An old anvil

[prof]

I received an old anvil from my grandfather,and it has a few rough edges on it. Any suggestions on how to fix these edges? There is a machine shop in another town down the road i thought about taking it to. But i thought i'd ask people who use them all the time on what to do.

[Jack Evers]

Try this link plus do a search on here for anvil repair restoration:

Anvil Restoration

[MLMartin]

before taking it and having it ground down, or welded how about posting some pictures of it. many folks seem to "FIX" there anvil because it dose not have perfectly sharp flat edges. if your actually going to use the anvil vary rarely will you ever want sharp edges on it, a nice rounded corner is your friend

[Frosty]

Post some pics please so we can make informed recommendations.

Still, in most cases "restorations" and "repairs" will do more damage than good. An anvil needs to be pretty badly beaten up before restoration becomes necessary.

Taking one to a machine shop can be disastrous if they don't know what they're doing. There are many horror stories about machine shops grinding the face flat and parallel with the foot only to discover later they'd machined off the face plate or a portion of it.

Your safest bet is to do nothing at least till you know what you have, what it needs and what it'll take.

Frosty

[Rob Browne]

Post some photos. I have used old anvils with real sway backs and the edges nearly all chipped off with lots of success so don't be in too much of a hurry to "fix" it.

[DKForge]

It's been said before but PLEASE don't be too hasty in "fixing" the anvil. Show us some photos and at least let us make our case before you decide what to do. Ultimately its yours and you can do what you want to it.

[prof]

Hey, thanks to everyone. i'll take some picture and post them. Thanks again.

[prof]

Thanks everyone for your input. was called out of town for awhile so wasn't able to get back on forum till now. Found an old blacksmith up in Montana and showed him my grand fathers anvil. He said to quit whining and use it. So i have, works great.

[Frosty]

Good for you. Your Grandfather would be happy.

Frosty

[Jack Evers]

Prof,
You'll find that farriers who commonly draw clips to extend up from the outer corner of the shoe to parallel the wall can be anal about square edges. The inside corner of that clip must be clean to fit the wall and that means the anvil must have a clean corner to work from. Artistic/ornamental blacksmiths aren't nearly as concerned about square edges. Enjoy your anvil.

Jack

[ThomasPowers]

IF you need a square edge make a hardy tool with one! (you can actually make it so you have a choice of 4 different radii if you wish)