'antique store' find, and fix.

[Zahg]

Hello all, first post here, though I have been browsing the site for a while.

 

I have been into smithing off and on since I got my first anvil 11 years ago(little 20lb cast steel from harbor freight). I still have that one and use it often, but I've been on the look out for something bigger for a while now.

About a month ago I started building a new forge for the first time in a few years, and started scouring the local craigslist for tools. I got a Champion 400 blower in near perfect condition for only $175, but that was it for craigslist.

 

Then last week I hit all the little 'antique' junk stores in the area, I got a 6" crank table grinder for $30, and asked the guy if he had any anvils... he said no, but his other shop next town over had 2.

I went there next, they sold the 'big' 100lb one before I got there, but they had a pretty beat up 45 pounder which they wanted $130 for, talked em down to $85 and got it(I still got ripped off for the condition it was in lol).

Size comparison with my old HF 20#

I'm pretty sure it is cast iron with a (whats left of it) steel face. There are no markings anywhere on it, so if someone can ID this by the shape that would be awesome. =p

 

The only flat face anywhere on this was the squared part of the horn just under the step, side edges were non-existant, there were a few dead spots with no rebound on the face, the hardy hole had an extreme taper around the entire face edge. All in all a bad deal, but I still got it for one reason, to see how hard it would be to repair without expensive equipment or specialty hardfacing rods etc. If I screwed it up I would be paying for a learning experience, which is worth it IMO.

 

As it happens, I had a 1/4" plate I found a few years ago that fit it perfect, problem was, the plate had a slight curve to it and no amount of heating and pounding with a sledge would get it flat(or even dent it, this is some stubborn steel lol).

So I grabbed the angle grinder and cut it into 3 pieces, no more curve. Also cut out the hardy and pritchel holes.

 

Very little pre-heat, put it face down on an electric stove burner for about 10 minutes. Built the face up with some 6011 rods(all I had on hand, and I felt there was enough of the steel plate left that it would be okay), but only put a thin layer on the chipped edges, I wanted to be able to weld on the new face from as close to center as possible. Welded on the plates starting with the heel, then the front/step portion, then the center. All in all it came out great, already beat the hell out of it and none of the welds broke. It has okay rebound(about 40-50%), and my heaviest hammers still can't even dent it.

After repairs it weighs in at 56#.

So, what does everybody think, Did this turn out to be a good buy? =p And can anyone ID it from the before shots? Also, sorry for the long post. lol

[pkrankow]

Lipstick on a pig...but I think you have a keeper.  I think that was an ASO and now is an anvil, but just barely at 50% rebound. 

 

Did you learn a whole lot on this project?  Are you satisfied with the results?  If so you paid tuition, and it was worth it.  The education may be worth more than the anvil though.

 

Phil

[C.D. Mitchell]

If it turned out as well as you say I think you did a heck of a job.  That's a pretty ambitious thing to take on without any experience.  There's a lot of folks that have had plans to do things like that but never actually dive into it because they're afraid they'll screw it up.  You've proved that jumping in and tackling something with a "just do it" attitude goes a long way. 

[ThomasPowers]

My opinion is that you put enough money, time and consumables into it to buy one better off to start.

Last one I bought in anvil poor New Mexico was a 112# Peter Wright in *excellent* shape that cost me US$150 (craigslist) and will need no work done on it in my lifetime.

BTAIM; get started using it and start saving for when a bigger better anvil shows up!

[Zahg]

Thanks for the replies.

Lipstick on a pig...but I think you have a keeper.  I think that was an ASO and now is an anvil, but just barely at 50% rebound. 

 

Did you learn a whole lot on this project?  Are you satisfied with the results?  If so you paid tuition, and it was worth it.  The education may be worth more than the anvil though.

 

Phil

Learned a couple new welding tricks, and the biggest lesson was to never use an angle grinder when it's 30 degrees outside while wearing a knit sweater(shirt caught fire and I didn't notice till the smell hit me it was so cold lol).  And yeah, I'm pretty satisfied with the end results, didn't expect it to come out this good, but now I would be comfortable doing this on a much larger anvil if I had to.

