herchammer Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 I have an old 70 pound anvil, (small, but the only thing I've got), for years my father used it. It had a piece of steel welded over the original face, and the weld has finally broken. The fellows in the machine shop have offered to mill the face, and true-up the sides. At this point, I do not intend to try another over-lay on the face. My question is: What, if any effect will this have on the hardness of the anvil? Should it be heat treated after the milling process? I'm very curious to hear what wisdom and experience have to say. Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irnsrgn Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 You have to be very careful how much you mill off, the hard faces of anvils are not very thick and its wrought iron underneath, The bare minimum is all you dare take off or the face will be so thin it will crack and peel off. If the edges are chipped off, just wire brush well, smoke with pure acetylene, and preheat till the soot starts to disappear and weld up with MG740 underlay rod. lay the anvil on its face and mill the bottom square with the top first as most anvils are not exactly the same plane on top and bottom, anvil faces have a tendency to eat carbides, so grinding is a better option. there are two Blueprints in the blueprint section pertaining to repairing anvil faces.http://www.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints_100-200/p2_articleid/76http://www.iforgeiron.com/Blueprints_200-300/p2_articleid/69 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 It's sort of like having an anvil made with a solid gold face and a lead body and the folks in the shop offering to mill the face for you...only do it if absolutely necessary and as little as possible! The part about milling the bottom first is very important! Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Bernard Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 John, If the problems are superficial, how about using a cup stone and grinder? I've repaired or been involved with repairs on about a dozen anvils and we've ground the face this way with much success. If you have to make welding repairs, I've used Rob Gunther's process - grind dents etc. down to clean metal, pre-heat anvil to 350d, weld w/ Stoody 2110 to base wrought iron if chip is to that depth, and 1105 if only into plate, grind smooth, re-heat to 350d, pack in ashes or vermiculite and slow cool. Sounds complicated but we've not had one failure. The rods used are not the hardest but most closely duplicate the old tool steel plate on older anvils in color and hardness. Either way, good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herchammer Posted January 18, 2007 Author Share Posted January 18, 2007 Thanks for the info. The guys in the shop have done a few other anvil repairs, and were quick to tell me that they would be squaring the sole with the face. Milling was done before I got to read the replies here( they don't usually get so motivated) So, I may be out my small anvil if this doesn't work. I truly appreciate the info though, I'll try not to burden this board with too many mundane questions. Thanks again! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don A Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Not mundane at all, John. We've all pondered questions like this at some point. Please give us an update once you get the anvil in use. Many could learn from your experience... good or bad. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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