Hay Budden Anvil

[David R.]

Just purchased an anvil. Hay Budden. I can't read the middle number under the name but the first number is one and the last number is zero. The fellow I got it from says it weighs 168 lbs.. I'd looked at this anvil for a while, finally managed to work out a trade with my old cast anvil for it. The face is very clean with only small amount of wear on edges. It does have some cuts and nicks on the horn. Any reason not to grind them out and clean up the horn a little?
I worked with the cast anvil (ALO) for a while and didn't realize how important a good rebounding anvil was until I worked some in another shop on a good anvil. A friend loaned me a beautiful old Peter Wright and even though it has a good bit of wear it is a joy to use compared to the cast one.
I've never seen an anvil with more rebound than this Hay Budden. I dropped my ball bearing on it and it bounces back like 90%! It really rings like a bell. Have not gotten to forge on it yet. Any one using Hay Buddens? Did I get a good anvil?

[John McPherson]

You did not get a good anvil. You lucky dog, you got a GREAT anvil. If I were in your shoes, I would be on pain meds for grinning for 48 hours straight, even in my sleep. 

 

Hay-Buddens were made in Brooklyn NY, back when NYC was the capitol of American manufacturing, and they were considered the finest US maker. So the weight was marked in pounds, not British hundredweights. The middle number was probably 7, for 170 pounds.

 

Good quality pictures would help us diagnose the patient.

 

Don't get too aggressive grinding on this thing just yet. Grinding to the bottom of a nick or gouge may cost you a lot of tool steel or wrought iron face. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.

 

Many users cut stock with a chisel on the small table between the raised face and the horn. I would not touch this unless it was very bad, and let it be worn as a badge of 100 years of service. Make a copper, aluminum or mild steel cutting saddle to cover it.

 

If the face or horn just has shallow chisel marks and channel shaped divots from working cold iron, then you have not lost any metal volume, just displaced it. You can work it over with the ball end of a ball peen hammer and massage them back into place. Clean up should only then be done with a fine grit flap disk or sander, not a hard wheel on a grinder.

 

If the tip of the horn is mushroomed, it can be heated to yellow/white and hammered back into shape. Generally a two man job, one holding a backer, and one hammering. If it is wrought iron it will only split at a red, not weld back together.

 

If there are torch cuts or gouges more than 1/8" deep, only then I would consider having them ground clean and professionally welded back to flush with the surface. Don't grind away the metal face, and don't let anyone talk you into machining the face flat.

 

Welcome David, and may good luck keep coming your way.

 

psssst. If you go to your profile and give us a general location under your name, we will quit pestering you. And you might find some like-minded folks in your area.

[David R.]

Thanks guys for the replies, the face on this anvil is very clean, the cutting shelf shows some use. the only real damage is some cut marks on the horn but these aren't serious. I could forge out an axe head easier than I can figure out how to get pictures on this thing but I'll keep trying. MAYBE GET ONE OF THE KIDS TO SHOW ME AGAIN.

[Frank Turley]

I concur. Hay Buddens are gregarious.

[DanielC]

Anvils in their own right are addicted to friends. Once you own one you own many. I went from one to four in a matter of months. Looking for a power hammer now too!

[Jim Coke]

Greetings Dave,

 

It's like going shopping at the Fiat dealer for a vehicle and ending up driving out with a Cadillac at the same price, 

 

Some of us just get lucky

 

Enjoy   Jim

[ThomasPowers]

The start of a great "harem" of anvils  (My wife's term for my lovelies...)

[David R.]

Here are some pictures of my anvils. The one on the left is the old Peter Wright, the one on the right is the new Hey Budden. The old PW has a good bit of edge wear but very little settling or sway back. She is a good honest old anvil and a joy to forge on. I have not had a chance to try out the Hey Budden yet.