SEMO forge Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 This anvil has been sitting on my Papa's back porch for as long as i can remember and he got it from a friend and who knows where he got it. It's about 115 lbs and not in bad shape from what i can tell, but the table is pretty torn up. I've seen people cut lines in their hammers for texture but never an anvil and that is what it looks like here. how should i go about cleaning it up? A friend of mine said to use an angle grinder, and my teacher has put his anvils to his surface grinder, i don't want to ruin the anvil by overheating and it is really only the table that is bad. Also, What is the round cup like thing? ive never seen one and it was with the anvil so im lost on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 Do you mean the face or the cutting step? In general I suggest you only remove as much material from the face of your anvil as you are willing to remove from your face---and do yours first! Pictures are not showing can you try reposting them. Grinding or milling the hardened layer from your anvil is like grinding or milling the head off your car's engine---and then wondering why is doesn't work anymore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 NO GRINDING and taking a mill or surface grinder to it is a disaster in the making! The table or step was often used as a cutting step, it's not hardened so as to not damage chisels. This is why they're so often all chopped up and it doesn't lower the usability of the anvil one bit. A more modern technique is to use a soft sacrificial steel plate laid over the anvil's face to cut on, this preserves both the anvil and the chisels. Your pictures only show up as code. If you'll attach the files directly from the folder on your computer they'll upload properly, don't go through a graphics program. If you do a Save As at a reduced file size it'll save bandwidth on the download side. Lots of members are on dial up connections and bandwidth is expensive and time consuming. We'll be able to see it clearly at say 200kb. honest. In general a wire cup brush on a disk grinder is all the clean up an anvil needs. HOT steel and hammers will put a beautiful shine on her face. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEMO forge Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 thank you, ive read never to grind on the anvil but people still do it and i wasnt really sure how to go about it. the face analogy really got the point across here is the picture, i tried to make it smaller but if it didn't work i apologize Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 The face looks well within usability and the cutting step/table is not as bad as some I've seen. Wire brush off any loose rust on the face and then forging red hot steel on it will slowly polish it to gleaming. In 37 years of smithing I've seen under 5 anvils I thought should be milled or ground and dozens that were destroyed as users by folks doing so when it wasn't needed! Particularly annoying when they said they did it to get sharp edges and a 125 year old smithing book says "Is anybody so ignorant of smithing that they think an anvil should have sharp edges!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEMO forge Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 thanks again, but what about that round piece that was with it ( down to the right) ive never seen one or heard of people using them. for all i know it was just something my papa put on it and forgot about for 10 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 The most likely Mill Ball? (From a ball mill of course). Excellent ball stakes for armouring or cut in two for mushroom stakes. At the flea market down here there is a guy that sells them cheap as mill balls and a fellow two aisles over that sells them for BIG BUCKS as cannon balls. Unfortunately cannon ball sizes were standardized a long long time ago and they don't match *any* used in the USA. To weld treat them as high carbon/high manganese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEMO forge Posted April 12, 2018 Author Share Posted April 12, 2018 thank you very much once again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 She looks to be in fine working condition. Good score! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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