My new anvil...questions

P

pike3e

Joined
Sep 28, 2008
Messages
184
I purchased this anvil locally. Its dimensions are 24x 4.5x11 and weighs 167 pounds. It rings very well and rebound appears good as well (although I have never felt other anvils). I built the stand, added the chain and put some silicone under the anvil to help reduce noise. I also used a sanding block on the face with 150 grit paper for a few strokes and removed some rust with a wire brush on my hand drill. Now for the questions:

Anyone know what the maker may be? There are faint markings on the side but I really cannot make anything out.

Does the face look good enough to forge with or should I try to have it surface ground?

What can I do to make it look cleaner? Continue with wire brush, paint, or any other suggestions.

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I can more pics if they would be helpful.

A propane forge will be here Wednesday and I can wait to try this out.


Thanks

John
 
Just some thoughts........

The box around the base of the anvil will make clean up more
difficult, and the plastic sheet may catch fire when hot scale
falls on it.

The chain, as is, will allow the anvil to walk/twist as you're working...
frustrating....

The gaps between 2x4s should be filled....especially the large one....it
will allow the anvil to bounce, and reduce efficiency.

Also...is the block temporary..?....the 2x4's need to be nailed/glued up
into a tight, solid mass....I prefer an oak stump.

' don't know who made it.....I would want the face ground though...
as it looks like it may have a little bit of sway...

Meant to be constructive...hope it's recieved that way....
 
need a close up of the right side please, It may be a Peter Wright. looks like it has a lot of sway. Definantly get rid of the silicone. decent learning anvil or a decent fixer upper if you want to put a lil $ into it

Jason
 
Nice anvil, what they said about fixing it up. Looks like the previous owner(s) used the step for hot cutting :( Either get some thick copper/brass for a saddle to hot cut on, make a hardy tool or learn to be careful.

I've forged on much worse.
 
where would I go to have the face cleaned up and by the looks of it what is the ballpark price.
 
I'd suggest asking at a shop that grinds heads. As for the
cost....? Only the shop could tell you.
 
Any well set up machine shop should have a table with enough capacity to machine/surface grind that anvil. FYI, when I had my block decked on my old Mustang, I think the cost was around $30-40 per side. That was at an automotive machine shop, so hard to say otherwise.

--nathan
 
Looks like it's had some repairs already, but I don't think it looks too bad. Why not forge on it for a bit and see how it works for you. My anvil has a bit of sway...I try and use it to my advantage.
Nice score!:thumbup:
Mace
 
It looks like a well use blacksmiths anvil. He cut where he was supposed to. You could take a hand held belt sander and work on the surface yourself, or get it milled at a machine shop. If you do it with the belt sander,start with a 100 grit belt. Use a straight edge to check the sway and dips often. Get it close to flat, and switch to a 220 belt.

You want two chains, One going forward, and one like the one you have, going backward. They should be tightened to pull the anvil down tight to the base.

The base should be a solid stack of screwed and glued 2X4/2X6, cross stacked. Get rid of the lip, and put a 3/8" piece of half round oak trim on each side. That will prevent small tools from rolling off, but allow a quick sweep of the glove to brush away scale.
Most folks just leave it flat. On my portable base ( which is pretty much the same size and configuration as yours), I extended the two top center boards out about six inches each end. They were spaced with a 2X2 that stopped at the edges. This made a nice hammer/tool rack to hang hammers or set tongs on.
I placed pieces of 2" wood around the anvil foot ,cut to a snug fit, to seat the anvil. Chains are not necessary, since it is a portable setup. In a permanent shop setup the chains are a good idea.

Stacy
 
I'm with Mace and Stacy. First , try it out and see what you find. Second, You can clean it up yourself. Depending on the maker of the anvil (take a piece of paper and some charcoal and do a rubbing of the markings to get a clearer picture of them) you may have to be concerned about grinding through the top plate of the anvil. If you take it to a shop and say "make it flat" they won't care a whit about flattening through a top plate and leaving you with a wrought iron anvil.

Looks like a good score though, it should serve you very well.

-d
 
Stacy, I know you cut on the step but I was taught not to cut there without a saddle. Guess I should have been more complete in my answer.
 
Like others have said, clean it up and use it. I would use a wire wheel on hand held grinder (be sure to match wire wheel with the RPM's of the grider) to clean the rust and build up off. I looks like a Hay Budden to me, from the horn end look on the left side of the foot and you should find the serial number there if a Hay Budden. Good luck, Don
 
Pretty much just ditto to Russ's post. I'm kind of surprised by the "not that bad" type comments... that thing is an absolute jewel compared to my first anvil.

I'd recommend you cut the excess silicone away, but I am a big proponent of having it under the anvil. Russel Jaquas (RIP) that started NIMBA anvils tipped me off to it, and it made a huge difference in reducing the piercing ring of my current anvil.

Normally I'm a real stickler for tool clean-up, but on my old anvil I just used a knotted wire wheel on the angle grinder to knock the crusty rust off, painted it with a rust converter, and then a coat of high temp paint (just don't paint the face) and it held up great. :)
 
Will, I didn't mean that you were wrong. I was referring to the fact that it hadn't been ruined by a lot of cutting on the face. In my experience, a lot of old anvils had most of the hot cutting done directly on the step. In the modern world, a saddle or some sort of cutting block will make an anvil stay pretty longer, but the old timers probably made twenty to fifty times the number of hot cuts that we do today ( no power bandsaws). I bet they didn't stop to put on the saddle very often.
Stacy
 
Stacy, no problem. I was just explaining my answer. I have an ugly anvil and don't care to mess up my Sea Robin by hot cutting on the face.
 
Nick, I saw one of your posts about the silicone so decided to give it a try. It still rings pretty lound, so I hope the neighbors dont complain. If I did have it milled, or ground, how would I know when to stop (or have the machinist stop) before getting to the softer metal?

Thanks
 
Check and see if there is a visible seam under the face of the anvil. Some anvils were hard-faced with a hardened plate set on a cast iron base. Often times, you can see the junction, maybe more so with a light clean up of the top 2" of the side of the anvil. If I were having it machined, I wouldn't worry about taking all the sway out if there was excessive sway. I would rather flatten as much of the face as possible without having to remove too much material in one spot so you can have a good size work area. It doesn't have to be the entire face. From what I've seen in pictures, I would think the hard plate on top would be on the order of close to an inch thick, but maybe some of the others can give you an idea of how thick it would actually be.

--nathan
 
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