Keiran Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Hello, My first anvil, feels good, feels really good! Not sure my car agrees though after the trip home! I want to love it and care for it and have given it a light wire brushing as it was mossy and double painted... I would like to know as much about it as possible, i work it out as 326lbs from the 2 3 18 on the side and also that it is probably English because of this numbering. It has a cross with dots on the other side and JWJ /\ on one of the legs. I have attached some pics if it worked! If anyone can help me id it I would be very grateful. One of the hardy holes is blocked with ?lead, i'll probably just leave that. The other hole will work if i need it. The chip on the side I will probably also leave I cant bring myself to angle grind her just yet! I was going to oil it but realised that the only oil i had was either two stroke or mineral oil for my bike brakes! Would either be appropriate or should I go out and buy something specific? Any advice on how to maintain her would also be greatly appreciated. I plan on making some knives when I get a hammer some tongues and a forge to go with her (i'll probably make one out of an old propane tank or something coz i'm skint now!). Thanks in advance. Keiran. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Welcome aboard Keiran, glad to have you. Nice score on the anvil, that looks like it has a couple few generations of life in her. Your great grandkids will be bragging on you while showing it and your work off. The chips aren't serious nothing to worry about until you're skills have grown to a solid proficient level. Then if they give you problems is plenty soon enough to consider addressing them. I can see at least part of the edges are radiused and that's a good thing, it allows you to set shoulders without causing the cold shuts a sharp inside corner and initiate. That's good. Not knowing how old the paint on that beautiful old lady is I would NOT sand or wire brush it off, lead paint was prevalent in the not too distant past and the dust is NOT A GOOD THING. If you MUST remove the paint look into a paint stripper or perhaps have it professionally sand basted, they will be prepared to dispose of hazardous materials it's the nature of their business. You'd have to call around for prices of course and the weight may be a factor. If you chemically strip the paint you'll have a hazardous material to deal with safely, there may be a charge. Is there a reason you want to take the paint off? There is nothing about a painted anvil that interferes with using it as the tool it is. Aesthetics can get expensive. I believe most anvils came from the maker painted company colors or whatever color the buyer would pay for. A good finish is Boiled Linseed Oil, often called BLO on Iforge. My favorite is Trewax a brand of carnuba paste furniture and floor wax. The kind of wax used on bowling alley lanes, you know the kind they have to use a drum sander to strip off. I apply it to hot tea/coffee temperature steel or the anvil and wipe off the excess it soaks in deeply and when cool is really hard and durable. That isn't a sales pitch I just prefer the finish. More folk will be jumping in. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keiran Posted May 31, 2020 Author Share Posted May 31, 2020 Thanks frosty, I was only taking paint off to see/reveal the markings more as I would like to know more about her. I like the black and green finish and will be leaving it, I definitely like it much more than potentially lead laced dust! haha. I will have a look online for the waxes (thanks for the tip) but failing that I'll get some linseed oil, I have used it before and have relatively easy access to it. Thanks again for the advice, Keiran. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 You're welcome, it's my pleasure. The trick will be warming your anvil enough to melt carnuba paste wax so it'll penetrate if you go that route. But it's durable, mine anvil is still waxed after a good 30+ years, some outside in the old tarp tent shop. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Where the JWJ is stamped, I would say probably a prior owners initials/mark, doubt it's a maker mark. That's merely a guess on my part. Undoubtedly it looks like an excellent anvil. How is the ring & rebound? All it needs is hot steel pounded on it to make the face shine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keiran Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 Irondragon, thanks. I don't have a ballbearing to test but it feels bouncy under a hammer and sings a nice tune! I might pull apart one of my bikes to get a small bearing, size of bearing only matters to help see it easily right? Thanks again, Keiran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 Larger bearings also work better on unpolished faces, though all loose rust should be wirebrushed off anyway. (Micro-pitting is a bigger issue with smaller ball bearings than larger ones.