Acme anvil salvaged from house fire. Still good?

ndoghouse

ndoghouse

Joined
Aug 26, 2010
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I am complete newbie to blacksmithing and wandering if my anvil is still good. It was salvaged from my shop after it burned down so Im pretty sure it got hot for a while and cooled very slowly. Dont know to what extent it has been annealed if any. The shop completely burned down, melted glass,aluminum and even some melted copper so temps were near 2000 but for how long I dont know. Are there general test to check if it has been dammaged? It has a top plate about 1/2 inch thick and is ACME. Dont know too much more except it has been in my family for probably 60-70 years and would like to use it if its safe. The top surface is pretty smooth and there are a few chips on the side. Pardon the Khukuri please this photo was handy. My thoughts were if anything it would be tempered or annealed to softer than desirable but maybe some experts could give me some input as how to restore this anvil. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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Darn it typed up a response and BF went goofy.

Do a rebound test, use a ball bearing dropped from say 1ft, or take a small hammer and gently tap the surface and see if there is any rebound. It may not ring which doesnt show anything anyways. I forgot who made acme anvils, however thats a nice anvil. If you must clean it up just use a wire cup wheel or similar. Spray on some wd40 and call it good. Forge on it will clean the face up nicely and is easier then cleaning.
 
Does it still ring? Does it bounce a hammer back at you? Just because other things melted doesn't mean that the anvil got up to a temperature that would hurt the temper. If it was covered in charcoal and ashes, it would have been insulated from a lot of the heat.... and it takes a gob of heat to bring a lump of iron that big up to temp. Tiny bits of copper and glass will reach their critical temps because they're so small/thin.. but an anvil is another matter.
 
It looks like the metal started to pit and burn. I'd guess it is well annealed. I think it would be a real bear to heat treat. Test it.
 
Na that looks just like a rusty anvil. Maybe a little grey at the horn and heal but body looks fine.
 
I beat on it today and it has a high frequency ring that lingers on for about five seconds or more but the low frequencies are dead right off. Its not pitted tho. Those spots are some kind of deposits that probably condensed on the surface from who knows what. Looks like white paint but is only a surface. Thanks for all the input guys! I will clean it up and see what I can find for hardness testing. I dont know if a file test would work because I dont know what hardness they are supposed to be in the first place. Spring temper? Knife edge? I would think spring temper or less? I suppose I could harden a piece of steel rod and temper it down in sections and hammer on them and see what dents the surface of the anvil?
 
If you got a ring, just use the hammer and tap it lightly. It should bounce back at ya. I use a lighter hammer for this. Its all ya need to do. As stated I agree hardness is usually around low 50's except for the swedes which are usually a little harder, atleast in my experience.

The ring doesnt always tell ya much except wether the face has become delaminated or not.

Sorry about the rust comment, it looked like rust to me. Could very well be from the fire I guess. Either way just give it a tap and see how the hammer bounces.
 
I picked up a 170 lber, that was in a barn fire last summer. It looked very similar with the rust pattern and I assumed it was from the anvil being hot and having the water from fighting the fire accelerate the rust. Fwiw mine was in lean to on the side of the barn which also burned with the barn, and after testing with a hammer and bearing I don't think it sustained much, if any damage.
 
Oh how could I forget:foot: Greeting folks! This is my first post here and look forward in getting to know everyone. Im sure ill be a regular here as I start building my forge, grinder, etc. I had a head start but the fire took much of it. Biggest loss was my new 2x72 grinder. I was about finished with but still have some of the parts and will try to rebuild it again but much of it was aluminum and now is a puddle. My 8" contact wheel melted so I know it got hot. Will be fun! I am a regular in another subforum here (Himalayan Imports) and am a Khukri addict as you might have already guessed. Time to make my own stuff now. Happy New year all and thanks for all the help. Im gonna go out and clean my anvil today and report back soon!
 
Define "good."
I have a chinese "anvil" that I use all the time to beat stuff on, it's on the floor, never did have a hardened face. It's "good."
Main anvil is a Trenton 250 and it has a hardened face plate. It's good too.

You can do a lot of blacksmithing work on that anvil even if it's annealed, though if that's the case you'll want a different one soon. Judging by your description of the ring, I'm a take a wild guess that it's ok...that's a big heat sink, it could be around a lot of heat and not necessarily heat up that much.
 
I cleaned the face off today and a bit of the front. It is in fact a Trenton. Now that the face is clean i hammered a bit on it and it feels pretty much like it did before the fire. Nice and bouncy and does ring out with sustain. I planned to use it anyway so yes it is "good" in my book. I just wanted to get some expert opinions here. Not sure what it weighs but I would guess about 150? The top surface of the face is smooth and the rest has plenty of dings but will have to work. It was at the doorway of my shop and when the shop collapsed it fell away from the door so most of the debris must have burned beside the anvil. I suppose its mass must have saved it! No pics...my camera just crapped out. Thanks all for the info!
 
It sounds fine to me. I may personally be a little worried about PAYING for an anvil that I knew went through a fire but since you already have it and it has been in the family, there is no danger or reason not to use it, even if it got a little softer.
 
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