[TheForge] Re: Top of a Broken Anvil

[Chuck Robinson]

Hey Jonathan,
Reading this thread I couldn't tell if this is a cast steel anvil, or a 
wrought iron base welded to a steel top plate.
If you send me  cloes up pictures of the top, side and the bottom of what 
you have, I might be able to advise you how to repair it.
You also should clean off the anvil surface with a flap wheel and then do a 
drop test with a 1" ball bearing.
Be advised that the chances of doing a good restoration without  having 
machining and heat treating capabilities are remote, but any anvil is better 
than none at all.
Chuck
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jonathan Barnhart" <blakkpawss at yahoo.com>
To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 9:38 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Re: Top of a Broken Anvil


> Nope, my Grandpa would be the only one to know anything about it, if 
> anyone did.  But, he passed away last summer.  Grandpa was kind of a jack 
> of all trades with no formal education or instruction.  He could weld, 
> cut, layout projects, rebuild tractors and implements, built his own truck 
> one time out of two differant trucks, worked as a carpenter.  If he needed 
> something he made it.  For many years he scavenged things from junkyards, 
> auctions, and contruction sites(many of these he was working on at the 
> time).  So this may have been something he brought home and even might not 
> have known why it was cut in half.  At some point he took up an interest 
> in blacksmithing to make some tools and I assume that he either had this 
> and hauled it out to use or that he found this while trying to gather some 
> tools to use.  Besides this anvil top, I've found a small forge made out 
> of an old steel wheel for the firepot, steel pipe for the legs, and an old 
> hand crank
> blower.  I think he made some oversized bore bits to drill holes in the 
> telephone poles that we used all ove the farm for gate posts in fences and 
> structural posts in our barns and sheds.
>
> As to drilling it, I'm not sure that I have anything heavy enough to drill 
> it out.
>
>
> --- On Tue, 9/9/08, Brian Reedy <lfpd7311 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Brian Reedy <lfpd7311 at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [TheForge] Re: Top of a Broken Anvil
>> To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
>> Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2008, 9:23 AM
>> Excuse me for my ignorance, but is there anyone in your
>> family that
>> remembers why the anvil was cut in half in the first place?
>>  Also, it seems
>> to me that tapping a few holes in the bottom, inserting
>> some all thread
>> (with loctite just in case) and sinking the rods into
>> fiberglass reinforced
>> concrete would be quite a suitable base.  Failing that, you
>> could taper a
>> few pieces of half inch round stock on one end, bore holes
>> into the under
>> side of your anvil and weld the rods into place.  Then
>> drill matching holes
>> into a tree stump and drive the whole thing into the stump.
>>  Sure, it's
>> gonna weigh a ton, but it's lighter than concrete and
>> the wood will help
>> with rebound where the concrete would probably absorb it.
>>
>> -- 
>> __________
>> Brian Reedy
>> LFPD--7311
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>
>
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