Hay Budden chipping

[beef56]

I purchased this anvil a few years ago and the face is pitted some. I wire brushed it and was tempted to use a flap disc until I read this forum. It is serviceable, especially with my novice skills. It appears to be a 2 piece so is would the entire top half be hardened? The hardy hole is chipped some but seems to ok. Is there any danger of the hole breaking with the small amount of steel missing from the hardy hole? 

[JHCC]

Looks good to me. Hammer away.

[ThomasPowers]

Well within "normal wear and tear". If you worry about stress concentrators you can always round them gently.  You can also limit the work to the anvil---no cutting 3" stock with a 16# sledge on a hardy in that hardy hole for instance.  (I have an anvil missing it's heel that I let students use to prove to themselves they are NOT ready for using a sledge!)

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I'm with the others, no danger with regular use and the chipping on the edges is really not bad, I have a Hay Budden with edges that are a lot worse than yours and they don't affect me in any way. If you can give us the serial number that should be on the front foot under the horn, someone with a copy of AIA should be able to tell if the top is hardened cast steel (two piece) or if it has a welded on hardened steel face plate. I did a quick search and came up with this.

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by Irondragon ForgeClay Works
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[beef56]

This is the serial number on the anvil. Thanks 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

That number is in the range for anvils made in 1920 (A20,001-A30,000). 

[beef56]

15 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Well within "normal wear and tear". If you worry about stress concentrators you can always round them gently.  You can also limit the work to the anvil---no cutting 3" stock with a 16# sledge on a hardy in that hardy hole for instance.  (I have an anvil missing it's heel that I let students use to prove to themselves they are NOT ready for using a sledge!)

What do you recommend using to round the edge? Flap disc?

[JHCC]

Flap discs are good, as are sanding discs with a rubber backing pad. You want something that's got some flex to it, so that it will follow the contours of the workpiece somewhat rather than totally reshaping them. Either way, get something with a pretty fine grit, so that it doesn't cut too aggressively and you get a smooth surface. As much as possible, try to avoid using the edges of the disc, so that you don't get any gouging. 

Whatever you use, remember to remove the barest minimum of metal. Once it's gone, it's gone, and taking off too much is insanely hard (and expensive) to fix.

[ThomasPowers]

File if it is soft enough.