Fixing old beat up anvils

[Chris J]

I heard of a way to fix a bear up anvil (chunks missing)

You can use brazing rod, and pre-heat the anvil first, then you can braze in the chunks missing, i have learned that the hardness of the steel will mix with the brazed part so it will still be hard, i have not done it, i know a guy that does it to all of his and they look very very nice afterward, and they still ring! can anyone here elaborate on this method? i am going to look into it some more, it has been a while since i talked to him, so maybe one of you guys out there has done this before?

[Kevin O. Pulver]

You could also use J.B. Weld.
Kevin

[Tanner Remillard]

When I was still in tech school a guy brought one in and we machined off about .300 to get it flat again. Guess it worked for what he wanted. I would think JB weld would crack and break off but I dont use the stuff, so I dont know.

[Meco3hp]

Chris,
If you preheat a anvil to the temperature you'd need to braze it, you'll loose all the temper and then need to re-temper it! I can guarantee you it won't "ring" very good if you don't re-temper it. Also brazing won't hold up to any use on a anvil, as it's too soft. The hardness of the steel won't mix with the braze, it doesn't work that way! Also when you re-temper it, by the time you get the core of the anvil hot enough to re-temper it through, the braze will have melted away, unless you have lots of time to slowly bring it up to temperature. Also if somebody in the future did decide to "fix" that anvil right, they'd cuss you for an eternity for brazing it! I wouldn't even do it for "looks", as that'd make a lot of work for somebody in the future to fix it right. Leave it as is, or ask a blacksmith to fix it. Please refer to these links.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/a...uestions-2926/

http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/refacing-anvil-2821/

http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/can-anvil-saved-999/

Thanks!
Richard

[Kevin O. Pulver]

No really,
Paul Harvey recommends it for everything. He doesn't even use his welder anymore. Haven't you guys heard the ads on the radio?
Kevin

[MCanady]

Hey Kevin I have an anvil at home that the heel is broken off of it. I never knew how I was going to repair it. Now where did I last see that heel? Merton

[Jeff W B]

The best anvils are made of wrought iron with a tool steel plate forge welded on top. This plate is the only part of the anvil that is tempered. The best way to fix a chip plate on an anvil Is with fadtought960 welding wire. It will not chip or crank out. I have fixed several anvils this way. to fix the wrought part of an anvil use 7018 or the equivalent in wire. If the heal of the anvil is broke off where you need to weld the base and the plate, V the plate out to get to the base start with 7018 till you get to the plate then finish with the 960.
Jeff

[JHFoster]

I have read the above post and still do not have a clear understanding. I have a friend who wants to "restore" an anvil that belonged to his great grandfather. The farm hands beat plow points cold and buggered up the top of the anvil. How and who can repair this piece of family history? Thanks Jeff

[brucegodlesky]

Go over to the I ForgeIron site and ask there.
I know that there is specific rod to use and it involves preheat and postheat. bruce/birdog

[Gene O. Carpenter]

Bruce,
Visit the following site for answers to just about any questions concerning "Smithy Work"..It's a site that deals in Black Smithing equipment and methods of performing certain jobs same as addicts of rusty old cast iron from years gone by find help here on SMOKSTAK .....
There have been recent discussions about such anvil repairs thereon. Hope you can find what you seek there..

http://www.abana.org

[Jeff W B]

JHFoster ship the anvil to me, I will fix it up and ship it back.

[JHFoster]

Jeff, what is your post office box #?

[TerryJay]

I'm a member of a blacksmiths group in Okla. The SaltforkCraftsmen when we have an anvil repair day or days this is the procedure we use. For anvils with wought iron bases grind and CLEAN all surfaces to be welded. Grind through all folds or fractured chips.Chamfer all holes or severe depressions.Preheat anvil to 400deg a weed burner works well use a tempil stick to check the temp(welding supply store) when it melts its ready.Be carefull not to overheat around the heel and hardy hole its a thinner cross section.If the damaged aera goes thru the tooling plate start with stoody 2110(or equal)3/16 rod,unlimited passes.DC reverse works best it will run on AC. Base material will give about 45 rockwell c,To finish up build up the area in no more than 3 passes with Stoody1105(or equal)1/8 rod DC reverse(or AC) expect 50 to 52 rockwell C this comes as close to original hardness of the tool steel plate.

Stoody 1105 is a good match for w-1tool steel tops of most anvils,and is designed to be impact resistant.
For a cast iron based anvil preheat to 450 deg. and use NI(nickle rod) as filler then go with the stoody 2110
hope that helps

[Brett Thompson]

none slainless hard surfassing rods just weld a little each day so it can cool and not loose the temper in the rest of the anvil..