A good friend of mine gave me this anvil after his father passed away...I am assuming its a trenton?.the weight appears to be 150# due to the front bottom left being stamped "150". The serial # on the bottom right is "A152420" - maybe made in the early twenties?? You also can barely make out part of ACME on the drivers side..it looks like someone used it for 2000 years for coldwork only on every square inch of the anvil...soooooo...whats the best way to remove whats left of the face? Then flatten and weld on tool steel plate, 1/2" high impact? What type would that be? And can I mig or should it be stick only? What wire or electrodes work best? Whats the best temp(s) for the pre and post heat? Any help would be MUCH appreciated..now im attempting to upload the photos...

You are correct it is a Trenton made for Sears thus the ACME logo. Made in 1917. It would be impractical to replace the whole face duplicating the way it was made. Search e forum for anvil repairs and you will find much information.

Would you mine explaining the reason it would be impractical? I have the tools necessary I just need to know the correct method and materials. Yes, I am still combing through these posts for my answers, but there's tons of info to go through, thought somebody out there my be able to speed up the process for me...

ironconcepts,

A good friend of mine has repaired several anvils in this way.  If you will email me the pics and your questions, I would be happy to forward them to him.  My email address is [email protected]

Two of them were in Marble Falls, Texas last week for our Thursday and Friday classes with Mark Aspery.  They are holding up very well.

Looks like this one. good luck

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IRON-ANTIQUE-ANVIL-BLACKSMITH-CHRISTMAS-shiner-tx-dullo-/360602489936?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=aFwMu68gRBV2m6euxgp%252FwywOZs8%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

I assumed you were talking about forgewelding the entire faceplate on at one time like they did when it was made. That would require heating both the anvil base and tool steel plate to forge welding temps then a BIG hammer to join them. If you are thinking about welding the plate on around its edge that would create dead area through out the center and wouldperform poorly. I have read about a couple other methods in the forum but am not sure of the success rate and performance after the repair.

Jerry please post a brief description of the repair method, sounds interesting.

Had to refresh my memory, do a google search on anvil restoration and you will find the Gunther process under the search result from Anvil Magazine Online.

Guys thanks for all the info im gonna start absorbing it all....im leaning towards bolting down the face but I cant find much info on it...any thoughts?

And thanks jerry, ill get the pics mailed to you tomorrow. ..

I've known several smiths who have tried bolting on a replacement face after milling both pieces flat.  None of them have been real happy with the results.  (Patrick you want to chime in on this?)

 

A full penetration weld is required to get a good face---or a pretty massive build up properly done.  (generally cheaper to get an anvil with a better face)  You could use a chunk of steel for an anvil and save that one for the horn and hardy uses.