dressing up an old anvil with chipped edges

[kcrucible]

I managed to find a reasonable price on an 1881 Fisher anvil, that is generally in good shape with the exception of some pretty rough edges.

Rather than trying to build up the edges with welding, etc, I was thinking that it'd probably be effective to just use the belt sander to take off a little material from the sides to true it up. Surface area on top would decrease a little from original, but would basically be the same as current.


Opinions?

[Wesley Chambers]

Few things come to mind, for me I like as wide a face as possible so any loss would be unfortunate for me. Also if you do decide to repair it at a later point you have a larger job ahead of you. If your looking to get to work on it asap and this is the only way to make that happen I say go for it~

[MattBower]

I'm always skeptical anytime someone wants to start grinding or welding on an anvil they just bought, especially if they don't have a great deal of experience. (I don't know if you do or not.) The fact that the problem is small enough to be fixed with a belt sander, by taking material off the sides of the face, suggests to me that maybe it's not such a huge problem. In any event, if it were me I'd probably use it as-is for now, and weld a shank to a nicely radiused chunk of steel that I could drop into the hardy anytime I needed a really clean corner.

[Wesley Chambers]

weld a shank to a nicely radiused chunk of steel that I could drop into the hardy anytime I needed a really clean corner.

This has worked for myself and many others, Ive seen it used on anvils with clean corners that people just didnt want to accidentally mar

[kcrucible]

You're both probably right. For the time being I'll work with it as-is and see how much it impacts and what I want to do about it. In principle, there's not that much material to be removed to get it decent, it's just rather raggedy. For rough-forming, perfectly usable, just won't be great for finish work. There are still a couple of inches up near the horn that are still nice and, as you say, I could always deal with some haardy tools for the last mile.

[Mainely,Bob]

If you are a relative new hand then I would say wait till you know what groove you`re going to settle into before making irreversible mods to any tooling.

Now,assuming you have been at this a while,grind at will.
I see absolutely no reason to put up with a less than optimum tool if you have the equipment and skills to tune it to be everything it can be and what you want it to be.
That`s like saying if you have a rusty old tool don`t brush it off as that will ruin the "patina" of age.
These are working tools we are talking about.If you are worried about preserving something then donate it to a museum.
The tool has been damaged,from use or abuse.Fix the damage or grind it away and smooth it and get on with the work!
I have a hard time understanding why someone would go to all the trouble to make new tooling so he could leave a ragged edge on his anvil.
Life is too short to suffer through with bad or damaged tools.
Do whatever makes your life easier.

[pkrankow]

I have a hard time understanding why someone would go to all the trouble to make new tooling so he could leave a ragged edge on his anvil.

Making a bottom set is easier and quicker for a person with limited experience and tooling than making repair to an anvil, which is a specialized welding process. (hardfacing)

Phil

[MattBower]

I see absolutely no reason to put up with a less than optimum tool if you have the equipment and skills to tune it to be everything it can be and what you want it to be.

I agree with you, Bob -- if, as you say, "you have the equipment and skills to tune it to be everything it can be and what you want it to be" -- and assuming that you know the difference between a less-than-optimum tool that needs repairing (and how to repair it), and a small problem or even a mainly cosmetic issue that doesn't justify the risk of creating a bigger problem. But that's a lot of "ifs" and "assumings." I don't know if that's all true in this case or not. So I was simply pointing out that many a smith has set out to fix a tool, only to find that by the end he's created bigger problems than the one he was trying to solve.

[kcrucible]

New to the anvilling and forging biz, not new to tools.


New to welding, old hand with grinders and sanders for both metal and wood.


So, that's why I was thinking my fix would be via grinding/sanding and NOT do the welding and hardening bit, as I don't trust my skills in that area yet.


But the point that I should probably use it a bit to figure out what I want to do with it is well-taken. I may decide on different sharpnesses of corners, etc, that I may not anticipate right now.

[MattBower]

But the point that I should probably use it a bit to figure out what I want to do with it is well-taken. I may decide on different sharpnesses of corners, etc, that I may not anticipate right now.

Seems reasonable to me. Please don't take any of this as insulting, because it's not intended to be. On the Internet you don't know who you're dealing with. There are some people who can benefit from a little word of warning, and others who don't need it. It's hard to know.

[basher]

I happily forge blades on good and not so good anvils and find both completly usable.
I always like a 2" sharp cornered bit and a 2" clean radius bit . but as has been mentioned before you can make a hardy tool for that .
as long as the anvil is not transferring unwanted marks onto your work ir does not have to be perfect .

[Mark Wargo New2bs]

hardy tool for crisp edges

I forged the above pretty quickly from piece of pry bar. It really helps when you need crip edges. You can put a different radius on each side if you like.

Mark

[kcrucible]

For the record, here's the anvil...

[pkrankow]

USE the anvil. Those edges are good enough. Make a neater radius on some places where it can take it, make a bottom set for the crispest of edges.

That anvil has edges a bit better than my trenton does.

Get a feel for what you need first before grinding or filing. Don't weld on it, the risk of damage is greater than the reward.

Phil

[Norseman C.B.]

For the record, here's the anvil...

I would love to find one in that good of shape that aint rediculously over priced !! B)

[MattBower]

As someone else said, you can carefully refine a couple spots with a grinder if you really need to. All-in-all, though, it's a pretty nice anvil. I wouldn't mess with it much, if at all.

[petere76]

Krucible,

Your Fisher looks great as is. Some edge deformity can and does actually work in your favor. I have an older 144 # PW with worn edges that I am currently using. The worn and chipped sections all work for something at some point. I did relieve the sharp edges of the chips with a flap disc to prevent nicking any forged bends on the inside . I also hit he face with a belt sander to clean up some surface corrosion. The fisher should serve you well, good find.

Peter

[kcrucible]

I guess I just have pristine-anvil-envy. Alright... you've all convinced me.


As it happens, it turned out to be a 162 lb anvil, not the 120-140 it was initially billed at. Score!

[ThomasPowers]

The most pristine anvil is one that *NEVER* gets used. What a curse that would be for a smith!

The quality of the work is usually more dependent on the skill of the smith than the pristineness of their tools.

Skill is usually a function of time spent *doing* stuff with the tools and pristineness is an *inverse* function of time spent *doing* stuff with the tools.

Use that anvil and everytime you sell something you made with it put a dollar in the Brand New Anvil Fund. When you get it up to being able to buy a whopping big pristine anvil, you may find that you'd rather spend the money on a powerhammer...(I've owned 4 that the most expensive one was still about 1/2 the cost of a big new anvil; 25# LG, 50# no name, 2 x 60# Champions...))