 

If it turned out as well as you say I think you did a heck of a job.  That's a pretty ambitious thing to take on without any experience.  There's a lot of folks that have had plans to do things like that but never actually dive into it because they're afraid they'll screw it up.  You've proved that jumping in and tackling something with a "just do it" attitude goes a long way. 

Thanks, I knew it was pretty much junk when I got it, so it wouldn't matter much if I screwed it up. The shop was literally using it as a door-stop. lol

 

My opinion is that you put enough money, time and consumables into it to buy one better off to start.

Last one I bought in anvil poor New Mexico was a 112# Peter Wright in *excellent* shape that cost me US$150 (craigslist) and will need no work done on it in my lifetime.

BTAIM; get started using it and start saving for when a bigger better anvil shows up!

The money was free(saved from my birthday a couple weeks before), my time is cheap right now(not working at the moment, all I have is time. Besides, it only took around 6 hours or so total), as for the consumables, the welding rods and electricity were also free for this project. I do plan to get another one ofcourse(56 pounds isn't much anvil), but this should last me quite a while while I save up for a good one.

 

As for saving for a better one, what are the opinions of the TFS/Pieh anvils? At $8 a pound + shipping they seem a bit high, but they are brand new. I figure if I save a little each month I could grab one around this time next year(if their still available by then).

http://www.amazon.com/Pieh-Blacksmith-Tools-Single-Horn-Anvil/dp/B003TSA5BE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1356755320&sr=8-3&keywords=tfs+anvil

http://www.amazon.com/Pieh-Blacksmith-Double-Horn-Smithy-Special/dp/B003TSHNQ4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1356755320&sr=8-2&keywords=tfs+anvil

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Zahg, glad to have you. Keep posting pics of your journey, we love pics.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[pkrankow]

Keep on Craigslist, Ebay, and other exchange websites like freecycle and stuff.  Have CASH IN HAND when you go get.  Set a budget and stick to it.  You really want about 150# or bigger, paying $3 or less, with edges dressed like the FAQ on anvilfire.com or sharp and clean like your reface is.  (BTW, you do need to dress those edges on that reface)

 

Now while you are waiting for your luck to happen, load up your luck.  Talk to EVERYBODY about your desire to get an anvil.  Start with family, friends, the grocery clerk...move up to other people like the preacher, and everybody else you know and meet on a regular basis, then ask EVERYBODY ELSE you talk to. 

 

Someone might just have an anvil sitting in their basement or garage that you can take from their hands for the pleasure of not tripping on it again (in other words, come and get FREE).  Someone else might have an anvil that they can part with for reasonable money, but didn't know they wanted to sell since no one asked.  You never know unless you ask. 

 

This is TPAAAT and it should return a thread from the search box at the top right.  That is Thomas Powers Applied Anvil Acquisition Technique.

 

Phil

[evfreek]

This is a high initial price for a small anvil in that bad of shape.  I suspect that there is not a very good supply where you are located,and it will just take a while.  Our local scrapyard sells steel for something like 0.60 per pound, but charges double or triple for RR track, since they know "blacksmiths want it for anvils."  Everybody on Craigslist seems to think that anvils should be $4-5 per pound around here.  So, prices do vary.

 

Your job looks pretty good.  It seems that you have some experience with arc welding.  1/4" is a little too thin to start off with, even with your clever trick of cutting it into thirds.  Too much flex if there is an incomplete weld.  At least it looks like the edge is well done, and that is the important part.  I have worked on two weld-repaired anvils, and the edges were where the weld job failed, not the center.

 

Blacksmiths with more experience smithing than welding tend to overestimate the costs of arc welding, both in terms of electricity and consumable cost.  Lincoln's excellent educational texts have sections on cost estimation, and they are a good starting point.  The main cost is labor, which in your case is probably pretty low.  I once saw a blacksmith demo in which the demonstrator showed how to make all kinds of tools and jigs out of welded junk.  The welds had that pecular stepping globby look that was pretty familiar to me, so I asked him "garage sale rods?"  Yup.  Those rusty 6011's with the flux flaking off do not run continuously, but they sure are cheap.