Repair Torch Damaged Anvil

[knots]

I have what was a really nice clean Fisher before someone used it as a cutting torch table. The damage is limited to two areas. There is a narrow 3' long cut back near the hardy hole. There is damage along about one third of the length of one anvil edge.

In the past I have made repairs to two anvils by welding after preheating to the mid 200's Deg F. This was about 20 years ago. At the time I had no way to accurately measure temperature so I heated them until water danced on the anvil face heated a while longer then welded. The repairs were successful. Now I will use temp-sticks unless there are other suggestions..

This is such a nice anvil that I want to avoid heating above 400 Deg. I would prefer to weld at the lowest possible preheat temperature to avoid annealing problems.

The only marks on the anvil is the eagle medallion and the number 30 on one foot.. I believe it to be a 300 pound anvil.

I know that there must be posts on this subject on this forum but have been unable to find only one which does not discuss preheating. Are there others ?

[Grant]

Good morning all

Dan, here is a Link to the original Gunther/Schuler anvil restoration article.

http://www.anvilmag.com/smith/anvilres.htm

They recommend "Preheat a wrought iron base anvil to 400 degrees and a cast iron base anvil to 450 degrees."
Further, if one searches IFI on "Gunther anvil" there are threads that discuss this technique. -grant

[knots]

Good morning all

Dan, here is a Link to the original Gunther/Schuler anvil restoration article.

http://www.anvilmag.com/smith/anvilres.htm

They recommend "Preheat a wrought iron base anvil to 400 degrees and a cast iron base anvil to 450 degrees."
Further, if one searches IFI on "Gunther anvil" there are threads that discuss this technique. -grant

Thanks for the references Grant.

[maddog]

I have done some anvil repair following Irnsrgn's recipe. There used to be a BP. Basically, preheat, build up with 7018 and then cover with one pass of Messer high impact hardfacing rod.

But I was under the impression that Fishers had a CI body welded to a steel plate? That would make welding a lot more complicated.

[knots]

I have done some anvil repair following Irnsrgn's recipe. There used to be a BP. Basically, preheat, build up with 7018 and then cover with one pass of Messer high impact hardfacing rod.

But I was under the impression that Fishers had a CI body welded to a steel plate? That would make welding a lot more complicated.

The weld damage does not go through the plate. Actually on this Fisher the plate extends over the cast iron body a fraction of an inch. Since the anvil was virtually new when damaged, the edge still had the crisp factory edge. I plan to grind the edge of the plate down to the face of the cast iron and then with a typical graduated radius most of that damage will be gone. There are one or two areas that I might have to touch up. But then again if it is not to bad I may just live with it. This is a case of less being more.

The grove back by the Hardy hole is a different matter. Although the anvil could be used as is, I just cant stand to look at the abused area. If I am to use this anvil that damage must be repaired. But as I said the cut is narrow, shallow, and relatively short. The areas requiring repair are not extensive and should be easily repaired after preheating.

Handling a 300 lb anvil at 400 Deg temperature is Not something this old guy looks forward to but it must be done.

[ThomasPowers]

I'm trying to remember how we did it when repairing a 400#'r with air arch gouging and crush injuries.

One method was to build a kaowool surround and use a weed burner for preheat and then remove that when up to temp and weld in place and then replace the insulation for postheat/cooldown

[pkrankow]

I think some pictures of the damage would help.
Phil

[maddog]

Handling a 300 lb anvil at 400 Deg temperature is Not something this old guy looks forward to but it must be done.

Jr Strasil's method did not require heating the whole anvil, only the repair area. He would coat that region with acetylene soot and then heat it with a rose bud till the soot vanished. At which point he started welding. The rod he recommended was Messer MG 740, high impact resistance, medium hardness. It's rated AC/DC but I found it hard to run on AC. You can only do one pass with this rod, so any build up is done with 7018. He also recommended running stringers beads not weaves which increase the tension in the weld.

IMO for a narrow groove near the hardy, plain ole 7018 would be fine. I would clean it out with a grinder and just do a slot weld.

I have a 355# Hay Budden with alot of irregularities and flaws. I have never heated up the whole anvil to weld on it.

IIRC, Gunter's method was for resurfacing the entire plate, not just local repairs. In which case it would make sense to warm up the whole thing.

I have a 120# Hay Budden with torch damage. Part of the horn and cutting table have been sliced away. The plate is pristine but soft. I plan to repair it some day.

[Sask Mark]

I looked up the data for Messer MG 740 and it appears as though it obtains a RC hardness of about 41. Is this of any concern when the rest of the face of th anvil is in the 50-55 range?

I'm considering having a large anvil I just bought fixed up (torch cuts). The method described by Maddog seems fairly straight forward (only localized preheat required). I would just like to be sure I'm using the most suitable materials for the job. I'm by no means an accomplished welder, but have many subcontractors who would be willing to help me out.