Question about anvil restoration vs. simple cleaning

i4Marc

i4Marc

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Oct 19, 2011
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Title says it. I have a 100# William Foster anvil. Date is hard to read. 18-something. Could be 1800, 1890...who knows.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaXqfMAjVCe/?taken-by=aldrich_knife

The anvil is in pretty good condition with a nice flat face. The edges are a bit rough and that is where my question applies. Is it sacrilege to fill in the chips down the edge with weld and clean it up? Does it hurt the value? Or should I just hit the anvil with a wire wheel and put it to work?

Also, point me in the direction of good sources of anvil information (manufacturers over the years, construction methods, models and identification, etc.).
 
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How rough are you talking? Are there sections at least of decent square edge? I'd definitely lean toward just wire wheel and maybe a little bit of angle grinder work with an 80 grit flap wheel of the edges can be smoothed with minimal stock removal.
 
Hey Marc,

I've always heard welding the face is bad as it will ruin the temper and is difficult to get that back without a large furnace or forge. There is a pretty cool video out there of a guy who put a new plate on an anvil. He dug a custom forge in the ground and used a leaf blower on it. He then attached to anvil to a fork that was in the hitch of his truck and backed it into a river. Seemed to work if I remember right.

There are a few good anvil threads somewhere on IFI you might search for. A lot of old hands over there know quite a bit about anvils.

I am curious what others say about cleaning it up. I've always heard and read in a few books to just use a flap wheel and lightly dress them. My hay budden would constantly rust in my old shop, but that won't be the case in the new shop, so I plan on cleaning her up a bit.

-Clint
 
Thanks guys.

Salem,
did you click on the link and look at the pictures? I can take closer pics if needed. The edge damage you see on one side is the same on the other. No decent straight edges. If it's not a good idea to weld for fear of ruining the temper, I would have similar questions about grinding the edge back in order to re-establish some kind of square edges. That would likely involve grinding into the side of the anvil body some. Of course that would probably affect the value. My main use for the anvil at the moment is as a guest/student anvil, in which case I should probably just clean it and use as is.
 
Welding will create a heat affected area and ruin it. Grinding can also. It honestly doesn’t look that rough. Wire brush it to clean it up and you are probably good. Flap wheel on the edges at most. The flat face is the most important part.
 
To do it right is a lot of work as well as some spendy welding rods. I'd leave it alone...
I worked in a shop with a couple larger anvils, on which the edges had been built up some with regular old MIG weld. It held up, especially after a bit of work hardening, but the edges were definitely softer that they should be.
You could weld up a bit of one edge, enough to get more of a corner to use for things, and see how you like it... I'd be careful though to not put a lot of heat into the face, and weld it a little oversize, then peen it, then grind.
 
Cant really see its surface, But normally just a dose of flapwheel & call it good.
Dont weld or grind surface of an anvil unless its already severely knackered to where it otherwise cant be used. Its not supposed to be a precision flat surface
 
Grinding and a little welding wont hurt it at all. Get the face cleaned up and fairly flat then see how bad the edges are. I did a 149 lb Peter Wright 25 years ago (a little welding & a lot of grinding) and it has been just fine.
 
I hit it with a wire cup wheel to get the surface rust off. The date became clearer, 1830! I think I'll just leave it as is just to be safe. If I need a clean edge I'll use the Fisher or the Trenton.

But just out of curiosity, what is the general consensus about the affect of repairs on value?? Hurt or not?
 
I can do the welding if you want Marc. Just let me know. If you are going to do that it would be best to find out how others are doing it.
 
Does anyone know how it should be done? I have a welder that will do high frequency pulsed TIG to decrease heat input. If I were to guess a buttering pass of high nickel alloy then fill out. I have no idea about what to use that would perform like the anvil face.
 
Any weld wont perform like the original. It will be slightly softer, either the filling or HAZ. It will still work to pound on & just take care knowing its likely a bit weaker than the remaining & crack away from the parent. Knife forging is fairly low stress pounding anyway.
Anvil welds always a different colour than the parent, so its easy to avoid when you need to pound hard.
 
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How about using welding rods used for excavation machinery, I used to sell maintenance welding alloys and there were products that were in the 50RC hardness as welded

Pablo
 
Lieblad said:
Any weld wont perform like the original. It will be slightly softer, either the filling or HAZ. It will still work to pound on & just take care knowing its likely a bit weaker than the remaining & crack away from the parent.
Anvil welds always a different colour than the parent, so its easy to avoid when you need to pound hard.
Click to expand...

If you use the proper preheat and then use a process that minimized heat input the HAZ should not be a huge factor. If you could use a filler metal like what PUE describes I would think that it would perform well. 50RC has to be close to the rest of the anvil face.

I know we have a couple of guys on here that could probably tell us exactly what would work and how to do it.
 
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I used to weld repair diecast molds with H13 rod. Even though it isn't ideal we also used it to build up length on some shear blades that would cut paper backed Mylar insulation for motor stators. The welded blades held edges just as well as the original. I would not have a problem welding up the corners of my Trenton with if they bothered me enough.
 
That's a nice offer Storm. Unless we knew exactly how to do it right I will hold off on repairs. Listening to all ideas though. The William Fosters are a bit less common than the Fishers, Trentons, HB's and Wrights. So I'm erring on the side of caution here. I just picked up a couple Peter Wrights today so, in addition to my Trenton and Fisher, I have plenty of other anvils if I need better edges for now.
 
I'm looking into electrodes. It looks like there is a company called weld mold that specializes in tool steel electrodes. I might call next week and see if it's possible to get some tig wire. It would be a fun welding project. I could weld up a coupon and give it to you to check hardness. I have another welding project next week anyway.
 
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