[TheForge] Anvil Repair

[Andy Vida]

Peter Fels and Phoebe Palmer wrote:
> 
> At 07:56 PM 1/8/02, you wrote:


> 3. Sometimes large chunks fly off the edge of a welded up anvil after a few
> years. It's ugly.

	What constitutes "Sometimes"?  Sometimes brand new anvils fail.
	My 124# baby was the first anvil rebuilt by NJBA, about 6 years
	ago.  It spent at least two years in the shop at Allaire Village
	where it was routinely abused in a serious manner by the budding
	new smiths whose hammer control left a lot to be desired.  I have
	mercilessly pounded on it on a fairly regular basis for the past
	four years.  So far, no failures.  I have one shear of the new
	edge that occured when I slipped with a 5# sledge whilst striking
	for a friend.  That was at least three years ago.  I have beaten
	on that precise spot many times since then and there has been no
	visible advance to failure in that time.

> 4. Welding ruins whatever collector value it might have. If the anvil is
> very old, this is important.

	Fortunately for me, I have no interest in collector value.
	I have keen interest in historical value and real utility
	as a tool.

> Most  flaws on anvil edges can be smoothed out  and rounded
> up with some careful grinding...and sometimes a chipped spot can be worked
> into a useful form.

	Grinding removes material.  Hardfacing replaces it.  I am an
	advocate of hardfacing, especially on edges that take the most
	serious abuse.

> 6. If your anvil face isn't "glass hard" it is possible to hammer out a lot
> of the shallower dents and dings....using a hard, polished, gently crowned
> hammer.  It takes a lot of moderate blows to herd the displaced steel
> back  where it came from...but the hammer will just float on the rebound.

	If you have 20 extra years with nothing better to do than chase
	the hard steel face of an anvil, then go ahead.  If your face is
	soft enough that you will not be into social security by the time
	you are done, you may have another problem altogether.
> 
	I believe we speak here of practical means for working smiths.  I
	don't see a collector as either needing or wanting to rebuild an
	anvil for the reasons you cite above.  But for a smith that needs
	a functioning anvil, leaving a shot one in shot condition makes no
	sense whatever, and not rebuilding the face in the ways that have
	been proven to work well also makes no sense.  I cannot recall a
	single smith ever expressing to me concern about the collector value 
	of their working anvils.  NJBA has done, IIRC, four rebuilding
	events.  I've been to all but one and have ground perhaps 45 anvils
	back to better-than-new condition.  I've not heard a single complaint
	about the quality of the work, and to my knowledge not a single one
	has failed as yet.