Recondition an Anvil

[AKHammonds]

I have an old beat up anvil, used and abused by my father for year. The top is not to bad but the edges are all most all gone. Is there any way to restore the old guy. I know I could grind down the top but I was looking for something a little eaiser.. Anyone know how to do this???????

 

[Justin.Mercier]

Find an experienced welder and use 7018 rod or 21018 rod and weld up the corners, chipping and packing as you go, go slow so your'e not pushing heat around and losing hardness in the face. Where are you located? Fill out some of your profile and someone here may know someone who fixes up anvils as a hobby near you. I know a few people in new england who do so.

 

[burke531]

you need to use hard facing rod, for the build up. if you use any rod but hard facing then the edges will be too soft and deform under use to the point that you will just as well off to just smooth them up into the smallest radius that you can manage. When welding pre heat and post heat to 500 degrees. try not to build up too much heat in the welding proceedure.

 

[SteelSlaver]

Try doing a search on anvil repair and welding. This has been discussed and a lot of good info is in the threads. The one on making an anvil had a lot on welding ans grinding surfacing.

 

[JatMat]

Just a quick question or two, what kind of radius are now on the corners of the top of the anvil, are they more than 1/8 or 1/4"? How large is the anvil? Does the anvil have room to be ground down without loss of function? Many machine shops have surface grinders that they can set up to put a perfectly flat surface on the top if you have room to take it down to a good flat surface. So many shops in my area, it could probably be done for 30 bucks or so. Just a suggestion.

James

 

[Donald Babcock]

First off look at the side of the anvil and see if there is a demarcation line just below the face of the anvil? If there is then the face of the anvil is a "seperate" piece of harder metal that was welded to the top of the anvil during the making of the anvil.

Do you have any markings on the anvil that would give an age to the anvil? What type of anvil is it (does it have a heel, table, large or small horn...) I'm not sure of the exact steps for the different types of anvils, but my father in law has redone a few and he has mentioned that the different types of anvils need different steps to refinish them properly.

If you give a description of the anvil (and better yet show some pictures of the anvil and its condition) then I can ask around and find out more for you.