Hard facing an anvil

C

cooper_luke_10

Joined
Dec 11, 2008
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I'm thinking about buying a piece of 1045 steel and using the stick welder at work to hard face it.
Its only a small peice weighing 24kg (52 pounds).
It will be 100 *100 *300mm (4 *4 *12 inches) laying on its side to give me a face 100 mm by 300 mm.
I'm still only just getting all my tools together and I just wanted to hear what people thought of this as a first makeshift anvil.
And if anyone with the experience could give me a few pointers in a sure method of hard facing a piece of steel like this with an arc welder?
 
Seems like it would take a lot of expensive rod and a lot of grinding time for an "inexpensive" starter anvil. I think Keith H. is right, you could quench it in water or "soap quench" for extra hardness but if I were you I would go to anvilfire.com/gurusden and ask this question of the guru, Jock Dempsey. Those guys are the source for real anvil building knowledge.
 
No sir, you would need to build a large fire to heat treat that chunk. You could let it soak in a good bed of coals in a wood fire outdoors until evenly heated and won't stick to a magnet on a stick. Then quench it totally in some large water source. (Maybe a metal trashcan full). There is no way you could get that much heat out of even the largest rosebud tip you could find. Or that much acetylene through your regulator/out your tank.
 
Heres how you do it is this;
Take the block and drill a 25mm hole through it for the hardy hole. Pass a 25mm eye bolt through the hole and secure it with a nut.This is your lifting eye.
Build a nice fire outside with good chunks of hardwood (not logs, but logs cut into approx. 200X200mm chunks - make a lot), Get the fire going good and when it gets to be a big bed of coals, set the piece in it. You will need two chaps and a piece of pipe about 5-6 meters long. Make a 1 meter long hook from 12mm round rod that hangs down from the center of the pipe.Take the pipe ,and with a person on each end , hook the block and set it in the center of the coals. (practice picking it up several times. A third person with a long hooked rod will be useful in guiding the hook on and off the block). Cover it with the coals and feed more wood on as needed.Stir the coals regularly. Let it get fully soaked for half and hour. Toward the end, use a leaf blower to raise the temperature of the coals (careful, this makes sparks).A long piece of drain gutter down spout will make a good extension for the blower. When the block has a good glow, check it with a magmet on a long pole.When it is non-magnetic, pick it up with the hook, and quench it into a steel drum full of water (the biggest drum or trash can around ). Alternately, you can dig a big hole in the ground ( 1mX1mX1m), line it with an old tarp, and fill it with water. This will make a quench pit. The tarp may well get destroyed in the quench, so use an old one.

Cut the eye blot off and sand/grind the anvil smooth and clean. It should be hardened somewhat with this treatment. Put it in the kitchen oven when cleaned up and bake it at 230-250C for a couple hours to temper it. You may want to weld it to a heavy base plate to add some mass ( after the HT).

Plan B is to use the block of metal as it is now and find an anvil at some later date.

Stacy
 
The more weight behind your hammer strikes, the better. You will probably want the ASO to be standing on end so you have a 4x4 surface. many people started out with that size or even smaller, like a sledge hammer head. Tim Lively uses a chunk of mild steel just like that set in cement, end up in a 5 gallon pail. If you think you want a bigger surface, get a 5x5x2" plate and weld that to the end of the 4x4. That would also be easier to HT and the welding heat, if you're careful may be just right to temper the piece.
 
Stacey that sounds like it would be a fun project to do one weekend. One question, why the temp of only 230-250? Wouldn't that low of a temp leave it to hard to be used as an anvil? Just curious.
 
Yes, those of us who are bi-linear and can talk in meters and Centigrade as well as feet and Fahrenheit, do make for confusion.
Stacy
 
Just a little highjack if you don't mind...my question is along the same lines.
What if you have a large anvil that has a lot of DEEP/large pits in it from being outside for a very long time? Pits could be 1/4" or so. Old Peter Wright.
Can I fill the pits in w/ weld? What kind of welding/rod/wire? Or could I mill a 1/4"(or so) off the top without any issue?
Thanks for any help.
Mace
 
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