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I Forge Iron

What do you do with your worn out anvils?


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"Too far" depends entirely on too much.  Even the worst anvil face still leaves you with a horn and a hardy that can be used.  Or, put it on a low stand and use it as a striking anvil to make bottom swages for your good anvil.

 

And if it's really chewed up after decades of abuse, the heel is snapped off by some idiot's abuse decades ago and the horn wrinkled with thousands of torch cuts.... it can still be used as a weight for assembling projects.

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I've seen people refinish the surface and what not but what if it's gone too far? 

The classic solution is to heat up the old anvil in a large forge.  Cut off the old face with a hot chisel and a team of strikers.  Make a new tool steel face and forge weld it back on to the old anvil.  Then re heat the anvil to the hardening temp of the steel and quench in fast flowing water then temper to desired hardness.  This involves lots of skilled hand work and expensive equipment but this is the way it was done.  Today most people use hard facing welding rod and build up the anvil by arc welding then grind back to shape. 

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We have a 142# Trenton farriers anvil(kinda big for a farriers anvil) that has a good 3/16" sway in the face and is even swayed around the pritchel holes! I cant imagine how many shoes have been made on it. It was never "abused" by the looks just used,used and used so more..The edges are good and it still has great rebound its just swayed to death. you can still forge on it, just cant straighten anything on it :D

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