paint it, so I was thinking of lightly taking a propane torch to heat up just the body just enough to burn on some beeswax. anyone have any better ideas?

by the way it is the anvil on the bottom.

[Fe-Wood]

motor oil and use is all I do with mine B)

[Glenn]

The best way to keep rust from forming on the anvil is use the anvil, beat hot iron in it at least 2-3 hours a day. You ever see a tool that is used daily have a bunch of rust on it?

Second best I have found is to coat it lightly with ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid). The ATF forms a barrier to keep the oxygen out. When you put hot metal on the ATF it does not seem to transfer to the metal like some products (waxes etc).

[Harley]

When I am finished for the day I cover my anvil with my leather apron.......seems to work very well for me.

[youngdylan]

Did you buy it to use or display?

If bought to use, do just that, it will keep the area used clean. So what if the body rusts a bit, it'll take a few hundred years to rust away. It is just a tool made to be used as a tool, used HARD at that. Back in it's day it's prime purpose was to earn someone their livelihood in the most cost effective way, I doubt very much if it saw any fancy oils or other treatment than a slap of paint on the sides. If rust does bother you I'd give it an occasional wipe with a rag soaked in WD40 or some such.

I'm someone who does NOT worship anvils ... at all ... but I sure as ***** love using them.

[njanvilman]

Steve uses twisted wire wheels to clean the anvils, then coats them with boiled linseed oil. Best way to stop rust is to use them, as said above, or just lay a lightly motor oil soaked towel over the anvil when done. Do not use boilded linseed oil, you will have an unintended fire.

[ricejm01]

Did you buy it to use or display?

If bought to use, do just that, it will keep the area used clean. So what if the body rusts a bit, it'll take a few hundred years to rust away. It is just a tool made to be used as a tool, used HARD at that. Back in it's day it's prime purpose was to earn someone their livelihood in the most cost effective way, I doubt very much if it saw any fancy oils or other treatment than a slap of paint on the sides. If rust does bother you I'd give it an occasional wipe with a rag soaked in WD40 or some such.

I'm someone who does NOT worship anvils ... at all ... but I sure as ***** love using them.

I bought it to use, I'm not worried about the face or the horn that will get pounded plenty. I just want the body to stay nice so you can still read the markings.

[ricejm01]

Steve uses twisted wire wheels to clean the anvils, then coats them with boiled linseed oil. Best way to stop rust is to use them, as said above, or just lay a lightly motor oil soaked towel over the anvil when done. Do not use boilded linseed oil, you will have an unintended fire.

Yeah, I did see some guys going to town, One on a swage block with an angle grinder. I did see what looked like a blasting cabinet and another guy loading an anvil into it. So I'm pretty sure he's using a blasting medium to clean them up, and lightly grinding any surface that is supposed to be flat. Taking wire wheel or an angle grinder to a body of a wrought iron anvil would be a little rough in my opinion, especially if you just were removing rust. I don't see any tool marks on it. Plus the wrought iron is normally pock marked with high a low points, so a twisted wire brush would leave some marks no matter how careful you were. I would expect to see wire marks left on the high points while trying to get the rust from the low points.

[Sask Mark]

I have cleaned up all my anvils with a wire brush (knotted wire cup brush on a 4 1/2" angle grinder), and it has not left any wire marks on them.

Steve would not use this method if it risked damaging the surface as he sells some pristine anvils to high end collectors who would not tolerate damage to the anvils they buy.

[njanvilman]

Yeah, I did see some guys going to town, One on a swage block with an angle grinder. I did see what looked like a blasting cabinet and another guy loading an anvil into it. So I'm pretty sure he's using a blasting medium to clean them up, and lightly grinding any surface that is supposed to be flat. Taking wire wheel or an angle grinder to a body of a wrought iron anvil would be a little rough in my opinion, especially if you just were removing rust. I don't see any tool marks on it. Plus the wrought iron is normally pock marked with high a low points, so a twisted wire brush would leave some marks no matter how careful you were. I would expect to see wire marks left on the high points while trying to get the rust from the low points.

Its kinda pointless to get into an arguement about how Steve does his anvils. But, I have been there twice, and have never seen a blast cabinet. He does have hundreds of flat twisted wire wheels in boxes. He told me this is how he preps all of his anvils. I also use twisted cup wheels on my 4 1/2" offhand grinder, and have never left any marks or scratches. This is on any type of anvil, whether cast, wrought, forged. I follow up with a light oil after degreasing and washing. A light wipedown once a year on the display anvils is all that is needed.

[Paul42`]

I don't really pay a lot of attention to my anvil's appearance, but I have used this stuff on other things to prevent rust...



Just use it on the sides though... wouldn't want to breath in the fumes when hot steel comes in contact.

[pkrankow]

melt 1 part wax (beeswax preferred, I used paraffin) in a double boiler
take wax and hot double boiler outside
add
1 part turpentine
1/2 to 1 part linseed oil

pour contents into a metal container that can be sealed, like a new paint can.

Let cool, use this paste product as a protect and and metal finish.
It can be applied to warm or cold metal and buffed to a shine. Use with adequate ventilation.

This recipe is listed in many places and I did not originate it, nor was I first to put it on IFI.

Phil

[ricejm01]

Its kinda pointless to get into an arguement about how Steve does his anvils. But, I have been there twice, and have never seen a blast cabinet. He does have hundreds of flat twisted wire wheels in boxes. He told me this is how he preps all of his anvils. I also use twisted cup wheels on my 4 1/2" offhand grinder, and have never left any marks or scratches. This is on any type of anvil, whether cast, wrought, forged. I follow up with a light oil after degreasing and washing. A light wipedown once a year on the display anvils is all that is needed.

