I finally built a stand for Pete the steel mill anvil and have started using it. For one of my first projects I was going to build some tooling for Pete's hardy hole only to find that Pete's hardy is rather rough. It looks like it was torched out with irregular edges. The hardy is squarish with rounded corners at the face but flares out as it gets deeper into the anvil. I initial thought that 1 inch square would fit but not without taking off the corners. I am unsure if I should dress the hardy in some way, perhaps to square up the corners a bit with a file, or just forge the shanks on my tooling to match an irregular hole, or some other option I haven't thought of? I am open to any ideas. Thanks

I would square up the hole.

I’ve been down this road and it isn’t easy...but I agree with Irondragon.  Filing is tedious at best.  Try to not flare out the hole any more than it already is.  Measure a lot!  I used a wedge of clay, stuffing it into the hole, to get a read on what areas needed working.  A burr grinder or dremel works as well but can lead to mistakes if you aren’t careful.  Good luck.  The only way to make it right is to get at it.

Is that a Geneva steel mill anvil?

If you attach the hardie tool to a hardie plate, then you can just weld a diagonal piece of flat bar to the other side of the plate that will fit in the hardie hole.

Get it as clean and square as you can, but pleeeaaaassse make sure you don’t make the top wider than the bottom. You do NOT want to get a hardy tool wedged in place!

I purchased it at an estate auction. After I purchased it, one of the neighbors told me that it had come out of Geneva. They told me it had been formed out of a single piece of steel. How did you know it was from Geneva? Do you know more information about this anvil? It would be great to get more history on it. I have wanted to get more information on it since I got it.

I don't have any info on the anvil. But judging on your location there was only one steel mill in that neighborhood. To bad they sold everything to the Chinese steel mills. Glad to see someone salvaged something from there before it was sold off. I'm from just up the road from you in SLC.

15 hours ago, Lou L said:

Filing is tedious at best.

I used a small cold chisel that I forged then filed the remainder on the hardy hole I trued up. I also make the shanks of my hardy's long enough to protrude through the bottom for when they get stuck and a light tap frees them up.

 

The cold chisel is a great idea...not sure why I didn’t do that.  <headslap>

Maybe a cape chisel?

That is pretty much the shape I forged bit ground like a straight cut hardy.

On 3/3/2019 at 12:38 PM, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

I used a small cold chisel that I forged then filed the remainder on the hardy hole I trued up.

Ive never used a chisel to true up a hardy hole, but it cant hurt. Ive filed a few. Thats my preferred way. You have the best control with a file.

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Whatever you do do NOT square up the corners! Leave or make them rounded, a hardy hole is a B-A-D place for cold shuts!

I thought about modifying files to fit my BIG saber saw. I can't think of the specific name right now, it's a Porter Cable I believe.

I ended up not needing to so I never tried a file in a sabersaw.

Anybody close do water jet cutting? 

Frosty The Lucky. 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I ended up using a file. It didn't take very long. I included a picture of the finished product with a piece of 1 inch stock in it and one without the stock.

Now get to making some hardy tooling!  Nice job.

Looks good!