Benona blacksmith Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 I bought this anvil from a well known seller from Austria along with 5 others. The dovetail is virtually unusable due to some heavy use and maybe some abuse. I have NO intentions of doing any welding on it. My plan is to make a jig/slide for an angle grinder and use a cut off wheel to cut a new dovetail making small passes until I get it back to where it should be. Does anyone have any better ideas. also the edge that has the torch marks I plan on grinding back and making a nice radius. And the spots on the side of the body are not weld beads! I believe it is remains of "filler rod" that was forge welded in to blend the seams. I'm sure Joey Vandersteeg would have a better idea if that's the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Mill with a dovetail cutter or use a shaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benona blacksmith Posted June 11, 2021 Author Share Posted June 11, 2021 Well this thing is a monster and I don't know of any shops around here that has a big enough mill. A shaper would be a good idea. I will do some research and see what shops have around my area. At one time we had quite the selection of machine shops but it seems like once a week I see an auction at a machine shop that recently closed its doors. I'm sure there is somewhere in Detroit that could pull it off but that's a 3 hr drive from me and I really don't wanna pay $1000 between shipping there and back and to have the work done. That would be more than I have into the anvil itself. Thank you for the suggestions!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 I'd hand file the dovetail.a triangular file with a safe edge would do it. You could even shape your triangular file to match the dovetail angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 I second Anvil's advice. It might be a little more labor intensive but you're less likely to make a mistake. If you're not patient enough for that a die grinder to get close and then hand filing would be my second choice. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Instead of an angle grinder I would use a circular saw or a radial arm saw with a cutoff disc in it. More HP and no jig needed. With the radial arm saw I would pull the saw forward, then push the cutoff disc into the anvil, not pull it through. This way there is less chance of it grabbing and pulling itself in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benona blacksmith Posted June 15, 2021 Author Share Posted June 15, 2021 So I took the best file I had to it and it just skates off like nothing. I dont think I will be filing this thing into shape anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Be hard to machine as well without using expensive tooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benona blacksmith Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 I ordered a set of these to make the jig the cut the dovetail with a grinder. I looked at my radial arm saw ant the anvil is too tall to fit under the arm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Keep at it with your hand files, not just a few licks. I had to do far more cleanup on the hardy hole of my last "Gunther" reface than you show. 30 minutes work maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benona blacksmith Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 There is far more material to be removed than it looks. The way my file was skating off of it, it would take weeks of filing and probably a dozen files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Can you remove the table of your radial arm saw and see if there is a gap underneath it where the base of the anvil could be mounted? My RAS has a fairly good sized "hole" that would gain around 4+ inches just putting the saw on a workbench and over 3' if I built a stand to make use of the gap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benona blacksmith Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 I'm not sure honestly. I bought it mounted to a big bench with a wood lathe attached. I will see if the wooden table will come apart easily and see what's underneath. The radial arm saw is a great idea I hope I can make it work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Ewert Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Wow, that is quite an anvil. If you do manage to get the dovetail cleaned up, would you use it? What kind of fixtures were employed on those anvils? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Different tools would be wedged into place depending on the smith's needs, especially if they were going to be doing a large number of repeated tasks. You can see blade forger Albert Craven using a series of blocks in sequence in this classic video from 1979: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Fixtures would be specific to the smith and to the industry. Sort of like asking what sort of dies would a drop forge have? (A wrench maker would have different ones than an axe maker for example.) At that size it's definitely an "industrial" anvil! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benona blacksmith Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 Here is kinda what I'm thinking for the jig with the angle grinder. The gringer is a 9 inch and the wheel on it is only a 6 inch. I just have to get the bigger cut off wheels for it to reach the anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeJustice Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 What will keep it from sliding sideways? Are you going to just gradually nibble it away after you put a guard on the grinder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Cut off wheels, what's with everybody now days and cut off wheels?! This is NOT a situation for a cut off wheel there will be too much side contact and the way you're thinking of setting it up leaves no guard. If you want to do this safely you need to be using a GRINDING disk from the far side of the dovetail. A 9" Milwaukee disk grinder has TWO locations for a side handle mounting it solidly to a carrier / guide with two solid bolt points is really straight forward. Short story, NO your idea is a bad one. It is unsafe and is not secure enough to do the job. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 I share Frosty's concern about side contact on a cut-off wheel, so my question would be: Are you dressing the sides of the slot, or are you cutting into the face to create a new and wider slot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 In other words, this? Or this? The second would be a lot safer, as it would have metal on both sides of the blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benona blacksmith Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 My plan is to cut into the face like the second photo and make a wider dovetail and I will use the thickest cutoff wheel I can get taking small passes gradually getting deeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 The cutting disk will bend towards the least resistance. Flexing cut off disks tends to break them Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 I'd go with a die grinder and a small burr or barrel grinder attached personally. The big cut off wheel looks down right sketchy. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 A die grinder mounted vertically in a bracket (like a router base) could then slide in a jig to make the dovetail, like the metalworking equivalent of this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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