100LB Peter Wright Repair-Preheat

[Pulsepushthepopulace]

Finally some of the people here are confessing about the softness of 7018 welding rods on the anvil. and there will be very little difference better with 10018 or 11018. yes they are strong welding rods if you are working on items requiring that treatment, but folks the anvil is not that item.

 

Agreed on the 7018. not confessing just relaying that little revelation that everything on the internet isn't true...

 

I've read it on here quite often, hence the experimentation with it on my anvils. The areas in question were torch cut and in areas of the anvil that won't see any heavy work... anywho, I'll go back through them and use a better method, no harm no foul...

 

The recommendation of 7018 in it's entirety needs to stop... It's bad information, work hardening by peening gives you no noticeable advantage. none, nilch, nada... So to all that propagate it as a solution, I'll argue against it with video and photographed evidence. after peening the ball bearing dropped from 10" shouldn't mar the surface, but it does... it might be a tough material, but it's not fit for the working surface of an anvil. I just foresee a chewed product with any heavy usage. 

 

 

 I'll try some of my newly ordered 10018, but it looks as if the jury knows whats gonna happen there as well... It's a good build up rod though... so all is not in vain... 

 

 

mg710... looks like a good avenue of approach...

[David Gaddis]

Continued reading ...but here is something exciting:

              Look at Messer welding stuff ...in particular the MG710 rods

 

I just got through reading their literature stuff...in particular the MSDS and SPECs for their rods...that may be used for our projects. This MG710 leave Rc55 ish "as welded" and can be placed with "multiple passes" without other problems...unless you are attaching two structures together with that rod...which would be wrong choice.

 

As of yet I have not used this rod but do plan on doing so. In fact I plan on making several passes on a blank sheet of A36 to check for re-bound, scratch resistence, deformation with the hammer, etc.

 

Hopefully this will be a user friendly process that we all can be proud of. There are lots of anvils that could be re--RE_paired by grinding out all that 7018 stuff.

 

 

Carry on

[CleetisMorgan]

I enjoy all this info. I asked about the McKay 600 because I have 75# on hand, and have seen rocks bounce off it on our digger elevators with no marring. It's also fairly grindable. Being a Dutchman, I like to use what I have on hand---but only if the results are satisfactory.
Like David mentioned, I used SS on my last repair with the tig, and while the end result is a good usable tool, it's ugly. Maybe I'm missing what's really important(:
Now that my brain is spinning--what would you weld cast steel with?

[darren70]

G'Day

 I don’t know if you have Cigweld consumables available in the US but you could also look at Cobalarc Toolcraft for a capping run on an anvil face. At 55-60Rc Its what i am considering using on my Wilkinson repair. As previously stated a trial run on 250 plate then laying into it with a hammer will give a good test in worst case scenario ie; relatively soft underlying material.

Hope that helps

[Pulsepushthepopulace]

Theres a happy medium that must be kept in mind... Hard facing, in some cases, can be equally bad...

[CleetisMorgan]

Agreed. Take misslerod, for example. It lays so easily, is harder than beet newt, but doesn't grind for diddly.

[HWooldridge]

I've repaired or replated somewhere around 20 or so anvils - never kept a log so not sure how many.  In any case, we should keep in mind the original methods and materials versus what we have available today.

 

The old wrought anvils generally used a piece of shear or blister steel for a top face.  Carbon content likely varied all over the place but it's safe to assume they were somewhere between 60 and 90 points of carbon.  The steel chemistry was simple and the only trace elements were accidental.  The anvil bodies were usually wrought iron (or some type of cast iron in the case of Fisher and a few others) and the faces were welded to the bodies in a forge fire or joined by casting the body.  After forging and all the holes were punched, the anvils were usually allowed to cool then reheated for hardening under a large column of water.  They were not tempered other than whatever residual heat might have remained in the anvil after the quench.  The final step was grinding the face and horn.

 

I have always believed anvil edges break down in service because the whole face can be somewhat brittle with corners having two sides in the equation - plus any decarburization or bad forge welds that occurred during the manufacturing process.  Hard work from hammers or sledges on the edges caused spalling and crumbling over time.  When we fix an old anvil, we are trying to repair both form and function.

 

Common TIG or stick welding rod and MIG wire are designed to work on structural steel so their chemistry does not match the anvil face (I'm excluding specialty rods, which could be virtually any chemistry).  In addition to rod chemistry, the application of heat becomes an issue to deal with (the HAZ referred to above).

 

The following general guidelines are what I have observed over time - your mileage may differ...

 

1. Small spalls and edge cracks that are about the size of a dime or smaller can usually be repaired quite successfully with common rod/wire and a light spot preheat with a torch (just enough to remove moisture).  I have fixed a multitude of minor dings with a MIG that have endured many years of hard use.  These spots get chilled and become hard from carbon dissolution in the welding process so they are close enough to the parent metal that nobody will be able to find them after grinding flat.  In this case, specialty rods are overkill and will almost always show up later as a different color.

2. Large voids or breaks can be built up with 7018 or other rod then hard faced.  You don't need to keep the anvil cool with water if a moderate pace is kept - i.e., weld a little, peen the deposit and take a break to allow some cooling.   Anything under 400 degrees isn't going to hurt the hardness and it takes a lot of energy to bring that much mass to temperature.

3. Major damage like a piece of face completely missing is best served by adding a new plate.  I have done this by welding up the major damage so the original face is flush then welding a complete plate on top of the old face.  Obviously, this is a lot of work because pritchel and hardy holes must be created and the anvil will need to be heat treated when complete but it can be done satisfactorily.  The anvil I am standing next to in my avatar was repaired this way over 30 years ago and has held up over time.

[Bruce Beamish]

To follow on from Darren70 regarding the CIG toolcraft electrode, I have successfully repaired anvils with edge chipping and face repairs using toolcraft with 312 ss electrode as a bufferring layer. Preheating and post weld heat treatment were as per the manufacturers instructions.  These anvils have held up well. Neither of these electrodes are cheap and I suspect it is similar for these types of electrodes no matter where you are in the world. Manufacturers like Eutectic and Bohler made similar electrodes to the toolcraft that I know of. Bohler also made a mig wire (skwamig, I think it was called or skw1 mig) that was a very good allround hardfacing material without the brittleness or checking problems of the more common types of hardfacing electrodes.

Personally I think after having repaired a few anvils , it might be just as well to leave well enough alone. I was fortunate at the time to have full workshop (including heat treatment and metallurgical facilities) available to me.

Good edges and a flat face all round are very nice on an anvil but if you have a old used anvil one that is not to bad in these areas learn to work around it. The majority of used anvils I have seen in the 35 years I have been involved in the Blacksmithing game have had some form of hollowing in the face in the area where they get used most and some edge chipping.

Over time and as your skill level improves as a Blacksmith these imperfections won't bother you as much. This is of course even less of an issue on larger anvil as you have more areas to work with.

As you continue in your learning and travels as a Blacksmith a better anvil will turn up, so trade up! If you feel the need to, move on "Old Faithful" to some one else or you may have got to like the old girls' quirks. Alternatively, you may find yourself in the position of buying a brand new anvil (see Frank Turley's posts). You know, the family has grown up and moved on and you've got some spare cash, treat your self!

 

Cheers, Bruce