Soft Face Trenton

[kubiack]

I have recently acquired a 198 pound Trenton anvil from my father in law. He was given the anvil many years ago from a friend whose shop burned. My father in law used it on his farm for straightening bars and shafts so the soft face was not a problem for him.

A file will cut the face very easily. The face is mostly flat but the edges are very worn. I am using it for general forging and it seems to move metal fine but I really have nothing to compare it to. How much would the anvil benefit from being hardened? Maybe something low tech like Hollis’s two 55 gallon drums and a couple of big wheelbarrows along with a garden hose technique.

Thanks,

Brandon

[ThomasPowers]

I'd go with MacRaven's volunteer fire department high pressure hose---a garden hose is unlikely to be able to blast through the steam jacket.

[Bob S]

My 200lb Trenton is a little soft. A hard hammer will leave a ding. I don't know if it has ever been in a fire. I have never thought to see if a file would bite.

But it's no problem for me. I softened the faces of my forging hammers. I'm careful not to to use these hammers on chisels or cold steel.

Any way I would never go thru what it would take to reharden 200 lbs. I'd get a new (harder) anvil first.

Good luck.

Bob