I know this is me being lazy (also not even the slightest clue where to look for a good reference...patent number?) but was the cast iron used in anvils different than your typical casting?  Would regular white cast (Do I have that right? White cast being a ceramic mold casting that makes it cool faster making it harder and tougher somehow? As compared to gray cast being a sand mold?) be tough enough to hold up to our brand of beating?  The cooking to make it malleable cast would cook all the carbon out of the tool steel face wouldn't it?

  I guess what I'm trying to get at would be that I'm wondering if they somehow cooked all the carbon out before casting, effectively making it cast steel?

This has been split from the thread on anvil molds. It will not mix the two discussions.

Thanks for sorting me out Glenn.

  I had a feeling my question wasn't closely enough related to that beautiful anvil pattern.  Also, now that I think on it some more, I'm not sure if I have all my facts straight enough to even ask these questions.  It's been a couple of years since I read whatever book it was that differentiated (very generally I'm sure) between gray, white, and malleable cast iron, but I'm sure it didn't cover Brooks, Fisher, Vulcan or any other cast anvils and the particulars of their castings.

  Edit: I did find Fisher pat. 189892 again, which explains about the hornplate and faceplate. I'm asking about the method and material of the actual casting.

Edited December 23, 201510 yr by Quarry Dog
Minor re-research.

I wouldn't think it is white, because if I remember right white cast iron cannot be welded. 

Is this pertaining to a possible repair?

  I think this was just me overthinking what materials would be used by Fisher and Vulcan.  I'm pretty sure it was just plain old gray cast and that all the durability of the face and horn was from the steel plates.

  Sorry for disappearing.  I've been off on a few adventures since the last time I was in here.  Forgot how much easier it is to focus on a specific topic in here versus Facebook groups.  Glad to be back!

Good to see you're web handle showing up in the posts. I'll hang out on a forum over FB any day. FB is almost uselessly chaotic, unsearchable it's like a jr. high school cafeteria. 

So, what have you been up to?

Frosty The Lucky.

Fisher anvil bodies were cast from what was called 'gun iron' which is very different than low grade iron in cheap ASO's. IIRC, it was also called 'semi-steel' by companies that made cast stake tools for tinsmiths and jewelers.

That was not the answer I expected, but is good information that I will now store away.

Good Morning,

According to a friend in Hamilton, that makes Swage Blocks (big & small), Cones, Fire-Pots, etc., he uses 'Maleable Iron'. Probably poured at Stelco.

Neil

A lot of better-quality anvils and swage blocks in current and recent production are made from ductile cast iron, which has additional elements (usually magnesium or silicon, I believe) that cause the excess carbon to form spherical nodules that are more resistant to cracking than the usual flat flakes. Malleable iron similarly has the extra carbon in a nodular structure, but that's a product of casting in white iron and carefully managing the subsequent heat treatment.

Ductile iron was developed in the mid-20th century, and I doubt that Fisher would have bothered to change from a proven material to a comparatively new one unless it offered a significant benefit at a comparable cost. That's just my speculation, though.

"Gun iron", by the way, was a form of cast iron created by reheating pig iron in a finery furnace, not -- as with the production of wrought iron -- to burn off the excess carbon in order to produce wrought iron, but to oxidize the excess phosphorus that would otherwise weaken the cast object.

Some of the ASOs in production certainly use ductile cast iron - I've got a Chinese ASO that I picked up about 20 years ago at a flea market at Ft. Hood. It was my first anvil and is ductile. It's ugly as sin, and the surface is soft, with no rebound, but on the other hand, you can beat on it all day without breaking it and when it gets marred, it cleans up easily with a flap disc without feeling too bad about it.

Since they're heavy but have dead rebound, I've also found that ductile iron anvils are wonderful for upsetting.