I agree and would appreciate that we stay on topic. if you would like to discuss proper ways to do restoration please start another thread. I'm not trying to argue, nor was I arguing, I was there 3 days ago to pick up my anvil. Steve gave me a tour of his shop. These were my observations, I could be wrong, I due trust my own eyes though.

However on technical note. using a blasting medium with a mohs hardness scale of less than 4.0 would be appropriate for this type of restoration, and would save many man hours of cleaning up rust. If I am wrong, then this is something that Steve should probably consider for his business. Wrought iron by the way has a mohs hardness of ~5.5 - 4.0 (depending on how soft it is), steel can be as high as 7.5. soda blast (gypsum or Sodium bicarbonate) is ~2.5 - 3.0, crush walnut shell ~3.0-3.5

http://www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/mohs_hardness_abrasive_grit.html
http://www.nortonsandblasting.com/nsbabrasives.html
http://www.georgehernandez.com/h/xMartialArts/Gear/Metal.asp

[ricejm01]

melt 1 part wax (beeswax preferred, I used paraffin) in a double boiler
take wax and hot double boiler outside
add
1 part turpentine
1/2 to 1 part linseed oil

pour contents into a metal container that can be sealed, like a new paint can.

Let cool, use this paste product as a protect and and metal finish.
It can be applied to warm or cold metal and buffed to a shine. Use with adequate ventilation.

This recipe is listed in many places and I did not originate it, nor was I first to put it on IFI.

Phil

Thanks for the tip. I've seen this floating around too, however have mostly seen this for hot application. I never thought to use it cold. I'll give this a try.

[Sask Mark]

I agree and would appreciate that we stay on topic. if you would like to discuss proper ways to do restoration please start another thread. I'm not trying to argue, nor was I arguing, I was there 3 days ago to pick up my anvil. Steve gave me a tour of his shop. These were my observations, I could be wrong, I due trust my own eyes though.

However on technical note. using a blasting medium with a mohs hardness scale of less than 4.0 would be appropriate for this type of restoration, and would save many man hours of cleaning up rust. If I am wrong, then this is something that Steve should probably consider for his business. Wrought iron by the way has a mohs hardness of ~5.5 - 4.0 (depending on how soft it is), steel can be as high as 7.5. soda blast (gypsum or Sodium bicarbonate) is ~2.5 - 3.0, crush walnut shell ~3.0-3.5

http://www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/mohs_hardness_abrasive_grit.html
http://www.nortonsandblasting.com/nsbabrasives.html
http://www.georgehernandez.com/h/xMartialArts/Gear/Metal.asp

I have asked Steve about media blasting. He told me he doesn't do it because he doesn't like the 'battleship grey' color it leaves the anvils. He said he prefers the burnished 'patina' the wire wheels leave. Whether he has tried some of the media that you mentioned, I don't know.

Edit: Ken's post made me realize 'patina' is the wrong descriptor to use. There is NO rust on any of Steve's anvils when he is done with them.

[Dragons lair]

For all 5 of mine I use stove black(stove polish)on the bodys and a light oil on the faces/horns. I do not like
Patina(I call it rust) Mine look like new 100+yrold anvils/vices and whatever. Makes the old wood stove look like new also. Unlike paint it hides nothing. Brush it in wipe it off(karate Kid)
Ken.

[philip in china]

I use anvils- I don't collect them! In my experience, though, usually cleaning the aging off an antique in one way of reducing the value!

Here in Sichuan I have major problems with rust as it is both warm and humid. SO I either paint or, more usually, oil the sides of the anvil. If I know I am unlikely to use a particular anvil for a while I also lightly grease the face. As soon as it gets used the grease burns off. The oiled finish on the sides keeps the appearance of the anvil the same but prevents rust going any further.

If you are oiling or greasing to prevent decay don't forget to put some underneath! Just because you can't see the rust doesn't mean it isn't eating away.

[EWCTool]

When I go off to college i wipe on some used motor oil. I have also seen WD40 and PB blaster used. They seem to do the job without as much mess, and dont leave the brownish film that the motor oil leaves. The key is to just keep an eye on it and apply is needed.

[jmeineke]

MMO works good - available just about everywhere and has lots of other uses too.

[anvilove]

So I just bought a sweet 101 pound Brooks anvil on ebay from Matchless antiques (Steve). Anyway its wrought iron and it appears that Steve use some sort of blasting medium to clean off the surface rust. It is awful pretty right now and i would really like to keep it that way. No I know what your saying its in a blacksmith shop its not supposed to be pretty, but this is an 1885 wrought iron anvil and it is in remarkable shape and I want to keep it that way. However it's starting to rust again. I don't really want to paint it, so I was thinking of lightly taking a propane torch to heat up just the body just enough to burn on some beeswax. anyone have any better ideas?

by the way it is the anvil on the bottom.

All you need to put on the anvil is some paste type mink oil do this about every three months let me know how it works for you. Shawn barneylynn@bellsouth.net

[nthe10ring]

I forge outside so my anvils are constantly exposed. I spray them with wd40 and leave a rag soaked in the same on the tops. I keep them covered with heavy duty garbage bags and never have any problems with rust. Keep it simple.

Jerry Fisher

[DC712001]

My Peter Wright was Media Blasted, bare.

When I bought it, I painted the body with 2,000-degree-rated Primer and Flat-Black 2,000-degree paint.

If it is "Clean," Clear-Coat Paint might work. Have used it on other items to keep rust away while allowing the "Original" surface to show through.