Harbor Freight- 110 pounder

C

cwhittington

Joined
Sep 6, 2002
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106
I picked up a 110lb. cast steel anvil from HF today for $80.00. It's russian made and really rings- I belt-sanded off the face and top of the horn as the whole anvil had been coated in black paint and the whole surface is pretty rough except for the face. Everything was looking fine until I checked the rebound and noticed that even light blows dented the face- I can imagine what the face would look like after forging a big bowie... so I'm now considering hardening and tempering the face- that's if the steel is high enough in carbon to harden significantly.
I do have a book called "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" by Alexander Weygers that has a section on making anvils from rail sections and how to heat treat them. But this would be a daunting challenge to say the least. Anyone try this before?
Any suggestions or insights would be appreciated -getting a better one is not feasible right now.
Thanks!
 
I have had good repeorts about these anvils. Might want to take it back and check another one before you take it home.
 
My first anvil was a german 85 kilo it was a bit soft. when the top was new I saw every mark. However as i got going a bit the whole surface looked smoother as the factory finish sanding marks all disapeared through working on it. I had some miss hits that put the edge of the hammer into the surface. They have all seemed to work intogether to a smoOth surface. My friend has the same kind of anvil.
We have both got a lot of fun out of them for the price we paid.

I got an old anteque anvil from an old mining town it is harder and weighs an extra 20 kg. I can feel a difference but it does not take away the fun I have on my first anvil. I still use it at my house.
My good anvil is at my mentors house he is 81 he got cancer 6 years ago and gave his stuff away. He got lucky with the radiation treatment and a less agressive style of cancer he is still working. So he use the better one I will hit harder.

I have used slabs of steel and railway iron. To me my cheap anvil is better than any of them.

As to your other post consider making a sadle. if you want a smooth hard surface for finishing off, a slab could be layed on top with a couple of bolts to clamp onto the sides via straps welded to the slab.
If not clamped it will bounce all over the place.

However I just use my ordinary surface and grind the rest of. Even when I use a flatter I have to grind some amount.

I hope this is of some help it is a bit of a rambling reply.
 
Don't anyone get me wrong- I am very pleased with the anvil- it's a great deal at only 73 cents a pound. However, it seems (based mostly on responses to same question on another site and a little here) that as a beginner wanting to improve my first cheap anvil, I appear too big for my britches or ungrateful for the good deal I got.
I am simply and humbly convinced that it is doable and would in fact improve my anvil. Not that anyone has been rude- but I am somewhat puzzled at the consistent lack of encouragement or sharing of experience regarding heat treating large items.
I do really appreciate the very good advice though- thanks!
I will most likely use the removable face plate idea- thats a good one.
Here is a good review of the anvil I bought, if anyone is interested:

www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/products/ru_anvil/index.htm
 
If the anvil has enough carbon you might be able to harden it. I saw a post a while back on the CKD outpost where a smith made an anvil from a block of 1050? and wraped it with Kwoal, stuck a burner in it and heated to nonmagnetic. Then used a water hose to quench. He repored success, a hard outer shell, and a softer inner core. I think it took about a half hour to get hot enough to quench. I've been thinking of doing the same for a blade work anvil. I have a small cast anvil for any bending or forming operations.

Anougther though is to weld the top with hardfaceing rods, a couple of passes with a build-up rod and then a top coat with a 50Rc hard rod. Havent' realy thought about this, but it should work, just talk with your local welding suplier.

One thing I have tried is to weld a 1/2" thick piece of spring steel to a mild steel block. It worked great for light work, heavy work makes the welds peal out. I could have pre-heated the face, but then would have had to re-harden. not worth it IMHO.

Hope this helps
 
There is nothing wrong with trying to get the best out of your equipment. My post was not mean to discourage you just give my experiences and some options. I would not expect there to be many people who have done what you are trying. If you do try it Try to get some picture of your method others may benifit. I waited 6years to build my first gas forge because I was afraid. That is just the cautious kind of person I am. Good luck

My address reg_ellery@optusnet.com.au
Please send any photos
 
Will- Thanks for the good idea- I'm going to give it a try using a pit-in-the-ground forge full of charcoal with air piped in underneath from a hair dryer. I've got more charcoal than I know what to do with anyway and I'll bet with the hair dryer and a big bed of coals and some firebrick covering, I could melt the anvil if I wanted to. The hose idea is much more feasible than lowering the hot anvil with wire and a pole into a drum of water would be by far-
which is what I was going to do. Got that idea from a book.
I heard from another guy that someone he knows just put the anvil face down in the coals of a charcoal pit/bellows fire and got the face red, tipped it back up and doused it with several 5 gal. buckets of water.
It doesn't seem that it would be too difficult, and what do I have to lose? (as long as I dont let the face get too hot).

Reg- I appreciated the good advice you gave me about the saddle- no discouragement taken. I was speaking mostly of another site and I wouldn't say anyone was discourgaging- probably just trying to save me some trouble- and I was a little disappointed in the lack of encouragement after hoping to get some advice that would make it easy (ha-ha-ha..). I plan to give it a go- if after spot hardening the tip of the horn is successful (to test the steel for hardenability). I'll take some photos when I try.
 
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