unkle spike Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 This is what I have to start with, Dad welded the edges up with 7018 stick rod and stress relieved it as he went. Now it is up to me to finish it off. I know some of you out there have done this already. Can I fill the dings in the face with ERS70S-6 wire on a wirefeed? I have a Hobart 180 (220v) with .035 wire? I may also have to do some more filling also on the edges, Dad started, don't know why he didn't fill it in more, but at 71 I was glad just to get him to do it. Any tips, tricks, or general comments are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 You can MIG up the holes with no problems, just make sure to watch for blowholes. If you get them, grind out and reweld. Usually, small spot jobs will get hard thru the chilling process but edges may not be as hard as the face. For the finishing, a big 9 inch right-angle grinder, a 24 grit grinding disc and a sanding pad with a few 80 grit paper discs will do the trick nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 get the anvil good and hot in the area you are working, and some welds do better if they are "work hardened" by peening for a bit, not sure if the stuff your using needs that, best of luck, I haven't had the courage to mess with mine yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 I didn't see anything in you pictures that I would risk welding on an anvil for, I'd just kiss it with a sanding disk and get to work! Did he do a pre and post heat (not to exceed the temper temperature for the steel) before welding or did he weld 7018 onto high carbon steel cold? HAZ problems possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unkle spike Posted December 2, 2008 Author Share Posted December 2, 2008 He did a mild preheat, welded one inch beads, lightly peined with a hammer, then let each bead cool. He used Dye Chek to check for cracks and found none. He used as small of a HAZ as possible. He didn't do a post heat, he thought it not needed. The welding went fine, the waiting for it to cool between beads was bothersome. There was around a quarter inch chipped away on both of the edges of the top plate that he built up. He said also getting it clean enough to weld was time consuming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 (edited) One of my anvils had over 1/2" off the sides; never needed to do anything about it in the 25 years I've been using it, many of them as my primary anvil. If I need a sharp corner on my anvil I have a hardy tool that has 4 corners of differing radii from sharp to quite round that I can place so the one I need is by the edge I need it. Since some of the old blacksmithing texts advise you to round off the corners on a new anvil first thing I have never understood so many people wanting to make them sharp again. Now I'm not again all welding on anvils. I have an old bridge anvil that was quite badly beat up sharpening cable tool points for oil well drilling that I am having worked over by a friend who is both a talented smith and a welding instructor. He is meticulous about getting everything right when working on an anvil---even to using an optical pyrometer to make sure the preheat is optimal. However I have seen a lot of anvils messed up by folks welding on them, including my 400# Trenton that I was able to get my friend to "restore" from the job the previous owner had done. Edited December 3, 2008 by ThomasPowers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unkle spike Posted December 6, 2008 Author Share Posted December 6, 2008 This is where I am at the moment, may just leave it and use it, or polish it further, not sure yet.... It has a bit of sway in the table, but at 170 years old what more would you expect. The pics are a bit out of order, but you get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 thats nice jeff!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice Czar Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 (edited) Since some of the old blacksmithing texts advise you to round off the corners on a new anvil first thing I have never understood so many people wanting to make them sharp again. I can personally provide a reason I want at least some portion of an anvil to have a sharp 90 degree edge (the edge away from me) it comes in pretty handy for making the pennies on scrolls ( tapering the neck, truing up the square, and fixing errors). Especially when working with small stock. Considering that most of my hammer time at an anvil is scroll work, a clean edge is useful looking good unkle spike ;) Edited December 6, 2008 by Ice Czar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unkle spike Posted December 6, 2008 Author Share Posted December 6, 2008 One of my anvils had over 1/2" off the sides; never needed to do anything about it in the 25 years I've been using it, many of them as my primary anvil. If I need a sharp corner on my anvil I have a hardy tool that has 4 corners of differing radii from sharp to quite round that I can place so the one I need is by the edge I need it. Since some of the old blacksmithing texts advise you to round off the corners on a new anvil first thing I have never understood so many people wanting to make them sharp again. Now I'm not again all welding on anvils. I have an old bridge anvil that was quite badly beat up sharpening cable tool points for oil well drilling that I am having worked over by a friend who is both a talented smith and a welding instructor. He is meticulous about getting everything right when working on an anvil---even to using an optical pyrometer to make sure the preheat is optimal. However I have seen a lot of anvils messed up by folks welding on them, including my 400# Trenton that I was able to get my friend to "restore" from the job the previous owner had done. The edges on this anvil were not simply rounded, they were broke away, the top plate was actually chipped off leaving a jagged edge. There was no useable edge at all, that is why I had my Dad "build them up". Unfortunatly he didn't take pictures before he started repairing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 at this point i would start hammering on the anvil and see how it works for you... i find that a bit of rough on the face usually dosnt make much differenct to what your makeing and as you use it the chizel marks will close up and go a way ot at least not be as noticeable ... if you dont like the finish it leaves on your work after a bit then clean it further ..and have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unkle spike Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 Got the final cleanup done on it, and got it mounted on the stump. It is rock solid, and works real well. The HF 110 lb ASO looks a little lonely in the corner.... One thing I did notice is that is is MUCH quieter, not alot of ping to it, but after 170 years maybe the pinger is worn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lumpkins Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Looks good Jeff, looks like she's ready for another 170 years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olcarguy Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 You going to give the sides a coat of paint? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unkle spike Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 Nope, I just gave it a light coat of clear, don't want to mess up 170 years of wear too much..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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