Tools won't fit into hardy

[poopdiddly]

I recently bought a chisel hardy and a turning fork. They have a 3/4" shank which is what my hardy hole is on my anvil. The problem is, they won't fit. The chisel hardy's shank is tapered, and it only seats half way in the hardy hole. The turning fork isn't tapered and won't fit at all.

However, both tools will fully fit if I come from the bottom of the hardy hole. So, it seems that the very top of the hardy hole is too tight. How should I fix this? Can I take a file or rasp to the hardy hole, or do I need to do that to the tools themselves?

Thanks!

[thingmaker3]

Hardie hole dimensions should always be considered nominal rather than actual. Don't expect a hardie hole to be square or aligned either!

I would modify the shanks on the tools.

[Glenn]

both tools will fully fit if I come from the bottom of the hardy hole.

Then turn the anvil upside down and rest it on it's face when using the hardie tools (grin). Problem solved. (Bigger Grin)

The easiest answer is (see above) or take a grinder to the shanks and remove just enough material so they will fit into the hardie hole from the face side of the anvil. You can check to see the proper dimensions by inside calipers, or stuffing the hardie hole with modeling clay, removing the clay and measuring the clay for size. A little oil on the edges of the hardie may help in removal of the clay. The hardie hole may not be square or may not be the same dimension on all sides. Take this into consideration when removing material from the hardie post. Remember to round off the edges of the hardie post so it is easier to handle (no sharp corners).

For those with the opposite problem, an larger hardie hole than the hardie post try the following. Take a piece of angle iron 2 inches longer than the hardie hole is long. With a hacksaw, cut the angle (where the two sides of the angle iron join) down about an inch and bend them 90* OUT. This will provide a shim to reduce the size of the hardie hole to the dimension you need. It should stick out below the hardie hole in case you need to drive it back out at some point. This method is good when using one hardie tool with different anvils that have differing size hardie holes.

[eric sprado]

They're right. Hardie holes are ALL different. Just need to do some fitting. Check out hole to see if it needs some simple work,then start fitting your tools to it.My 200# Haybudden has the worst hardy hole I've ever seen.Sloped. Someone told me they thought it was from years of smacking hold downs in it by a prior owner. Don't know.

[thecelticforge]

I agree with everyone that to modify the tool is the only answer. However, my experience has taught me that i need only to file off the corners a bit to make my hardy tools fit.

[poopdiddly]

Thanks for the answers guys!

There was a bit of rust in the hardy hole, as it probably hasn't been used in a long time. I was able to wiggle the turning fork all the way in and seat it with no hammering. It will now go in and out much, much easier. I may have to bring down the size of the cutting chisel's shank as it still won't seat.

Although, I do like the suggestion of turning the anvil upside down. :P

[ThomasPowers]

To build on Glenn's suggestion: for large mismatches I like to use square tubing that just fits in the hardy hole and then saw down the corners and (hot of course) fold down the tabs created till they are at a right angle. You can then drop this in the hardy hole as an "adapter" and hardy tools will still sit flat as all sides have the tab between them and the face.

I have 3 anvils with 1.5" hardy holes and so I even have a set of nesting tubes done this way so I can have a couple of them installed to take the 1.5" down to 1" My main shop anvil has two hardy holes and so one of them has the nesting set of adapters "stored" in it and I can use the specialized tooling for the big anvil or more standard sized hardy tooling.

What I have been doing to make hardy tooling for the big hardys is picking up old mushroomed top tools and grinding the mushroom off and forging the eye end down to fit my big hardy holes---the screw press is great for this as I get nice smooth parallel sides. And damaged top tools are generally a whole lot easier to find than 1.5" shaft bottom tooling!