I have come across a fisher noris anvil probably 300 to 400 lb, no numbers left on any foot so not sure of weight, face is near 5in wide. The face is pretty much completely gone. Maybe 10% left, vary thin. my guess is some one milled down the face once or twice then tried to use it and it all broke off. Strangely the cast iron below is pretty flat, not deeply spalled or dented. The hardy hole has been chipped vary deeply.

I dont own this anvil but can probably get it pretty cheep or maybe free. I already have a Large peter wright that I plan to repair and dont need another project anvil. Is there anyone out there that would be pretty interested in a total rebuild? If not and if I get it for free I may just electroplate it with copper and stick it outside my shop for looks or try a boat to it

What's your location? I don't know how far I'll have to drive to pick it up.:D

Would love to give it a try but, it's would be a few weeks b4 I could even get to it, much less take on the job of fixing it.

opps thought my location was below my name, Its near Augusta Ga

I'm just across the river in SC and would be more than glad to take this project on. I have a 120# Wilkinson that I'm in the early stages of doing a complete face replacement on. LIke yours, this one had the face sanded/filed down to next to nothing.

I would love the opportunity to have a big anvil in my "shop". Depending on the price, I can be down that way in under two hours. Let me know when and where.

Well since there is some interest ill talk with my grandfather, hes good friends with the man that's got it out in his yard. I can probably get it vary cheep. Sorry guys I won't be able to see much about it for the next 10 weeks. I'm driving up to Rochester tomorrow for a Ironwork summer Internship.

Maybe the anvil would be a good candidate to try and braze on a new steel face, I know it was talked about lots but I don't remember anyone actually trying it

Do keep me apprised of the situation, please. I just got some hardfacing rods from the local welding supplier and hope to get to work on the Wilkinson anvil as soon as life stops getting in the way. Should be good practice for re-working a larger anvil, and I can always buy more rod! :D

This is not an "easy" fix as a Fisher is a cast anvil with a tool steel top, not a steel anvil with a tool steel top.

Hardfacing rods are not really suggested due to them being brittle. The face needs to be tough, not extremely hard.


Search anvil repairs on the forums,as this subject has been covered several times just since I have joined. Do the research BEFORE you possibly make scrap out of what you have now.

If I remember the repair threads, a cast iron base requires pre-heating to 450*, then a layer of nickel rod, than a few passes with a Stoody 2011 rod to equal a rockwell c that approximates a W1 tool steel top plate. The Wilkinson anvil that I have on the list is a wrought iron base that doesn't require a layer of nickel, and only needs pre-heated to 400*, followed by a few layers of a hard-facing rod that comes out to something like W1, as welded. Both are kept at their respective temps during welding and then covered in insulating to slowly cool overnight.

Am I missing something? Is there a better rod than the aforementioned Stoody? The guy at the welding shop sold me some hard-facing rods that are high in magnesium and the company rep said they would be good for what I was doing, including hitting a Rockwell C of 55-60 as welded.

The Wilkinson I have has a bit of the top plate left, but that's less than an eighth of an inch thick where it exists at all and the rebound is poor. I'm all ears if there's something more I can learn.....

You have the right info, just remember that the hard-facing rod is flat position only, to build the edge it works best to lean the anvil over at a 45 degree angle. also copper works good around the hardie hole, the weld will not stick to the copper

Magnesium (Mg) or Manganese (Mn) ? Manganese is often in alloys expected to work harden in use IIRC.


Abbreviation's added by staff for clarity in the explanation, as Mg is not a good thing to have in a steel alloy

If I can get the large faceless fisher maybe I should mount it on a tall poll in a field and let lightning strike it. at least we would have a positive answer, and i would not be out much at all, it is faceless

The hard facing rod is stick? I hardfaced my steel anvil with S7 TIG Rod. It was all position and fairly easy to do. The grinding took a while but all in all it was easy to do and easy to repair dents in the surface. Welding on cast iron sounds very un-fun.

Yup, stick. I would love to have a wire-feed welder, but gotta make do with what I could find.... and my welding is sub-optimal so this kind of stuff allows me to learn as I do.

Just looked at the rods and they are Stulz (?) Manganese XL. I hope the work-hardening aspect of them isn't going to cause a problem, but don't know. I won't be doing a lot of pounding on the little anvil (mainly blade tangs and small ornamental stuff) so I can't see it getting really bad.

If I get that large Fisher, I'll try to find some Stoody rods.