Anvil Score

J

Jay Mulcahy

Joined
Jun 13, 2004
Messages
164
I've been looking for an anvil for while, and seem to be coming up a day late or dollar short (as usual). I'm lamenting this to the missus, and she tells me she thinks my father inlaw has one in his garage. Quick trip this a.m. and I score a pretty decent looking anvil, aprx 100lbs, some ring and rebound to it. No major dings or chips on it, and the surface is rusty, but does'nt look to pitted. Still pretty flat.Supposedly in the family for some time, belonged to wifes grandfather. Going to try cleaning off the old paint and rust and see if there are any markings on it. The only thing I see right now is a large "M" on one side. Anybody hazard a guess as to manufacturer?
 
COOOOOL!!! Damn you and Paul will be all set. Well you next weekend after we finish your forge. You'll have to leave Pete the keys to your garage so he can use your forge and anvil. :D
 
Good score Jay, sounds like the "Price is Right" :D

Larry T

Member of NECKA & NCCA
 
I have a freebie anvil I received about 120#, and in good shape. It does have some dings in the surface. What is the best thing to do about them.
 
Well, congrats on the anvil, have you found any other markings yet?

also, about the dings in the anvil face, how bad are they? Grinding usually takes far too long, but it will get rid of them. another option is to pien the area down around the ding to make a smoother transition, this will leave fewre marks, but you will still need a flat spot on the anvil to do any straightening, and beveling.
 
Hi guys, I spent some time trying to clean off rust,dust and crud. The only marks I see is a large "M" on one side and it looks like a smaller "C" on the other. There are some dings in the face and the edges have some small chips. I checked the rebound with a 1" ball bearing. I dropped it from aprx 10''s and the ball came almost all the way back to my hand with a nice ring.
This will definately get me banging on some steel. Going to have to do some research on tools, hammers, tongs etc. I.G. the parts from MSC came in today. I am waiting for the package from D. Ellis. I also ordered the 1095 from K&G. I got 5 rolls, figure I'll leave at your shop for other rookies to use too. By the way, I checked out the website for the sword maker. Holy crap, it almost made me want to quit before I get going! Those things are unreal.
Did you send him out the billet yet?
 
What about welding on the pits. maybe hard surfacing? I'm assuming it would destroy the temper, but who knows.
 
I wouldn't weld the pits, in fact, I wouldn't do any welding on the face unless I was going to re weld the entire face. welding small areas on a hardened surface can cause a lot of stress, and some of those could chip out with a misplaced hammer blow, crack towards the edge, or give you all sorts of other problems.

if you are going to weld the face, here is the method I was taught to keep problems to a minimum:

First, preheat the anvil face to F 450, check with tempil sticks, you want to keep the face at least 400 deg for the entire time you are working, if it drops below 400, stop, and reheat until you have reached 450.

If your anvil is cast iron, make one complete surfacing with a nickel rod, that will give you a base to weld on without cracking the cast iron.

Surface with a good hardfacing rod, personally, I think Stoody makes the best ones, do not weld more than three layers deep, or you run the risk of cracking.

finally, let the anvil cool slowly, perhaps turn it upside down in a tub of vermiculite, or I had good results with placing fire bricks on the face, and then covering it with three or four layers of fire blankets.

good luck
 
IronWolf said:
I wouldn't weld the pits, in fact, I wouldn't do any welding on the face unless I was going to re weld the entire face. welding small areas on a hardened surface can cause a lot of stress, and some of those could chip out with a misplaced hammer blow, crack towards the edge, or give you all sorts of other problems.

if you are going to weld the face, here is the method I was taught to keep problems to a minimum:

First, preheat the anvil face to F 450, check with tempil sticks, you want to keep the face at least 400 deg for the entire time you are working, if it drops below 400, stop, and reheat until you have reached 450.

If your anvil is cast iron, make one complete surfacing with a nickel rod, that will give you a base to weld on without cracking the cast iron.

Surface with a good hardfacing rod, personally, I think Stoody makes the best ones, do not weld more than three layers deep, or you run the risk of cracking.

finally, let the anvil cool slowly, perhaps turn it upside down in a tub of vermiculite, or I had good results with placing fire bricks on the face, and then covering it with three or four layers of fire blankets.

good luck
Click to expand...

Yeah, what he said!

:D :D :cool:

Larry T

Member of NECKA &NCCA
 
Jay Mulcahy said:
Hi guys, I spent some time trying to clean off rust,dust and crud. The only marks I see is a large "M" on one side and it looks like a smaller "C" on the other. There are some dings in the face and the edges have some small chips. I checked the rebound with a 1" ball bearing. I dropped it from aprx 10''s and the ball came almost all the way back to my hand with a nice ring.
This will definately get me banging on some steel. Going to have to do some research on tools, hammers, tongs etc. I.G. the parts from MSC came in today. I am waiting for the package from D. Ellis. I also ordered the 1095 from K&G. I got 5 rolls, figure I'll leave at your shop for other rookies to use too. By the way, I checked out the website for the sword maker. Holy crap, it almost made me want to quit before I get going! Those things are unreal.
Did you send him out the billet yet?
Click to expand...
Great. Haven't sent it out yet. 5 rolls will make up 10 billets@ 40 count billets. Brian (swordmaker) wants to come out here for damascus lessons. :D
 
That sounds kinda familiar Jay. I was looking hard for an anvil a few years ago when my father-in-law had one in his garage. He didn't want to give it up and use to tease me "I've got an anvil and you don't" kinda thing. Good humored of course. Well ,I finally found a great anvil and then he tells me...Well, it's no fun to pick on you anymore about the anvil, you might as well take mine too.
:eek: :D :confused:
 
Cheeesel (Joe Brum) just stop by and he scored a anvil today. It is a Fisher like mine but bigger and mine is 225#. He got it for no cost too. It was made in 1913. :D
 
Cheeesel sent me a link on Fisher anvils. All the while I thought ( I know scary) mine was 225# according to the markings it is 300# and Joe weighed his and it 400# and was made in the 1800's. :cool: :cool: :cool:
 
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