quint Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 Ok guess its probably not. Just coming up with ideas. Here are pics of the bottom of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 NJanvilman so I was looking at pictures of these guys and looked at the one in show me your anvil thread. There is a fisher one in there that has square handling holes. Looks very much like mine (except mines got no name at all). '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I stand corrected. I did not remember those pictures of that anvil. The bottom of your anvil does look very much like a FISHER. And it is definitely cast. So you now know what you are dealing with. Go with any advise you were given for dealing with the anvil as a cast iron anvil. Looking at your crack pictures, I think that the crack just developed over time. Maybe there is a hidden void in the casting that started the flaw. Or it got dropped at some point in its life onto a hard surface, hitting a corner. I saw one other FISHER london pattern that had a similar crack at a sale once. I wanted it just to display, he wanted a user. He bought it. When I pointed out the crack, he was not concerned. Not all FISHER anvils had their name on them. There were inconsistencies depending on the era of manufacture and even time of day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Mystery solved! I love a good mystery, and this was neat to follow. I agree with your assessment, Quint. WIth the corner of the faceplate being dipped down a bit, it sounds like the anvil was dropped at one point, hitting that corner. The flaw in the casting was already there, and the drop allowed face to collapse into it. Good to know that it's repairable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kal Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I don't know if it will work on an anvil but back in the day, we cracked the side of an engine block of a 426 hemi. Those things were too expensive to just scrap it so we drilled and tapped a series of holes along the entire crack starting just past the end of the crack. After each screw was put in place it was ground off even with the surface and the next hole placed to overlap the first. It took a long time but the fix worked, no more water leaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 What were the sparks like when you used the grinder on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humphreymachine Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 "Not all FISHER anvils had their name on them. There were inconsistencies depending on the era of manufacture and even time of day." The name wasn’t a permanent part of the pattern? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 "Not all FISHER anvils had their name on them. There were inconsistencies depending on the era of manufacture and even time of day." The name wasn’t a permanent part of the pattern? The FISHER name was done by pressing into the mold clay an imprint of the name. Everything was done up-side down; that is why some anvils have the name on the finished anvil flipped over. Think about the process, there would have not been a way to remove the pattern without destroying the name. They had to imprint it after the pattern was removed. Even the Eagle logo was done this way for most. I have a few patterns where they had a moveable logo that could imprint the clay, then withdraw into the pattern. This hand work led to errors. I have logos on the wrong side, upside down Eagles, upside down FISHER, and one backwards FISHER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 To preface, I've never repaired cast iron, but it's my understanding that with cast iron welding, you need to grind out a crack, drill holes at the ends to prevent further splitting, preheat, weld with nickle rod (or similar), weld and then keep hot for a few hours for slow cooling to prevent the weld from cracking. This procedure is pretty common on thinner cast iron like engine blocks and manifolds, so it follows that pre- and post heat would be needed for the anvil as well. Any anvil repair experts on the forum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 To preface, I've never repaired cast iron, but it's my understanding that with cast iron welding, you need to grind out a crack, drill holes at the ends to prevent further splitting, preheat, weld with nickle rod (or similar), weld and then keep hot for a few hours for slow cooling to prevent the weld from cracking. This procedure is pretty common on thinner cast iron like engine blocks and manifolds, so it follows that pre- and post heat would be needed for the anvil as well. Any anvil repair experts on the forum? It's not a thinner casting. There is also the "cold" method of welding cast iron. Because of the shape and mass, it doesn't need pre-heating, in fact, the real effort will be to prevent overheating. Just curious, since you've never done it before, why give advice about it? If you did know anything about welding cast iron, you would realize why my method will work. Also, it is not the weld that cracks, it is the base metal, sometimes near the weld, sometimes not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonW Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I've always liked square anvils, so I'm eager & hopeful to see it fixed up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 Thanks for all the info guys, very much appreciated. Something I really like about getting a new old anvil is the learning that comes with it. Well atleast as often as I get them. I will be sure to post some pics of the repair but to be honest it wont be a quick job. Ill probably work on it a tad after work and its not a light undertaking for me anyways. But it should be fun and rewarding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yahoo2 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 The pessimist in me thinks that it is unlikely that the crack is straight across the anvil, the curve down towards the corners makes me think the plate was not cast cleanly to the base and the crack will be running up to the plate as it goes in. My guess is the plate has a good union on one half and around the edges but not in the middle of the other side. It looks like an expansion/ contraction crack to me. Hope I am wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Query. Why are there handling holes, if the anvil is cast? Or are they handling holes? The gray cast iron spark is a strange one where the red carrier lines are nigh invisible. There is a very occasional ragged looking burst at the end of the spark shower. I would spark test before going off half cocked with welding ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 Its cast iron. When drilled its the little chips and dusty. Plus it turns your hands black almost and is harder to clean up which is usually a good indication. Yahoo the crack goes clean threw so basically half of the top is secured very well like a new anvil. The other half is basically the steel plate with a chunk of cast iron hanging off of it. Basically gonna have to clean out that portion then fill it in basically. Gonna take a bit but hopefully I can get it done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Got to wonder if one would be better drilling holes from the base to just shy of the top, then finish the break with chisels, separating the halves. Tap out the holes in the top part, counterbore the holes in the bottom, and bolt the anvil together. Maybe put a coat of epoxy on the crack surface them bolt it up real tight. It will be major job to grind out that crack, and to even know when you reach the limit of the crack. Then to try to weld onto a 300 lb+ hunk of iron will not be easy. It is not a repair I would try. I would just display it as a "cracked" anvil; to show that even anvil can break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yahoo2 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I would be willing to put an imaginary $AU five bucks ($4.47 US) on it :D if I can get that spider out of my wallet! . I reckon on the end and the corners it will curl towards the plate. In my mind I see a shape like half a mushroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyrode Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Didn't read through all the comments, but has anyone addressed drawing? You grind 3-6" into something, then fill it with weld while keeping it hot enough for your filler metal to penetrate, and this x-ray certified welder will GUARANTEE that you won't have a flat anvil face anymore. If you're lucky, the face will warp. If you're unlucky, the face or body won't have the yield strength to bend and something will snap. Maybe I misunderstood the repair techniques as suggest, but it seems like kind of a big deal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Didn't read through all the comments, but has anyone addressed drawing? You grind 3-6" into something, then fill it with weld while keeping it hot enough for your filler metal to penetrate, and this x-ray certified welder will GUARANTEE that you won't have a flat anvil face anymore. If you're lucky, the face will warp. If you're unlucky, the face or body won't have the yield strength to bend and something will snap. Maybe I misunderstood the repair techniques as suggest, but it seems like kind of a big deal... Yeah, you missed the part about it being cast iron apparently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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