Anvil Repairs Needed
Morpheus
I have an anvil that needs a bit of attention, and thought someone out there
might have done something similar in the past, or might be able to direct me
to some sites that may have relevant info. I have already looked at a few
sites, and the best thus far has been Ernie Leimkuhler's on anvil making -
http://www.loganact.com/mwn/howto/anvil1/anvil2.html
So without further adieu....
By my calculations, it's roughly 676 lbs. I'm pretty certain it is a forged
anvil, although I can't make out the manufacturer's name. It has some
markings which are rather worn as follows :~
QUEENS
UDLEY Any clues as to its origin?
SOLID ANVIL (hoping someone knows)
6 0 4
Anyway, back to the more important stuff...
The back edge of the face is quite worn (over about half its length) and
there is a triangular piece broken off the heel. The piece is about 4 x 4 x
6 inches and about 3/4 inch thick.
My question is should I just get a piece of medium carbon steel and weld
into the broken spot, or should I try to fill it with weld? And what to do
with the face? What type of electrodes to use etc...
I don't have much in the way of welding equipment, basic arc welder (150
Amp), and Oxy/Acetylene gear, (and there's no way I am going to forge weld
this sucker!).
Would the face have to be heat treated afterwards? And if so, how would I go
about doing something of that size?
Any help would be appreciated.
Regards,
J.P.S.
william thomas powers
>might have done something similar in the past, or might be able to direct me
>to some sites that may have relevant info.
IIRC the electrik anvil site has an article on anvil repair---I can look up
the URL on Monday if someone doesn't beat me to it!
>
> QUEENS
> UDLEY Any clues as to its origin?
> SOLID ANVIL (hoping someone knows)
"Anvils in America" lists Wilkinson as a british anvil maker two of who's
stamps were described as Wilkinson's arched over two crossed ovals
over Patent over Solid Anvil and J.W.Wilkinson arched around the
crossed ovals with Queens Dudley underneath. Sounds like you have a
mixture of the two stamps---Richard Postman may want to discuss this
with you as it is a varient not mentioned (5 are mentioned for Wilkinson
BTW).
Thomas
Ernie Leimkuhler
> Hi,
> I have an anvil that needs a bit of attention, and thought someone out there
> might have done something similar in the past, or might be able to direct me
> to some sites that may have relevant info. I have already looked at a few
> sites, and the best thus far has been Ernie Leimkuhler's on anvil making -
>
> http://www.loganact.com/mwn/howto/anvil1/anvil2.html
Thanks for the plug
>
> Anyway, back to the more important stuff...
> The back edge of the face is quite worn (over about half its length) and
> there is a triangular piece broken off the heel. The piece is about 4 x 4 x
> 6 inches and about 3/4 inch thick.
> My question is should I just get a piece of medium carbon steel and weld
> into the broken spot, or should I try to fill it with weld? And what to do
> with the face? What type of electrodes to use etc...
> I don't have much in the way of welding equipment, basic arc welder (150
> Amp), and Oxy/Acetylene gear, (and there's no way I am going to forge weld
> this sucker!).
>
> Would the face have to be heat treated afterwards? And if so, how would I go
> about doing something of that size?
Sounds like it needs some build up with regular rod like 7024 (a good filler rod).
Then a top layer of a good Hardfacing electrode.
Something about 45-50 on the Rockwell C scale is best.
Your 150 amp welder should be able to handle it it just will take a while.
It would be faster to weld in a block of carbon steel to fill up the majority of the sapce, and then
hardface over it, but that wouldn't give as solid a feel.
To make the repair easier to clean up.
Take some 1/4" thick steel strap and build a dam around the edges of the repair area.
Make the outside of the dam flush withg the side of the anvil, and the top edge flush, or a little
below the face of the anvil.
This way once you fill in the majority of the area with filler you will have incorporated the dam
into the steel.
This saves a lot of grinding on the edges.
You will want to hardface over the top edge of the dam so it will be hard like the rest of the face.
The anvil should be preheated to about 500 degF and alowed to cool very slowly after welding to
prevent cracking of the hardface.
Most hardfacing material will develop very fine surface cracks.
Don't worry about these as they don't cause cracking.
Here are some good links blacksmithing on the net.
The Electrik Anvil has a good article on repairs.
