[TheForge] ranite hardfacing rods

[Demon Buddha]

Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer wrote:
> Luke:
> An anvil's face is carefully  forge welded to the body and elaborately 
> heat treated to make it extremely hard( ideally).
> When you lay down a weld bead, it changes the properties of the metal 
> adjacent to and under the weld ( look up HAZ).
> As a consequence, the steel right next to the weld will be coarse 
> grained ( weak) and brittle. Just out from the brittle zone will be an 
> area where the extra heat from the weld draws the temper out of the 
> face, creating a soft zone. Both are undesirable.
> Laying down beads of very hot steel ( an expanded state) causes the 
> steel adjacent to also expand and consequently rise, compress and settle 
> into place. When it cools it contracts with teriffic force and induces 
> stresses. Sometimes those stresses are enough to cause a separation 
> between the face and body of an anvil and the anvil goes dead.
> There are other reasons not to weld on an anvil as well.
> Think long and hard about it. If you must , weld over as small an area 
> as possible and do it right. This is no place to practice!
> Do the right procedure for large expances of tool steel with exactly the 
> right rods and a skilled hand. Too many anvils are ruined by moderately 
> experienced welders as it is.....Pete F

	I guess my only real comment is that if one does the job correctly, the 
issues you cite that would otherwise be very valid become not that big a 
concern.  Your point about not practicing, though, is very well taken. 
If you don't know what you are doing, leave well enough alone.