Can this anvil be restored?

tito

tito

Joined
May 30, 2006
Messages
670
Bought this today for $30. Looks like a 100lb Hay Budden, or was. Face is bad, pretty sure this will just be a decorative piece, but figured I'd ask what others would do. Seems like I remember reading about refacing one, can't remember whether it's actually feasible.

IMG_20211215_161324_226.jpg
 
Now I'm no expert on anvils or anything, so don't take my word as gospel or anything.
I'm sure there are folks out there that would be interested in refacing it I'm sure!
Hopefully one of the more experienced guys will come by and talk about it more...
 
I would use the hardie hole to bolt another machine on top of it. Maybe a mini-mill or small drill press. You could also weld on a square or round top plate to mount another machine.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I would use the hardie hole to bolt another machine on top of it. Maybe a mini-mill or small drill press. You could also weld on a square or round top plate to mount another machine.
Click to expand...
Good idea, incorporating aesthetically into another operation. That's prob what I'll do with it.
 
A.McPherson said:
Now I'm no expert on anvils or anything, so don't take my word as gospel or anything.
I'm sure there are folks out there that would be interested in refacing it I'm sure!
Hopefully one of the more experienced guys will come by and talk about it more...
Click to expand...
Yeah, I looked some more, it prob can be refaced, but maybe a lot of effort for not enough gain. I have 2 I don't use enough as it is, still glad I found it.
 
Backyard said:
weld it over with hard facing rods and grind or machine it flat
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If only it were that easy...
A.McPherson said:
I'm sure there are folks out there that would be interested in refacing it I'm sure!
Click to expand...
Money talks, that's for sure. But for that anvil, probably not worth the cost.

About 6 weeks ago, at the NWBA swap meet, there was a 250# Italian patterned anvil I was interested in with a pockmarked face, but still much better condition than yours. I talked with our member who has done much of the anvil repair work on anvils I've seen here in the PNW, asking if I should get it and have him fix it or just buy a different anvil and he advised me not to buy it because the cost of re-facing would be almost as much as the anvil itself. So I ended up with a near pristine 150 Kg Kohlswa instead.
 
Good find! I've been looking for a pristine old anvil for 20 years, they're like unicorns for me. Hopefully you got a good price, the used examples I see online are approaching new prices, especially if they are nice.
 
Even if it was the old beater anvil, torching into it was an ahole thing to do.


Let's see it overall from other angles.

If it was is super nice shape, $5 a pound so five hundred dollars.

If time is free or it's fun for you maybe.

I'd start by grinding the face to clean bright shiny metal, everything.
Maybe blasting it, dremeling with burr.
That's a HUGE lot of time, but weld does not stick to dirt or rust.
Preheat in a gas bbq
You could build up with 7018 or equivalent mig wire.

hard facing is the expensive part

It's simplest to weld on hard facing rod, but that stuff is stupid expensive.
Maybe a couple of hundred for hard rod.
If you can get some cheap surplus for beer money maybe.


I've seen a hardenable plate forge welded on, but that was done on a huge dirt pit forge, with a crane to pull it out of the fire, set the weld.

and then repeated all over again to harden the plate.

Stick welding is definitely simpler.


I've talked myself into it.
I suppose I would do it.
It's more fun than watching TV
 
I keep going down this same road in my head. It would be cool to see the transformation. Build it up with welds, machine flat on lathe. I'd have to grind it in between welds, expose voids, repeat. I'd also have to run a heavy carbide rougher I suppose to initially face down the high/low spots. The one I have seems pretty durable, slow going, but I'd need more, and something to final face it I guess, couple hundred more dollars. Or I could stick it by the door of the shop for inspiration and make knives instead😄. I do have an old used bucket of blast media that would be enough to clean it. I knew I shouldn't have posted this up...
 
I'm with you. Keep it as a neat shop object.

One fun thing you could do is make a simple short sword and cut the sword in two about 4" back from the tip. Stick the part with the handle in the big gouge at an angle facing the heel and weld it in place. Weld the tip piece as if it was run through the anvil and coming out under the heel. The sword wouldn't need to be hardened or finely finished.

Other ideas:
Make a lamp out of it.
Paint it red/white/blue
 
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