Centaur Forge Blacksmith Supply http://www.anvilfire.com/centaur/
Electrik Anvil - Blacksmithing http://www.celticknot.com/elektric/anvil/index.html
Forge & Anvil Blacksmith Supplies http://www.forgeandanvil.com/supplies.htm
Diacro Bender Manual http://www.concentric.net/~Porth/strippit/artnr.shtml
Arador Armoury http://www.arador.com/
Anvil Fire http://www.anvilfire.com/
Arms & Armour Supply http://www.armor.com/
Varmouries - Weapons and Armour http://www.varmouries.com/
Forge Plans http://www.flash.net/~dwwilson/forge/fgpl.html
Don Fogg Knives - Hydraulic press http://www.dfoggknives.com/hydralic.htm
Don Fogg Knives - Forges http://www.dfoggknives.com/forge.htm
Forge and Burner Designs http://www.webpak.net/~rreil/design.html
Blacksmithing Links http://www.his.com/~brad/blacksmith/
Blacksmithing.com - Drop-box http://www.blacksmithing.com/
Sleeping Dragon - Glossary http://www.geocities.com:80/Heartland/Lake/7316/glossary.html
Blacksmithing Clipart http://www.metalsmith.org/graphics/clipart/blksmth-gif/
Vega Metals http://members.aol.com/VegaMetals/
Smithinš Magician http://www.metalsmith.org/pub/mtlsmith/V16.4/magi.html
ABANA Homepage http://www.abana.org/
Farriers Links http://www.horseshoes.com/prdsrvbb/pransrbl.htm
Old Skills Compendium http://sunsite.unc.edu/london/rural-skills/metalworking/blacksmithing/
Blacksmithšs Junkyard http://www.seanet.com/~neilwin/junkyard.htm
Blacksmithsš Journal http://www.blacksmithsjournal.com/
My Anvil making page http://www.loganact.com/mwn/howto/anvil1/anvil2.html
Hope his helps.
--
STAGESMITH - Custom Metal Fabrication - Renton, WA, US
"Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind."
William Shakespear
Morpheus
I'll check out the sites recommended.
I'll pick your brain a little further if I could though...
Pre-heating the anvil... How much of the anvil has to be hot?
Obviously if more of it is hot, the surface that I'm welding on will retain
its heat for longer, but will that really save me anytime if I have to heat
a large portion of the anvil?
I only have Oxy/Acetylene to do the pre-heat with, do you think that will be
sufficient to get a "through" heat such a large mass of steel?
Also, the "cool very slowly" part... Is air cooling OK? Or would that be too
fast?
Thanks again for your help, I've had this anvil for a couple of years now,
and don't use it that often since I have a 300 lbs. Peter Wright in good
condition which I do the majority of my work on, but It would be good to get
this one up to scratch!
Once again, thanks for your help, it is much appreciated.
Regards,
Paul.
Morpheus
at least now I have some idea of what I'm dealing with. Are Wilkinson still
making anvils? If not, could you have a stab at its approximate age? Do you
know when they stopped?
I have another anvil that I don't know much about either, perhaps you could
shed some light on that one also. (I am looking for a copy of "Anvils in
America", but here in Australia, it's a might scarce.)
The other anvil is in pretty good condition, some of the markings are a bit
damaged though, this is what I think it says....
SODEREORS UKS. A.B
FALUN SWEDEN
1 3 1 lbs.
(some letters are missing, but I think it's something like that)
It also has a small coat of arms/crest thing on it, just to the left of the
writing (above), and on the foot under the horn, it has what appears to be a
date stamp...
1915 7 7 and a very small stamp of an inverted F in an oval.
Thanks again, for your assistance, and I now have the URL for the electrik
anvil, but thanks all the same.
One last thing... Who is Richard Postman?
Regards,
Paul
william thomas powers wrote in message
<8aeh41$hkk$1...@news.cis.ohio-state.edu>...
>>I have an anvil that needs a bit of attention, and thought someone out
there
>>might have done something similar in the past, or might be able to direct
me
>>to some sites that may have relevant info.
>
DukeAndrew
>sufficient to get a "through" heat such a large mass of steel?
What? Got a barbeque grill? Charcoal? A vacuum cleaner that will blow? Wanna
be a blacksmith? Be creative, you'll have no problem if you upgrade the use of
tools carefully and for a short period of time.Then again, jest make yer forge
first and then heat it up the right way.
Andrew
Ya gotta be smarter than a rock to pick up a rock.
Ernie Leimkuhler
> Thanks for the advice Ernie,
> I'll check out the sites recommended.
>
> I'll pick your brain a little further if I could though...
>
> Pre-heating the anvil... How much of the anvil has to be hot?
> Obviously if more of it is hot, the surface that I'm welding on will retain
> its heat for longer, but will that really save me anytime if I have to heat
> a large portion of the anvil?
> I only have Oxy/Acetylene to do the pre-heat with, do you think that will be
> sufficient to get a "through" heat such a large mass of steel?
