Anvil and tongs

[Doc Brock]

I have an anvil that has been well used, and I believe missed somewhat. It has a very low spot in what should be the flat working area. I need information as to how to go about repairing this and the edges. I don't have funds to take it to a machinist to have it surfaced. I'm also trying to build tongs to work with as I can not afford to just go buy them.  Please any and all help would be greatly. I'm a old disabled veteran that could use any help and or information. Thank you for your your time.

[Glenn]

The standard answer is what is it that you anvil can NOT do now that you want to do? Use it for a year and then decide if you want to remove part of the face and maybe destroy the anvil in the process.

One thing that may help is to adjust the anvil height so the hammer hits flat on the anvil face. Put a piece of wood on the anvil face and hit it with a hammer. If the crescent is at 12 o'clock the anvil is too low, if at 6 o'clock the anvil is too high. You want a nice full circle impression from the hammer on the wood. This also straightens you back so you do not bend over as a bonus.

[Frosty]

If I haven't welcomed you already Doc. Thanks for serving and welcome aboard, glad to have you. Please put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the Iforge gang live within visiting distance.

Please don't try to "repair" or "restore" your anvil. Chances are there isn't anything wrong with it and grinding or maching the face is shortening it's life up to maybe ruining it entirely. A flat face is not only not necessary it's not even desirable in many cases.

You will almost never forge lengthwise on the face you're working across it. This is the reason the anvil is dished, the vast majority of work done on it was right there. The more steel you put in contact with the anvil the faster the anvil will draw the heat and you can't really forge more than about 4". A dish actually assists in straightening long pieces, a wooden block and wooden mallet is prime tools for straightening pieces if there is texture you want to preserve.

Wanting to make their anvil "perfect" is a common desire among newcomers to the craft. There are a couple fundamental errors to the intuitive logic. First is the anvil itself. Most anvils have a relatively thin high carbon face plate over a soft iron body. the majority have forged wrought iron bodies, some have cast iron body with a foundry welded steel face, Fisher anvils being an example and a VERY desirable anvil because they're pretty darned quiet.

Being hardened high carbon steel doesn't mean it's not malleable, it it couldn't flex a little then years of hammer impacts would work harden it and eventually crack, even break it. You see this occasionally but its rare. What happens is the face flexes down under the hammer but the body being wrought or cast is malleable with almost zero modulus of elasticity or rebound. That means if you bend or dent it it doesn't bounce back and eventually the anvil has a sway. Steel was also extremely expensive till well after the civil war so anvil faces were as thin as would serve the purpose. a 3/4" thick anvil face was about max.

Sooooo, if you machine any off it's gone and gone for good. The anvil not only loses years maybe centuries of life it loses strength. Being thinner the face flexes more easily so the anvil can't resist the force applied by the hammer as well so the metal can't move like it should.

Lastly is machining the anvil properly, the face and base are rarely actually parallel so clamping an anvil to a surface grinder and grinding it flat means one side and end of the face will be much thinner, sometimes ground completely through.

More anvils are ruined by experienced and professional machinists and welders than are improved.

I know that's an awfully long post but "repairing" an anvil is not something to do lightly and chances are being a beginner you don't know if there's anything wrong with it in the first place. It's the Blacksmith that does the work, not the tools. A smooth older is all the anvil an experienced needs, Japanese bladesmiths have been forging spectacular blades on square stump anvils barely 4" on a side for centuries.

Give yourself some time to learn the craft before you start modifying the tools.

If you do a web search, including IforgeIron in the search terms works better than using the search engine on this site. Any way try searching, "making Twist Tongs." Twist tongs are fast, easy to make and work. Forging tongs is  more of an intermediate skill level project. Lastly if you use long stock you can hold it without tongs. Steel and iron doesn't conduct heat very well, 18" give or take long and one end can be molten and the other cool to the touch.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

I have a blacksmithing book now about 125 years old, Practical Blacksmithing" Richardson; it's a collections of things written up for a blacksmithing journal from the 1889, 1890, 1891.  It addresses edge issues saying "Is anybody still dumb enough to want sharp edges on an anvil?"  It then goes on and explains all the problems with sharp edges.

I believe that anvis were shipped with sharp edges to allow the smith to put the edge his work needed on it---much like a lot of European hammers were sent undressed expecting the USER to make it perfect for their use.

If you are not experienced; I strongly suggest you make no changes until you know what's really needed for how you want to use it.  

Here in the USA I have taken anvils that had been abused---like air arc gouging by a mine maintenance crew---to a local ABANA Affiliate that was hosting an Anvil Repair Day where for a nominal donation they did a proper and correct repair---one time a friend of mine brought an anvil he had had milled pretty a long time ago only to find it was then unusable.  Took 5 hours of welding and grinding on it using professional equipment to get it usable again. Pay good money to buy an anvil, pay good money to have it ruined, luckily he didn't have to pay shop fees for the repair!

[WL smith]

Use the area behind the low spot for a straight area and the low spot for straitening your piece that is how I use my low spot