Hi guys 

Just a update got the anvil this weekend and it looks great.

It is +- 197kg so that is awesome.

I started stripping the vice to clean it up and the screw box is 100%

You can make bottom tools with a round shank, and just add a tail that hangs over the heel to keep them from spinning. Is that a wrought iron body with a top plate, or is it cast steel?

Hi guys thanks for the advice I have been working on the anvil and loving it. One thing that is a problem is that there is some welding on the horn and it looks like the anvil took a good bang on the horn and it looks like the horn has a mushroom on the tip. Any advice would be appreciated how do I did this ? I just feel like grinding off the welding and mushroom but I would like to consult with the professionals first .

Most older anvils have the tip of the horn/bick flattened a little. Done to prevent getting punctured if bumped against by the smith. Before grinding the weld, I would try a file if its soft.

Bout the 3rd time you run into the horn (they generally are at an unfortunate height!) in the same week you may find yourself grabbing a hammer and dulling it down a bit more...

If you need a small sharp horn---make one for your hardy hole!

My vulcan has really sharp edges and horn. I have the horn facing the wall so i dont run into it. I keep the vulcan with sharp edges for when i need them but that is abput the only time she sees a hammer. It was given to me by a really good friend and it is literally like brand new and i plan to keep it that way. I have other anvils with rounded edges that see most of the work.

Thank you guys 

I have some rail track that I will turn onto a small "hardy horn" the other thing that is funny my anvil has a round hole for a hardy I'm not sure if the previous owner drilled it out or if it is a different type of anvil. But I am thinking of making a hardy stand and mount it next to my anvil 

May we have a picture of it and it's round hardy hole?

Go back a page TP.  He has some decent pictures of what he's referring to on page 1.

I will tomorro

My guess is that when they lost the original hardy hole---still see part of it on the heel scar, they drilled one and made it large enough to drop in their original hardy tools rather than go to the trouble to make is smaller and square. Perhaps you could measure the scar and then multiply it by the square root of two and compare that number to the size of the round hole? (or without math cut a piece of cardstock square to match the hardy hole scar on a side and compare with round hole.)

Yes that makes a lot of sense. Do you think making a separate hardy stand is the best i am Scared of doing work to the anvil 

depends if spinning hardy tooling causes problems with your methods and type of work.  the contact plates on bulldozers and road graders often have good sized square holes that can be used.  I found a nice 50# piece of one with 2 1" sq holes that I picked up at the scrapyard (us$10) in case I had a student wanting to sledge a bit...

To be honest I'm still learning I don't have any hardy tools yet but I will get some soon , I used a chisel as a hot cut and it worked fine but the spinning made it a bit difficult 

Find a bit of heafty plate or similar to make a 'saddle' to sit atop your anvil and cut a square hardy hole in it, Sit it over the existing replacement hole and the jobs a goodoun, it will double as a cutting plate or you can even drill a series of holes in it to use it as a bolster for punching holes.

Or find a piece of sq tubing that is a snug fit in the round hole and have it mig welded around the top. Don't forget the preheat to avoid HAZ cracking..  (In older days I would have suggested sealing the bottom of the square tubing and pouring lead in the gaps.)

You can make bottom tools with a round shank, and just add a tail that hangs over the heel to keep them from spinning.

That is a good idea thanks