Found an Old, Broken, Beaten-up Anvil. Suggestions?

[Crocus88]

So my tool acquiring is comming to an end. I already have an 8" piece of RR track at home but I also found a broken anvil.

My wife's grandfather was a blacksmith. He died in 1977 so his tools weren't touched for 42 years.

Today we took a family trip to to hillside to their birth house.

Inside his workshop was heaven. Old coal pitch with big bellows, hand drill press, hand turning whetstone. All untouched for 42 years and all still operating.

But what I came for was an anvil and some tools. I took 2 hammers, a hole punch tool, 2 tongs and 3/4 of an anvil. It's a 50 kg but the heel is broken off. It's kinda beaten up too, you can see in the photos. Right before the horn there is a big dent.

I really want to use it, no matter the missing heel. What I want to know is should I try and fix the dent and the corners, or should I just use all the flat spots I can find. Maybe use it for shaping the piece and using the RR track just for straightening them?

I'd love to use it to have a real anvil (can't really move any money around to buy one) and I think my father in law is really gonna appreciate seeing his father's old tools back in action. Who knows, if my kids grow fond of forging too, maybe qe'll make it a family heritage.

Anyway, here're the pics, please let me know what I should do.

http://i67.tinypic.com/316thmx.jpg

http://i67.tinypic.com/2q0sew8.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/15n9j4w.jpg

And here's a photo of the workshop exterior. I don't know why, but I think it looks beautyful and hope some of you might enjoy it as well.

http://i64.tinypic.com/x1jei1.jpg

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

That shop looks really nice. It is neat to see such old places just as they were left.

The anvil may be good for some pounding tasks, but it isn't much good for forging. Many years back, during wars the invading armies would smash anvils just like yours to make them useless for the blacksmiths to use. They used huge sledge hammers. The dent on the horn was an attempt to break it off. The blow to the heel broke it through the hardie hole. This make it impossible for the smiths to do repairs to wagons, make shoes for horses, and of course … make swords and knives.

You should set it outside your current shop as a display piece just like it is.