99octane Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Hi everybody. After a few years, I finally did it: got really dumb and left a 1mm wide, 0.5mm deep, 15 cm long furrow in my anvil's face with my plasma cutter. Even if it's fairly small, and not really in the way of where I usually forge on the anvil's face, I really do not want to leave it there. It's a 50 kg, italian pattern cast steel anvil in pristine conditions under any other aspect. How can I repair it? Any help is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Repairing can cause more problems than it fixes. Picture of the mark? If it is nice and straight you can use it as a built in measuring spot, or at a minimum a great reminder to not use it as a cutting table Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Not being in the way of your normal forging, I agree with Biggun. Leave it as a reminder to not do that again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 I agree with leaving it and a couple of pictures will help. If it really bothers you, put some High heat JB Weld in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Bullet Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Many years ago my wife's grandfather gave me an anvil he purchased from a plantation estate auction. It had a sizable chunk of the hard face missing. Back then hard surface rods were a reasonable price and I filled in the area with an arc welder and ground it down to match the rest of the surface. I didn't really know what I was doing at the time, but I did know enough to preheat the anvil with a torch before welding. I use that anvil today (although it had about a 30 year hiatus until I retired) but then again, smiting iron is a hobby for me. I've been offered money for things I've made but I always refuse. That would make it work and I've had too many fun interests spoiled by turning them into a job. Would I advise you to weld on your anvil? No. As stated above there are lots of opportunities to make a bad situation worse. Some times the worse doesn't happen but look at the risk/reward. If it doesn't hurt the functionality, you have an anvil with a little more character than it had before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 If you just can't stand a 1mm slot in your anvil face and don't (HOPEFULLY!) want to run the risks inherent in touching an arc to it. An alternate "fix" is to (Inlay) drive a thin strip of steel into the slit until it upsets and locks in place and peins tight at the surface. Then grind it smooth. A caution is in order, do NOT do this if a slit runs parallel to and close to an edge OR if it's a large cut, there is a chance the method could break more of a welded high carbon face loose or split a piece off. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 To answer your question, if you do want to repair it, read this. Its the "gold" standard for anvil repair. https://www.anvilmag.com/smith/anvilres.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99octane Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 Thank you everybody. Yes, I thought about peening some steel wire in there. Unfortunately it runs parallel to the edge, at about an inch from the edge itself, so I had my doubts about it. It's very shallow, though. I'll take a picture this evening. Anvil, thanks for the link, I read it but it looks like it concerns much bigger restoration work than what I have here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 Size doesn't matter, so they say. Again, I'm not saying you should, just pointing out how. With no pics, what do you expect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.