I have a 15 inch long piece of 1020 steel. It's approximately 5" x 6". I did a little forging just to see how it would handle the steel, and was frankly disappointed in the number of dings it got. They weren't all from missed hammer blows, either So, my question is, should I get a piece of 4140, which I have been told makes a nice anvil face or should I go the more inexpensive route and pick up a piece of 1045? Is the cheaper price of 1045 worth foregoing the better 4140? Or is there something out there better than either and just as inexpensive as the 1045? I would have either of these two pieces (I'm thinking 1/2 inch thick) welded to the existing 1020. Thanks in advance.

Were you forging hot steel or cold. ?

Why not get a piece of damaged fork lift tine *much* cheaper than buying new steel and already at a good hardness for forging on?

Rich, actually both. I knew the cold forging would be bad for the mild, but was surprised at the hot forging.

Thomas, from your lips (or finger tips) to the forging gods' ears. I have looked high and low around my parts for a broken tine. I have had absolutely no luck.

Did you post at the local Feed Store? Call equipment rental companies? Check with the closest equipment repair place? Ask at a scrapyard (I saw a bent tine Saturday at a scrap yard down here). Got any friends who work at a place that does a lot of forklift work?

When I lived in Columbus OH I found an old forklift that had been tumbled off a bluff face into a spoil pile near an *old* iron foundry (as it was in business in the US Civil War). In the olden days dumping stuff off the river bluff as "trash" was an accepted business practice.

This is what 1 fork off that find was made into: http://www.marco-borromei.com/fork.html

I have a 15 inch long piece of 1020 steel. It's approximately 5" x 6". I did a little forging just to see how it would handle the steel, and was frankly disappointed in the number of dings it got. They weren't all from missed hammer blows, either So, my question is, should I get a piece of 4140, which I have been told makes a nice anvil face or should I go the more inexpensive route and pick up a piece of 1045? Is the cheaper price of 1045 worth foregoing the better 4140? Or is there something out there better than either and just as inexpensive as the 1045? I would have either of these two pieces (I'm thinking 1/2 inch thick) welded to the existing 1020. Thanks in advance.

Just a note if your gonna edge weld 2 pieces then edge weld them to an anvil forget it. The face needs to be forge welded
or 100% welded to the base. Some one on here did one by spacing the plate up 3/8 then welded in the space for total weld.
Any welding should be done by a good welder with anvil knowledge. Been doing it 40+yrs and will only do my own
Ken.

Many thanks to the Master Curmudgeon, Mr. Powers. So, I called a craigslist ad, that led me to a forklift reseller, which led me to a forklift repair shop, which led me to another forklift reseller. This very nice gentleman had an old pair that he was about to scrap. I offered him what I thought was a good amount (above scrap price) and he said, no that I could just have them both Needless to say, a nice find. Thanks, again, Thomas.

Thank you for demonstrating the power of just asking around and following up leads!

This is what 1 fork off that find was made into: http://www.marco-bor...i.com/fork.html

Very nice use of old fork, I will have to do that seeing as how I have a similar fork that needs a use. Thanks for posting.
Rob

Well, the original leads were taking me nowhere, Thomas. I do appreciate you directing me in the right direction.

Now, onto those tines. I have read in the past that they are already hardened, so heat treating isn't an issue. I've been reading around the net and it seems, as Dragons Lair alludes to above, that just edge welding the 4140 onto the 1020 may not be an ideal, or even near ideal, situation. So, other than forge welding, is there a way too weld the 4140 onto the 1020 and making a nice solid connection? One site I came across mentioned something along the lines of "really deep vee-ing of the base". What does this mean and how hard is this to do? Another suggestion was to " create the face surface from multiple levels of hardfacing". I'm not a welder, but is this simply using welding to harden the face? These suggestions were not to me, but rather from an old thread on another site. Thanks in advance to all replies.

I'd suggest using the method shown in the link I provided if you can.

The hardfacing is just trying to apply a harder layer to the soft steel to use as a face. It is usually quite expensive in both rod and abrasives to get the welded up face smooth.