Anvil Refacing Rods?

[Allthegearnoidea]

Ladies and Gents,
I recently aqcuired a Isaac Nash Anvil which is extrememely pitted. See pics.
I have decided to repair the old girl.
I have an arc welder and a means to pre-heat, however after reading several repair documents I still do not understand which rods to use.
I have been on ebay and came accross these hard-facing rods with the following information:-

Smitweld sterno 50 MC
high recovery only 7 rods per half killo
alloy hardness of 63 rc
for abrassive wear

Would they do the trick? and also how many kg's do you think I would need, anvil is 100kg and needs at least 6mm to build up.

Thanks all in advance!

Paul

[jmccustomknives]

No, you need rods rated for impact not abrassion. There's probably more than one string here on that subject. You could use Stoody Nicromang, these rods are designed for use on rr tracks as they work harden which means you'll be able to machine the face down a little easier then use a hammer to harden. I've been resurfacing a cast iron anvil with 309 stainless, it seems to work harden enough though I've been buisy so I haven't finished it. If the 309 doesn't do it I can do a surface with the Nicromang.

[pkrankow]

Make sure you use a non-checking rod. You do not want surface cracks. (no I didn't look up your choice)

A build up rod is often the correct choice, high hardness, high impact resistance. Work hardening is accepable. Wear resistance is not high on the list because forging is relatively non-abrasive (vs digging sand, gravel and dirt).

Since you are in England material choices are not always the same as here in the US. If you talk with the person at your welding supply shop during a slower time they may be able to help you select the correct material. Get some Tempil sticks while you are there in the correct pre-heat temperatures (just below, at, and just above) while you are there.

Phil

[MOblacksmith0530]

If I remember correctly the rods I used over here are Stoody 1105 and 2110. One was te buildup and one the hardface. The buildup checks a bit but works fine when welded over with the hard face. I did a few anvils with it before it was used up. A couple were pretty extensive and some only spot fixes. Always pre-heat and post heat.

[BM454]

If I was going to do that job. I would build up the pitted areas with something like 7018 then add the hard surface to it. I know for a fact here in the US, 7018's are much cheaper than a hard surface rod. If you have a flat base to start from. Your surfacing will look much better. If it was just a few small pits I would not sweat it.

Scott

[Allthegearnoidea]

The pitting is pretty deep and IMO I would not be able to effectively use the anvil.

However the face is fairly flat, I have searched for a supplier of stoody rods in the UK, I will give them a call on Monday.
I will post the price on here guys, any idea how many kg I will need?

[John McPherson]

Old anvils were faced with a simple high carbon steel plate, close to a 1080 to 1095, or W1 or W2. It is not necessary to complicate this, go for a match to the alloy. The best and cheapest rods for repair would be a 7018, 8018, 9018, etc. You only need one or two passes to repair the pitting depending on the size of rod. Clean the rust off the surface first with a chemical or electrolytic bath, or you will just contaminate the weld.

If the whole face was gone,*then* you need to worry about build-up and hardfacing.

[doc]

John,
Not trying to be controversial but if you weld with say 7018 or the other rods you mention. How will they be hard enough to be equal to the hardness of the rest of the anvil face?

Good point about the chemical cleaning of the weld surface. After looking at his pic of the anvil I wondered how it would be possible to get a decent weld.

[Allthegearnoidea]

Gents, I have dabbled with electrolysis, I could put the anvil in a bath of water and bicarb for a couple of days, do you think that would work?

[pkrankow]

You wouldn't be the first

I guess it is pretty easy...

Phil

[Patrick Nowak]

When I made my big anvil I hardfaced it using Hobart Hardalloy 58. This rod goes down in the low to mid 50s HRc as long as the pre-heat is not too hot. If you limit it to only two passes it does not crack. This rod is not terribly expensive and pretty easy to work with. Depending on the repair you need to make, 7018 or similar can be used, but is will not begin to come close to the hardness of the anvil face. I have an anvil that was extensively repaired with this method and though it is quite serviceable it does have soft edges.

[ThomasPowers]

If you work your iron *hot* the anvil face doesn't need to be excessively hard---early anvils were just wrought iron---however wrought iron is often worked at a welding heat and is very very soft at that temp!

In general you don't want to have to re-heat treat your anvil and so make choices that will end up hard enough without re-doing the heat treat. (Now you can re-heat treat; but it's a pretty big project on it's own the the danger of the face delaminating is always present.)