Modifying a Chinese anvil

[DocGrandpa]

What hard steel should I weld onto my Chinese anvil?

[JHCC]

You shouldn't. If it's a cast iron anvil, it will be cheaper and more effective to buy a decent steel anvil. If it's a cast steel anvil, it's already as good as it's going to get.

Welcome to IFI!

[George N. M.]

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming.  Glad to have you.

I generally agree with John (JHCC) that this is not a wise thing to do.  The reason is that while some old anvils have a cast iron body and a tool steel face they were assebled by forge welding which bound them together across the entire surface.  Unless you are set up to do the same procedure you will be welding the plate around the edges.  This can be problematic because the plate will flex under blows differently than the unattached cast iron.  This will set up vibrations that will stress the welds.  Also, the finished anvil will probably not have much rebound because the unattached area of the plate and body will deaden the vibrations that create rebound (bounce).

I agree that finding a new/used anvil is a much more worthwhile project.  Look up the TPAAT (Thomas Powers Anvil Accquisition Technique) hich is basically asking every person you encounter about where you can find an anvil.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand." 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome from the Ozark mountains. It would help to post pictures of your anvil and let us know where in the world you are located. Is there a name of manufacture on it? What does it weigh? If it's an ASO just use it until you can find a better anvil.

[caotropheus]

On 3/7/2023 at 7:42 PM, DocGrandpa said:

What hard steel should I weld onto my Chinese anvil?

There are several YouTube videos on the issue. Search for it. If you want to make an academic exercise, you can go ahead and try to weld cheaper materials to save some money. If you want to go according to the book, you're going to spend a whole lot more money and the anvil is always going to be of inferior quality. Like other people said, save your money and invest in a proper anvil.

In the meanwhile I suggest you visit local scrapyards and look for a big chunk of steel and use it as an anvil. I do have real anvils but I see myself using the hydraulic breaker chisel  about 90% of forging  time.