Crunch Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Somewhere I seem to recall reading that anvil horns are not hardened. Is that true? If so, do we need to be extra careful about working metal on the horn? I sometimes use the horn for fulllering/drawing out metal, and as a total amateur 'smith, my hammer swings are not the most accurate in the world. If the horn of my SWEET Peter Wright anvil is not hardened, should I restrict my fullering to the face of the anvil, where it's hardened tool steel, in case I accidentally "miss" with the hammer ... at least until I'm a little more experienced? This anvil is in really nice shape, and I'd hate to mess it up. Thanks for any advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbieforge Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 You could find an anvil that you don't like so much for your fullering and drawing out! I am also a beginner, and I use a dinged up Vulcan for experimenting and trying out things that I am not so confident with. Markus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 The horn on forged anvils are mostly not hardened. They are often wrought iron. You may want to practice a bit before you move to the horn. On the up side you can always planish out any dings you may cause because the horn is soft. Don't worry just try your best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 I rember Clifton Ralph fielding a question from someone at one of his demos back in the 90's.......The guy asked; ''can you tell us how to rebuild PH dies?'' and Clifton snorted; ''NAW, I'll show you how to wear em out!''.... :lol: ...The point being, what we do to our tools causes wear and tear. Just look at how many anvils a sway backed from years of normal use. As long as you're not a knuckle draging cretin with reguard to missing blows on the horn you won't hurt it, It just gives it a little character ..... ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 The steel part of the Fisher horns were never hardened. Only the steel face was. The quenching after heating was also a test of the weld. The horn steel was actually in an annealed state as it was heated to a welding heat, then cooled slowly over several days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crunch Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 Thank you for the replies. What's neat about them (and about this site and about blacksmithing in general) is that in a way, they constitute a history lesson. It seems the more you learn about blacksmithing, the more you learn about steel, and the more you learn about history, and so on. It's like they all go hand-in-hand. Anyway, not to ramble. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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