rocket Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I have acquired a Peter Wright anvil....weight is 1. 2. 18 the base has a 11 stamped into it and it has a 1"+ hardie hole and a 1/2" round hole.....my 2 questions are #1 what is its weight #2 the top is well worn and is not flat....in several places....can I take an angle grinder and level the top......or is there a better way I am building my forge this week and am looking forward to making a few knives on this anvil....any help would be greatly appreciated... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluidsteel Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 112+28x2+18=186# The simple answer is no. You can't grind it flat. The top is a layer of tool steel that was forge welded to the wrought iron body when the anvil was made. Any grinding should wait until you learn a bit more about your anvil. Any pictures? Having a super flat anvil isn't the end all. I'd say use it as is and in time you can upgrade! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 I will try and post some pics later today....Thank You for the reply it is greatly appreciated.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimsShip Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 You don't really need more than a small flat surface area anyway, is there no clean edge anywhere on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 You could smooth the anvil top a bit with an angle grinder and flap wheel if it is very rough. Actually grinding it flat is a big step though, and not to be undertaken lightly. Surfaces with slight depressions and/or slight crowns can be even more useful than dead flat surfaces so do not obsess over flatness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 smooth is more important than flat. In fact some sway is very useful, particularly for straightening! I general advise people to only remove as much from their anvil's face as they would be willing to remove from their own face. As for weight, I have found that a bathroom scale works quite well for most anvils and note that the weight stamped on an anvil may vary be a couple of pounds from a weighed weight on a calibrated scale (like a feed store has). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matei campan Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I still miss a beaten up anvil I was using time ago, which had some very useful depressions and other "interesting features" which made it more versatile than a perfect one. it just had a ~ 3-4" wide flat area. fortunately, I've recently got as gift a 85kg dished anvil (though not as interesting like the first mentioned) which will complement my "perfect" ones. and, yes, a slight "dish" is very useful for straightening Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 Here are some pics of the anvil.....I got it at what I think is a great price so I dont mind putting some $$$ into it if necessary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 [attachment=45107:IMG_0051 Not sure why the pics are enlarged....can anyone help.....I used the uploader on this forum..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Gaddis Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Definitely not a Prom Queen! Spend good money for good equiptment. What you have is a heavy door stop. Sell it to someone who thinks OLD is Valuable...then re-invest your money into something useful. Carry on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trying-it Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Just hope I look 1/2 that good when I am same age as it is now, just saying LOL :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Well that is one that *i* think might profit from repairs. Look up Gunter's Anvil Repair method on the net and be prepared to spend some $$$ on it---or even better, if you are in the USA, many ABANA affiliates will have an anvil repair day every now and then where folks who know what they are doing will fix it *right*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 If this anvil is NG then I will face it.....I just need to know what the best tool steel would be to reface it with and I will post how I do it.....Thanks for all the replys.......It is greatly appreciated!!!!!!....I am located in Lebanon, Ohio in case there is any one who does anvil repair near me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unforgivun Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 That one is pretty rough, and like Thomas said, it may benefit well from repairs. That being said, its hardly a door stop. I agree that spending good money for good equipment is a sound logic, but when necessary there is something to be said about making do, with what is at hand. What is at hand there is an anvil. A pretty large one at that, and I think if you follow the Gunther repair method you will be just fine and can fix that anvil up like a restored old hot rod. It can be found HERE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Ohio???? you share the same state with one of the greatest ABANA affiliates and you wonder if anyone does anvil repair? I've had several anvils repaired at SOFA repair days. You are not even very far! I used to drive in from Columbus. Talk with them and ask when they will do another repair day---and don't forget to go to the December meeting and heckle Adlai Stein, tell him Thomas Powers sent it...(and any stories he tells of me are impure fiction---at best!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluidsteel Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Facing it with tool steel isn't an easy option. If it was mine I'd pre-heat it and weld it up. Clean up the edges and fill in the worst spots. Then use it. You could easily get a flat piece of steel for the hardy to help flatten your blades after forging. I sometimes use my post vise to straighten blades. I know several other bladesmiths who uses vises to do the final straightening after forging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Well since it is in such rough shape then I dont feel so bad about buying it as I only paid $45.00 for it at a yard sale so putting $$$ into it wont hurt as much.