The favorite weapon of choice for this is a propane weedburner.
Big flame but not that hot.
Heat the whole body of the anvil.
It will hold that heat for quite a while.
>
> Also, the "cool very slowly" part... Is air cooling OK? Or would that be too
> fast?
>
Best is to bury the anvil either in Vermiculite or powdered Lime.
Both can be purchased in large bags from garden supply stores.
Then let it sit overnight.
> Thanks again for your help, I've had this anvil for a couple of years now,
> and don't use it that often since I have a 300 lbs. Peter Wright in good
> condition which I do the majority of my work on, but It would be good to get
> this one up to scratch!
>
Well if you want to give either of them a good home, just let me know.
My last anvil was stolen while being used as set dressing for a movie.
I have yet to get another since I plan on making a big 350 lb. beast.
Damon
welded a pice of QT plate on top for a work surface. I got good in all the
stages of makeing this anvil,( it started out as old teeth from a root rake,
6 pices I welded together for the body, two for the horn then I did alot of
shaping with the torch) when I started the steel was "dead" no ring at all
not it has a ring as good as my friends anvils, as well as a good bounce
from the face when hit. about 3/4 to 7/8 the height of the blow. Is this in
good shape or should I re-temper it????
doug
Ernie Leimkuhler <stage...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:stagesmith-E5C2A...@news.earthlink.net...
Ernie Leimkuhler
> I have made my own anvil from 2" mild steel plate flux core welded then I
> welded a pice of QT plate on top for a work surface. I got good in all the
> stages of makeing this anvil,( it started out as old teeth from a root rake,
> 6 pices I welded together for the body, two for the horn then I did alot of
> shaping with the torch) when I started the steel was "dead" no ring at all
> not it has a ring as good as my friends anvils, as well as a good bounce
> from the face when hit. about 3/4 to 7/8 the height of the blow. Is this in
> good shape or should I re-temper it????
>
Retempering a big anvil is not an easy task.
The only question that matters is does it work for you.
If you like doing lots of little detailed stuff then a face that dents easily can be a real problem,
but if you like doing fast big forgings then it isn't as much of a problem.
william thomas powers
>making anvils? If not, could you have a stab at its approximate age? Do you
>know when they stopped?
I doubt they are still making anvils "After WWII only 1 anvil was being
made in England...and it is still being made: Brooks then Vaughan/Brooks
and now Vaughan..." Postman thinks that Wilkinson started in the 1830's or so
based on the shape of their earlier anvils.
>The other anvil is in pretty good condition, some of the markings are a bit
>damaged though, this is what I think it says....
>
> SODEREORS UKS. A.B
>
> FALUN SWEDEN
>
> 1 3 1 lbs.
Soderfors Swedish company claims to have been making anvils since 1200's
"They are of excellent quality and hold up well under heavy use"
Postman has recorded these anvils ranging from 70 to 500 pounds
most in the 100-200 pound range and out of 30 recorded only two were *not*
in excellent condition.
Soderfors Bruks Akkticbolag is the company's full name located in Falun Sweden
(umlaut over the first o in Soderfors)
>One last thing... Who is Richard Postman?
Besides the foremost living authority on Anvils in America? A charming,
friendly, gracious and helpful gentleman who hapens to have a consuming
interest in anvils and luckily for the rest of us published the info he has
collected. I will admit that his coverage of american anvils is much more
through---but the sources were easier to track down on this side of the pond
(he gives serial numbers corrolated with dates for some of the more notable
american makes!
Now what we need is "Anvils in the UK" "Anvils in Germany" perhaps even
"Anvils in OZ" (I'd buy a copy!)
Cheers,
Thomas Powers
Morpheus
I really have to get a copy of that book!(I'll just keep my fingers crossed
about the other editions).
Regards,
Paul.
william thomas powers wrote in message
<8amlqk$nd$1...@news.cis.ohio-state.edu>...
Morpheus
handling a 700 lbs.. anvil to and from my forge fire.
O.H. & S. prevents me from chucking it under my arm and carrying it around
my workshop.
There are obviously some pretty clever rocks out there Andrew.
Paul.
DukeAndrew wrote in message
<20000313040027...@ng-fn1.aol.com>...
>>I only have Oxy/Acetylene to do the pre-heat with, do you think that will
be
>>sufficient to get a "through" heat such a large mass of steel?
>
Lee
to big) of wood and start a fire. After a few minutes rake
the fire away and weld in place. Be careful of letting it
get too hot. Better to have to rake the fire back or start
over than ruin the anvil (or have to reharden the whole
thing),
Lee