Midnight Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Hey, guys! I just bought this anvil, and I was wondering if I should use it as is, or if I should resurface it? If you can't tell from the pictures, it's an old peter wright from a foundry here where I live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Many a good anvil has been destroyed by "resurfacing" and repair. For the most part it is better to leave it alone and use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 no, no, no, as others will say a sway back can actually come in handy, wen straightening out your work piece, and since you do most of your forging not on the long ways of the anvil it isn't much of a problem, and like I said can actually be a advantage yours isn't even much of a sway. also don't grind on it, most face plates are pretty thin, and grinding an anvil only shortens the life span of it. Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Can you tell me if this vehicle will suit my needs? Why not? Anvil edges are supposed to be rounded, some swale is a good thing DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING. A picture of the face of the anvil is needed ; (as is what you plan to be using it for.) Not showing the face is like asking if you need new tires and only show side shots where you can't see the tread. My general take is NO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Use the anvil for a year and then come back, tell us what the anvil condition will NOT allow you to do, and ask for advice. Ten hours of hammering on HOT metal will clean up the face and make it shine. No need for abrasives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 The reason I didn't include a photo of the face was simply because the pitting doesn't concern me. As for the use, this is going to be my general purpose anvil; everything from axes to swords will be made on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Ok standard advice is to use it for a year and then judge if it's meeting your needs or not and if not would it be better to work on the anvil of make a hardy tool(s) to deal with the use gap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 3 hours ago, Midnight said: everything from axes to swords will be made on this. so you are a smith with many years of experience then? making a sword is not a project for a beginner, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I think he is pointing out that by the time you are ready to make swords this might not be the anvil you are using; just like the car you buy to learn to drive on is most likely not the one you enter formula one races with... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 For most of the history of sword making that would be considerd a spectacular anvil... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shade Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Looks like someone as already welded a thin (~1/4") plat to the top of the anvil. Does it have a nice ring? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I would suspect that is the original tool steel plate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shade Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 31 minutes ago, Charles R. Stevens said: I would suspect that is the original tool steel plate, forge welded inplace It looks like an arc weld on the edge in the last picture the OP posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Your more of an expert on arc welds than I am. I just stick stick stuff to gether ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anachronist58 Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Hmmm. Doesn't look like an arc weld to me. Yes it definitely needs to be resurfaced - Take a red hot bar of any forgeable steel. Forge it into a desirable object. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Your anvil will either be transformed into a beloved workmate, or you will come to despise it - in the latter case, send it to me. All kidding aside, it looks fine from here. SHADE - After viewing your background, I took a closer look. Appears to be an intact weld bead on the left, and has been popping out on the right (Image #4). Robert Taylor Edited July 18, 2016 by Anachronist58 error in judgement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 if you need a smooth face, sharp edges or any radius you want ( plus many other options just make a hardy tool like I do.... http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/46942-for-those-who-must-have-sharp-edges-on-anvils/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shade Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 36 minutes ago, Anachronist58 said: SHADE - After viewing your background, I took a closer look. Appears to be an intact weld bead on the left, and has been popping out on the right (Image #4). Robert Taylor That is what it looks like to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SReynolds Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 When I first got started (and bought my first real anvil) swords were a general mainstay for me. Heck. I think child can make 'em. And my anvil has some pretty severe amount of wear to it as well. I don't make nails on it cuz the edges are destroyed and I was tought to make a shoulder first on a relatively sharp corner. So I use a steel block held in place with the hardie hole. OK to be honest I just think it a tiny bit odd that folks who ain't even got an anvil want to make swords. My students are never happy with hooks, nails, leaves and tongs. They can't swing a hammer well enough to make hooks, nails, leaves and tongs but that has nothing to do with it. Swords are the thing. Let's start hammering them out........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I generally like my students too much to set them up for frustration and failure. And so my starting projects are ones they can succeed with; I let them learn that they need to build the skills before tackling tougher projects so they don't ruin piece after piece after piece and give up in disgust. (I made swords when I was in single digits---carved them from palm fronds with my pocket knife down in Coco Beach Fl, USA ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I'm actually glad my other reply was lost by IPSI I get frustrated talking to people who don't know what they're doing but are going to modify tools and equipment they don't know how to use to to make things years beyond their skills sets. "everything from axes to swords WILL be made on this." Good thing a pitted anvil face doesn't matter to him. I'll bet when he gets finished it WILL have nice sharp edges too. What is this kind of thinking called? There has to be a proper name. There was a good article about humans and how they grossly over estimate their knowledge and abilities out of ignorance. I can NEVER remember the name of the paper and can't find it bookmarked. I've got to stop getting involved in these discussions, he's made his decision and that's it as far as he's concerned. No matter how it really works out it'll be FANTASTIC in his mind and we'll just be curmudgeons for pointing out the likely failure modes and consequences. I just wish kids would stop ruining good tools. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Note I would like to state that the following does not necessarily apply to the OP; but to some of the things raised in the discussion: "The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which relatively unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability to be much higher than it really is. The bias was first experimentally observed by David Dunning and Justin Kruger of Cornell University in 1999. Dunning and Kruger attributed this bias to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their own ineptitude and evaluate their own ability accurately. Their research also suggests corollaries: highly skilled individuals may underestimate their relative competence and may erroneously assume that tasks which are easy for them are also easy for others." Wikipedia That one? I've noticed many a student who had strong opinions on things smithing when they did not have the knowledge base to make good judgements from. I had my blood sugar go low when teaching recently and actually told a student that I didn't care what they thought as they didn't know enough to have a good opinion on the subject. They were a bit shocked that *their* opinion was considered worthless. I guess they've been taught that everybody's opinions are of equal worth. Pity that the world doesn't work that way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I dont consider myself skilled in smithing, I have some ability in seeing how to do things and helping those of greater skill than mine, I often teach my minion things way above what I can do I am totally useless at all things arty but am good at designing the type of things I make, mostly without reference to similar projects by others I am happy not being a master or even a good smith, I have my own skill set I have mostly taught myself. it means I can do some things better than you but you can do some things better than me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 That's the one Thomas, I knew I could count on you. The Dunning Kruger effect isn't something wrong with a person, we ALL lived it as can be seen every day. Ever see the bumper sticker, "Hire a teenager while they still know everything." Experience is gaining enough knowledge to realize we don't know what we're doing till we learn how. I've never called myself a "Blacksmith" but I blacksmith (the verb) a bit. My real strengths are elsewhere and since the accident they've diminished significantly. I've never met a person who didn't know things I don't, couldn't do something better than I. Life on earth, normal normal. I guess my big wish of the day was for a way to convince new folk not to destroy things learning how to mess them up. It's probably not possible, wishful thinking. I think I'll go out to the shop, I have some burner experiments to try. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 Okay, okay. I would like to start by thanking all of you for your input; hearing what everyone had to say has been rather eye opening. I asked the person who owned it before I, and he said that he hadn't done any refurbishing to it, and given that besides the foundry that bought it all those years ago he is the only one who has owned it I think that it's rarely easy to say that the face on that anvil is the original forge weld. Anyways, I have been blacksmithing for a couple years now, but this is my first anvil, I only ever used ALOs. I have made a sword before now, and even though they are a lot of work, I wouldn't call them hard, with that being said though, I bet the difficulty scales exponentially with the length of the blade. Anyways, I have decided that I am going to take the unanimous advice that y'all are handing me and just leave it as is. Thank you all, once again; what a wonderful community you seem to have here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 How much did your sword weigh? Was the vibration node at the grip? What alloy did you use and how did you do the heat treat? (Main places I've seen folks go wrong with swords...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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