Ball bearing test and what it indicates...

[R.C.Reichert]

I was just wondering exactly what the ball-bearing test tells you when checking an anvil? Is it to determine the right type of steel or the right type of hardness? If I have a piece of steel and I drop a ball bearing on it and it has how they say good "rebound", does that mean that I don't have to worry about further hardening it in a quench? Can I use it as is or what?

 

[go mike]

Obtain a steel ball bearing ball (1/2" (13mm) to 1"(25mm)) in diameter. Drop the ball 10" onto the face of the anvil. On a really hard anvil the ball will bounce about 75-90% of the distance dropped.

http://www.anvilfire.com/index.php?...ilfire.com Blacksmithing FAQs Anvils Hardness

I believe that this is just to test the surface hardness of the anvil and the better the rebound the better.

Is your piece of steel meant to be used as an anvil?

 

[R.C.Reichert]

Thanks. That means that the piece of steel I brought home from work will be a really decent anvil. Actually, the piece of steel I got was a 4" diameter shaft of what is apparently from what I've been told 4140 steel.

 

[Robert Dark]

R.C.,

If you drop a fair sized ball bearing from about 18 inches and it bounces back up to 80% or more from where you dropped it, then odds are it will make a decent anvil.


Robert

 

[69_knives]

What it indicates is how much of your hammer energy will be transferred into the piece you're working on. An anvil with little or no rebound will wear you out as you pound harder and harder on your material, barely getting anything done but an anvil with decent rebound will transfer significantly more energy to the work piece. If you use a poor anvil and then a good anvil right after, you will notice the difference right away.