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Last anvil repair clinic we had here in NM only 2 anvils showed up: One was an old anvil that had been milled perfectly flat and smooth and *too* *thin* to use anymore. (someone paid good money for an anvil and then paid bad money to have it ruined and was paying good money to have it restored...) The other was an anvil that had been at a Copper Mine and had fallen afoul of the weldors---face was beautifully flat save for the air arc gouges... The host of the event teaches welding at a community college and is a quite talented smith as well; so he had the *nice* equipment, infrared temperature reader, large welders, good grinders, etc. We started with a preheat as specified in RG's method and he spent about 5 hours building up the face on the one that had been milled down---think about the cost of that on the commercial market! Far cheaper to buy another anvil in better shape. Once that one was beautiful he did several hours worth of work on *my* anvil from the copper mine. I didn't need "pretty" and so kept him from doing the job *he* wanted to---looks great to me and at 410 pounds it's a *shop* anvil not a decorator's piece. I demanded that he accept money for the consumables used and I provided propane for the preheat, only my deep felt thanks repaid his labour and time. As for usability: I had always wondered where SOFA got so many pristine anvils for their club shop, then I learned that they were all repaired anvils and had survived club usage for years. Having it done *right* makes all the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Gaddis Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Several months ago I purchased a PW that i think is really close to 200 lbs. The surface looks like a ski jump and one corner of the top plate is cracked off. Other than the mis-shaped top it hits rather well, reflects energy nicely and is not too noisy on my sand filled stand. Dropping a bearing on its top means chasing the bearing across the yard. When I started reading about anvil repair the RG method always became the good method to repair. There was a fellow out west that advocated using a different method I tried on a smaller anvil. I am not a certified welder but have been taught by a very good teacher and have lots of experience. What I would do now is ONLY the RG method if was to make the repair. When purchasing the repair material one may consider the cost of the left over welding supplies after the repair. It is rather expensive. Hopefully one of these days I will have my PW rebuilt. I am not going to do the repair myself now because of the cost and time. From here on out I will spend my good money for good tools. In the case of $45 for a nice size anvil there is more "margin" left for the project. If you can find a repair for a few hundred bucks and it works satisfactory like then you are really a winner. Well you are a winner anyway for taking up the smithing idea. There is a lot to learn. I wish you well on your decision for your anvil. Carry on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Just remember that the two classes of people that do the most damage to anvils are weldors and machinists. Often unmeaning to as they can be quite skilled in their field; but know squat about how anvils were constructed. So you get anvils that were fastened down to the mill table and the top cut flat but all the way through the steel face as that anvil was freehanded under a steam hammer and the face and base were not parallel to start with and so they threw away solid gold face to true it to scrap iron base. (seen it done twice so far) (If you *must* mill the face you turn the anvil upside down first and true the base to the face and then flip it over and give it the lightest kiss you can get away with!) Or you get anvils where they used a hardface alloy made specifically for abrasion resistance that spiderwebs as it cools or one too hard or too soft for the rest of the anvil face. Finding a person who knows both their field and anvils is a much trickier endeavor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Gaddis Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Certainly well stated. I can see why so many anvils are or have been destroyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 I think I would like to try and get a top for the anvil to use for now...what type of tool steel would be best for an anvil top....I can get it here diehlsteel.com and they are only a few miles way.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Great work could be done on that anvil with no repairs. You can not drop a tool steel face on top and just edge weld it as a band-aid fix. If only it were that easy. The ONLY sure fire method is to have an expert weldor who also knows anvils spend several hours of valuable time to preheat, and $$ electrodes to repair it, one bead at a time, then post heat, and only then grind it back flat for another few hours. Commercially cheaper to buy another used anvil, unless done as a labor of love. Go to the steel place and get a big tool steel drop and use it as an anvil if having a flat face is that important to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 What kind of tool steel would work best as I am sure they will have many different types of drops to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluidsteel Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Honestly, it's more about mass than the steel type. 4140 would be good. Brian Brazeal makes striking anvils out of mild mostly(entirely?). With mild steel, you can grind any dips n dings smooth and easily weld up any repairs needed. Repairing anvils properly takes a real commitment to educating yourself. My opinion is if you need to ask how to repair an anvil then you're not ready to repair one. Here's Brian's for an idea if you make one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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