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keiran Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 Thanks TP, I'll look on ebay or something for a large bb! Keiran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 Any place local that does crane or large equipment repair? If you do buy online make sure that you are getting a ball bearing and not just a steel ball. Plain steel balls are sold for a variety of uses but are not hardened like a Ball Bearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keiran Posted June 3, 2020 Author Share Posted June 3, 2020 I know of a shop called 'city seals and bearings' I'll make a trip down! I think all they sell are bearings. Its in a very industrial part of town. Thanks again, Keiran. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 Don't forget to mention that you can use worn, used or out of spec ball bearings---what you are interested in is the alloy and heat treat not the sphericity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 If you live near an airport see if there is a helicopter mechanic there, they replace bearings at an amazing rate. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 I got mine from a heavy truck mechanic, he gave me a large used bearing that the balls are 1 inch (or actually 0.942) that I cut apart and as a bonus I got the races to forge into knives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keiran Posted June 4, 2020 Author Share Posted June 4, 2020 Helicopter and truck bearings, I might go make friends with the closest scrap yard I can find. I live close to a mine also, they might have something! Thanks again for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 I ran across a helicopter mechanic at his moving sale, he made me take 2 buckets of loose bearing balls loaded till the handles were ready to break if I REALLY wanted the aviation snips and hammers. Darn guy wouldn't take more than $5. for the lot and he kept walking to the truck with armloads of other stuff. He was really REALLY tired of holding a yard sale and I'm glad the truck was too loaded to sneak more into while I was pulling out. Before the big score(?) I bought bearing balls at one of the two commercial bearing suppliers in Anchorage. Bearing Engineering or Driveline Specialties. Grainger in Anchorage also sells loose bearing balls by the lb. or package for the smaller ones. They aren't hard to come by unless you only want one or two. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Nice anvil. I like double horn anvils and prefer them to the London pattern. My suggestion is to strip the paint from the sides. A brush and some lacquer thinner will get rid of old paint quick smart. you can then finish it off with a wire brush, eliminating all rust, and coat with automatic transmission fluid applied with a rug. You are likely to find a lot of chisel and punch marks on the sides the result of a blacksmith's bad habit of testing the temper of the tools he makes on the anvil. Grinding the sides to eliminate this is as bad an idea, as it was to make those marks. Now you need a stand, a few hammers and tongs, a forge ... and ideas of what to forge next. PS Since you already bought the anvil, a rebound test is academic at best before purchase. After purchase ... well, in my opinion is a waste of time and will not change what you already have. Find a forge, heat up some steel and give your hammer skills a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 5, 2020 Share Posted June 5, 2020 The Ball Bearing test and Ring tests are much like doing a test drive on a used car you are thinking of buying---best done *before* money changes hands! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keiran Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 Got myself a 1" bearing and hit 10 3/4" rebound from 12" in the middle not as bouncy at the ends but I assume that's true for most and is to be expected? More weight in the middle. No closer on her history but I guess it's rude to ask a lady's age... Oh and I made myself some BBQ tongues from 1/8th round with a claw hammer and a plumbers torch! Rough but effective! More to come methinks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Loved the typo, "BBQ Tongues"---sounds painful! (My wife is the oldest of 12 kids whose father was a butcher and so they ate a lot of stuff the store couldn't sell---our kids learned early on NOT to look into any big pots cooking on the stove as things might be looking back!) 90% bounce is excellent---we usually drop from 10" as then the bounce can be read directly as a percentage and you don't have to use a calculator to get 10.75/12= .8958333333333 Yes bounce decreases over the heel and towards the horn where there is not steel/iron all the way down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keiran Posted July 8, 2020 Author Share Posted July 8, 2020 Thanks for assuming typo, . We used to cook half pig heads, makes a great stock. The dog loved it too! Just tried to spell it properly and autocorrect on my phone is coming into play... More tongues to come, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 I can see it now "Don't grab the hot end of your tongue with your bare hands". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 That'd be good incentive to wash your hands more often too. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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