[TheForge] Refurbishing an Anvil

[gladish at cablerocket.com]

> I have access to an old anvil for a very reasonable price (i.e. free).
> However, the anvil has seen quite a few years, and it's showing the
> abuse.
> The table is beat all to hell (defined as hammer marks creating nearly
> 1/8"
> ridges and valleys), and it has a very dull "thunk" when tapped with a
> hammer.
>
Garrick-
There are two reasons it might not ring- it could be just a chunk of cast
iron, which would explain the beat up top, or it could be a very good
quality cast iron/hard steel top.
The easy way to tell is to touch a grinder to the body and then to the top
face and watch the sparks (lots of info on the web on reading spark
behaviour) that will tell you approximately what it's made of.

I have an ASO (Anvil Shaped Object) on the floor of my shop that I use for
banging big stuff on, to save my real anvils- it's just a chunk of Chinese
cast iron, so I don't care what happens to it.

The main thing is, use it and have fun! I started out with the rear end
drive unit from an old truck, because that's what I had that was solid
enough to pound on! Pretty soon a scrounger buddy came by and when he
could stop laughing he hauled a small anvil out the back of his van and
the rest is history.
Andy G.