Refflinghaus will chip?

[Martello]

Hi folks,

I am new here, nice to meet you all.

I am an amateur that needs a new anvil and this time wants a good one.

 

I am kinda lost between Fontanini and Refflinghaus, 125kg.

After few days on this forum reading your comments I still have a doubt.

My experience so far was on a self designed anvil made by a simple block of UNI C45.

It was professionally heat treated by a company in my hometown but time passed by, and  I forgot how hard is this thing. Something like Fontanini I'd suppose.

It dented a lot, chip just once on the edge under crazy abuse.

 

Since I already worked for a long time on a 50+? HRC anvil, that Refflinghaus 60+ HRC value both fascinates and scares me. 

What if I miss the work and hit on the anvil by mistake? Will I find a chip of hardened metal flying to my eyes like a bullet?

Therefore I ask you fellas...

Refflinghaus could be a miss forgiving anvil or it's made only for super pros?

Any experience you could share with me?

 

Thank you!

 

[Rojo Pedro]

Hi Martello

I would not fear chipping from any modern anvil. From what I understand, they keep the edges rather softer to prevent just that. 

Wear your eye protection and have fun!

[TechnicusJoe]

Simply put. 
There is NOT a single anvil in the world that will not chip. 
All brands will chip. Some very soon, other, usually higher quality ones will chip much later in time. 

The main causes for chipping is improper edge dressing of the anvil, improper edge dressing of the hammer, smith hitting the edge, striker hitting the edge. 
The biggest culprits are smiths themselves (accidently) hitting the edge, causing a small piece to break off. 
This can happen during operations around any edge. 

[Frosty]

Nicely said Joey.

Welcome aboard Martello, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many members live within visiting distance. 

You've run into something folks breaking into a new craft often run into. You designed a tool without knowing how to use it let alone how to make one. Now you're looking for another one you can subject to "CRAZY ABUSE"? You need some time working with an experienced smith, someone who will yell at you and make you sweep floors if you abuse a tool. 

Even the poorest Chinese cast iron ASO (Anvil Shaped Object) can be used to make good products without undue edge damage and for long enough to pay for a better anvil. It isn't the anvil. There's an old saying, goes like this. "It's a poor workman that blames his tools."

Which modern anvil should you spend your money on? Doesn't matter but don't tell them you plan on "crazy abuse," they may decline a sale. 

in Frosty The Lucky.

[BartW]

Welcome aboard !

my 2 cents: 

1. All Anvils can chip. even plain mild steel can chip over time with enough deformation.

2. Don't get blinded by the HRC value. Steel quality and edge radius are much more important. I have a glass hard anvil with sharp edges; and I haven't been able to chip it (and I tried). Reason; this is a professionally hardened 1.2379 aka D2 press block for stamping things.  I have some skoda(s), some UAT and some ancient anvil from 1908. The skoda's are cast tool steel and ridiculously hard; yet I haven't been able to chip it. The corners are radiussed, and the previous owners did chip it. The 1908 anvil will baely scratch with a file; but even that has chipping damage. 

 

So could you chip a modern anvil? YES. But if you use your tool wisely, it won't chip, and the anvil will serve you and the generations after you.   

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I second what others have said. With enough abuse even the finest anvil can be damaged. I know a fellow who can break an anvil in a sand box using a rubber mallet.

[Martello]

ahahah indeed. 

No, well, all those properly said "abuses" come from my early times. 
Wait, I still hit the anvil by mistake these days too but... that doesn't count as abuse, does it? 

7 hours ago, Frosty said:

You need some time working with an experienced smith, someone who will yell at you and make you sweep floors if you abuse a tool. 

That would be the dream of a lifetime!

I actually already did that "yell and floor-sweeping-life" by a mechanical workshop in my teen years, so I do totally understand and 100% quote what you say Frosty.

 

Thank you fellas for the support!

Then if hardness value is not that critical as it though, think I am gonna just see my dilemma under a financial-wise perspective 

[ThomasPowers]

Bart; "The 1908 anvil will barely scratch with a file; but even that has chipping damage. "   As the harder the anvil edge the more likely it is to chip that seems to be worded sort of backwards.

Larger anvils were designed for use with sledge hammers and even multiple strikers and so are often softer faced than smaller anvils---an artifact of how they were heat treated as well!

I've always wanted a D2 die block as an improvised anvil as it has great properties!