Alfie Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 I have aquired an anvil for nothing, and have been using it to slight effect recently. This is handy, as I have no money. The anvil face is fairly pitted (around 4mm deep at most?), and a bit rusty. what is the best way to get these out? is it worth it? I hope to use it for general stuff, and a bit of of knifesmithingish stuff aswell. thanks in anticipation Alfie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC712001 Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 4 mm is around 0.150 inches or between 1/8 and 3/16-inch deep pits/wear. A photo of the pits/wear might help in the diagnosis. If the damage is extensive, my guess is that you could use a 90-degree grinder with a cup-type grinding stone to resurface the anvil face. Depending on the damage, you might want to weld-repair with hard-facing filler (rod or 0.045-inch or 1.15 mm MIG wire,) then grind/resurface. A competent machine-shop could likely affect repairs and resurface, but at a cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mulciber Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 I think you mentioned that you are pretty new to smithing. I am fairly new also. Being new I would just leave the anvil the way it is. I took a belt sander to the top of my anvil for about 3 seconds to get the rust off. I left the pits in it because I'm just going to ding it more untill I've had enough hammer time to not miss the metal anymore. Once I get to the point where I won't ding the anvil anymore I will take the belt sander to it untill it's pristine. I was quite surprised that the dings really don't show through much when you're working on a piece. I only took the rust off because it smells funny when you lay a hot piece on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Use it as is while you build the skill sets necessary to make knives AND while you look for an anvil in better condition. Once you've built your skills and knowledge to the point of making decent blades you'll probably need an anvil with nice face. By then you'll have found or made one yourself. If you try refacing this one without knowing what you're doing, what you have or what you're going to need there's a good chance of damaging the anvil beyond repair or use. How much steel is left in the face? Is there enough to remove the pits? Are there hidden flaws that will be brought out by removing a few MM? You may only waste a bunch of time if you're lucky or ruin it if you're unlucky. There is of course a chance you will genuinely improve the condition of the anvil. Unfortunately with the thinned face, any damage you do learning will probably have to stay forever. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 (edited) The classes of people who do the most damage to anvils are machinists and weldors! This is because they often do not know the details about anvils and try to repair them like they are a monolithic piece of metal. One horror story is an anvil I saw whose owner had a machine shop flatten and clean it up. They fastened it down to a milling table and milled it flat and smooth. Unfortunately the face was not originally parallel to the base and so they milled through the tool steel leaving only soft wrought iron on one end of it. (If you *must* mill an anvil have the base trued to the face and then flip it over and lightly kiss it to clean up) I have a friend who had an anvil milled to a perfect clean face---just too thin and soft to use as an anvil though. It took 6 hours of work by a highly trained weldor (teaches at a local college) and smith to get a face back on it that was usable. (Hi Pep! what you doing over the Tday holiday?) Some weldors have popped off the face of an anvil not knowing that it was originally welded on and is a different alloy than the body on many old anvils. Others have used a hardfacing designed for abrasion that spiderweb cracks and doesn't match the original hardness of the face. I'd just run a sander over it to clean off the rust and then use it till you learn if it's really a problem. If you have to have it repaired make very sure that the people you entrust it to know what they are doing---you can be a highly trained machinist or weldor and yet know squat about anvils! Edited November 20, 2008 by ThomasPowers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip in china Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 If you have no money then just rub it down with some fine abrasive paper if you insist. Frankly why even bother? As soon as you start smithing on it the rust will get worked off anyway. Especially at your stage don't waste money. Just get a hammer, a means to heat some steel and start whacking! Welcome to the club. You will enjoy it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfie Posted November 21, 2008 Author Share Posted November 21, 2008 thanks for the prompt replies methinks i will just kiss it with a belt sander to remove anything especialy flaky/high. I'm pretty sure the anvil is in fairly good condition inside - it rings like a bell. it is real rusty on the sides though, which means the edge of the face has a pretty jaged edge. I am presuming that can all come off? thanks again alfie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mills Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Alfie I assume that there is a hardy hole. Some of the first projects would be forging a heavy piece of steel to be a clean square edge for when you need it. just drop in the hardy hole and you have what you need. Goes for any other shape as well. The anvil is the base tool it doesn't have Everything you need but gives you the means to get it. I used a belt sander on mine and hit the edges a little to get rid of snags, little sharp edges that will tear up your work. If there are a lot then find the best part clean it up and work there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Generally if your anvil has sharp edges you will be advised to round them off, so feel free to dress the edges a bit but don't worry ablut cleaning them totally up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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