So, I found an used anvil, took a chance with it.

I'm not sure what brand it is. It's sourced in southern scandinavia. I think it forged, as I can't find any molding seams and it has several strategically placed holes in the base and sides for tongs.

Weight is about 75kg.

The pritchel hole at the horn seems like it's blocked. Might just be gunk, there a slightly smaller hole below the horn.

I think that someone once tried to fix the face by welding a plate to it (or just weld the face). The did a poor job, as it's starting to look like a teenagers face... It's uneven and full of spots. On one of the pictures, you'll see a large portion of it broken of. Tried to sand it down, but I would need to remove about 8mm for it to be leveled.

What do you guys think? Worth saving, brand and maker?

 

Note: I wrote this on my phone. When I get near a pc, I'll clean up the post.

Use the anvil for 6 months or a year and get to know the ole girl. You can always make modifications later.

even as is it is far better than most smiths had over history, the pale may be original and forge welded on, over time and use it has worn, corroded and got broken.

you could use it and learn to make use of all the features of the surface, you could try to repair it but that is a major job for experienced people, anvil repair people not normal welders!

the metal below the plate is softer wrought iron so will deform if you are not carefull

do not grind or remove more metal as this could make the anvil worse

Wow.  There is the joke about old iron being used as a boat anchor but this one looks like it really spent some time as one.

I don't think there is any value in a restoration so I'd (in the long run) look more toward alternative uses--such as whether it can be used as a secondary hardy hole or base for other tooling.  I'd keep searching for a more workable anvil while tolerating this one's "charm".

There are some usable features so don't hesitate to play around and do some forging on the good parts--but by the time you put the time and effort into bringing that back from the dead, you'd have more money into it than purchasing a better anvil would likely cost.

Glenn said it best above--make do, use her to learn what she can teach. Keep your eyes open for alternatives (they WILL pop up if you have patience).  Beautiful forgings have been made with rocks as anvils so it's not as bad as the boat anchor of the old joke and can give you at least some use as is.

I don't think that I have ever seen an anvil in worse shape.

Oh, I have seen much worse....

I think there is an ugly anvil thread from awhile back.

     Its shaped like an anvil. 

      If someone didn't tell you this is an anvil, you may not recognize it.

       Could it be a starfish?

        N.N.F.                                                         Beautiful, Manchester, Michigan. USA 

3 hours ago, NoName said:

     Its shaped like an anvil. 

      If someone didn't tell you this is an anvil, you may not recognize it.

       Could it be a starfish?

        N.N.F.                                                         Beautiful, Manchester, Michigan. USA 

That looks like a decapitated starfish

Maybe sell it to a collector and use the cash toward an anvil in more serviceable condition. I am certainly no anvil expert but this thing could be several hundred years old and of great value to the right collector.

well, I wouldn't resurface it, and I defiantly wouldn't throw it out. I would keep it in the living room, what a conversation piece!

                                                                                                            Littleblacksmith

Wrong configuration for an extremely old anvil.  Not nearly as abused as some on my wall of shame.  I would check the face for delamination and figure out how much would need to be replaced and read up on the Gunter method of anvil repair and decide if it's worth it to you to sink that much time and money into it.

If so GO FOR IT!  Clean to bare metal/sound face-body weld and preheat and weld all day on it.

Use hard facing build up rod before you use the hard facing rods. Hard facing rod is limited to 2 passes or it starts to have embrittleness problems, read the info and instruction sheets. Build up rod is impact resistant so it doesn't deform when hammered on. It provides an unyielding surface to support the much more brittle hard face rod. When you pick hard face rod do NOT fall into the trap of thinking harder is better it's NOT. Pick "Metal on STONE" hard facing rod it's designed to take a severe hammering without breaking up.

7018 is NOT appropriate build up rod no matter what folk here say they've gotten away with using, it WILL deform under impact, it is to stick things together and remain flexible NOT provide an unyielding sub surface.

Follow the Gunter method including the Stoody rod he recommends, you may have to ask about build up rod. Without measuring it that anvil looks to need building up before facing. Use stones in your right angle grinder disks they last a LOT longer. Be very careful to keep the stone or disk FLAT on the anvil face it's really common to see angled edges where the guy grinding tilted the grinder. It cuts faster but you don't end up with a flat face.

Frosty The Lucky.

On 7/28/2016 at 7:56 AM, Scrambler82 said:

Novice's observation/opinion and we all have them.

Obviously all of the metal is fatigued...  and the top plate is worn through and delaminating, 

It looks like it was buried for a number of years or subjected to a lot of heat, breaking down the outer surface and metal bonds, oxidizing the outer layers and letting the rush take over.

You might find a spot to bang some steel on but I would look for small blocks of steel and make hardier tools and use the anvil's mass as a base for the hardies.

How about pictures of both ends and the bottom ?

This thing is old, indeed. Right now I'm only using it for it's Hardy hole (As you mentioned).

I'll see if I can get a few pictures of the sides and the bottom.

On 7/28/2016 at 11:47 AM, ThomasPowers said:

Wrong configuration for an extremely old anvil.  Not nearly as abused as some on my wall of shame.  I would check the face for delamination and figure out how much would need to be replaced and read up on the Gunter method of anvil repair and decide if it's worth it to you to sink that much time and money into it.

If so GO FOR IT!  Clean to bare metal/sound face-body weld and preheat and weld all day on it.

Could you elaborate what you mean with wrong configuration?

Never heard of the Gunter method, but I'm xxxx happy to hear you and Frosty mention it. I'm all for restoring old stuff, so I won't worry about the time it takes.

Guess I'll read up on the Gunter method

I'll admit that I haven't been around a stick welder for nearly a century. So I'll need to go fetch one... What sort of amps will be needed? Would 150 be enough?

 

Fixed the pics for you. Turning my head wasn't working for me. I don't think it looks as bad as some of the ones we've seen here. I'd probably just use it as is then take it from there in a year's time. 

 

All the best 

Andy

 

 

 

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 8:59 PM, WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith.c said:

I don't think that I have ever seen an anvil in worse shape.

Well, I actually saw one that was worse yesterday at the "Highway 127 Worlds Longest Yard Sale".  It looked to be about 50# and had a price tag of $269.50.  I also saw a decent swage  about 100# for $900.00.  They sure were proud of their stuff.  I didn't buy either one!

Really old London pattern anvils tend to not have much of a heel or horn; so that one is old but not really old.

I am surprised at all the negativity. Looks a wonderful old thing to me. It certainly does not owe the blacksmithing profession anything. And still has a lot more to give, even just as is.

I guarantee you will be able to create more forms with it just as it is than you could do with an undressed flat topped sharp edged brand-new anvil straight from your favourite supplier.

The wear pattern with no damage to the bick makes me think of a life of pointing chisels and drill bits in a mine or quarry. But whatever the process, it was in use complete with its sway back probably right up until the hard facing finally gave up...Obviously good quality weld in that it had done pretty well to conform to that amount of sway up until then.

Looks like it was chucked outside and got a bit buried in leaf mulch or whatever to cause the deep pitted surface on the sides.

My father always looked for well worn tools, reasoning that somebody had found it was a good tool and liked using it enough to put some wear on it. 

You never know but that bit in the middle might make a perfect cutting or chiselling soft surface for a particular project.

If you don't find a use for it as is, that is the time to think about restoration. In that case I would be inclined to restore it back to a hard faced sway back and not try and make it a flat top.

Honourable tool, enjoy it for what it is.

Alan