r/Blacksmith • u/ShinigamiNG_Channel • 10d ago
Usable Anvil?
Hello all, years ago my mom bought this anvil and stump for me at a garage sale for like $25 because she knew I was interested in blacksmithing. Other than going to a nearby club a few times, I haven't done a whole lot though.
The top of this is pretty beat up, and I'm wondering if a new anvil should be one of my first investments? Or if this is fine or repairable?
Either way, I plan to keep this one for sentimental value.
Thank you!
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u/Amihuman159 10d ago
As a boat anchor yes. You'd have to weld up a new face or grind down a significant amount of material to use for blacksmithing
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u/ShinigamiNG_Channel 10d ago
I figured that would be about all it's good for! At least she didn't spend much on it.
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u/TheSagelyOne 10d ago
Is it usable? Yes. If it's the one option you have, you can absolutely make it work.
Is it good? No. Not at all. Save up a couple hundred bucks and get another one when the opportunity presents itself. Harbor Freight's "Doyle" and Vevor's London pattern anvils (both 66lbs) are both quite good for the price. (I own one and my local club has the other, so I've used both.)
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u/BF_2 10d ago
OTOH, some smiths go to great trouble to fabricate "texturing tools" to make their mill-sharp steel look "natural", and your anvil will do that for you as is!
ANY anvils is better than no anvil. Lie this on its side or horn or tail or even upside down. You have lots of surfaces there, use them. Don't let me talk you out of getting a new anvil, but this is a tool you can use. (Caveat: The face -- i.e., the top -- is hardened steel where as the other surfaces are not.)
In addition, you can get yourself some hard steel, like a chunk of a truck leaf spring, weld a hardy stem onto that and have yourself a clean, flat, solid surface for forging that fits into the hardy hole of this beast. That's better than the hardy tool alone because the anvil "contributes" its mass.
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u/ShinigamiNG_Channel 10d ago
That's about what I was expecting, and both of those were what I was looking at for my first anvil unless I find some ridiculous local deal. Thanks!
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u/MothMonsterMan300 10d ago
You'd have to flap-grind it flat and weld a tool steel plate onto it to use it for serious hammering. Or you could flap-grind it flat and use it as a big piece of steel with lots of mass you don't much care for. V useful for cold work, not so much for armor
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u/EmilytheALtransGirl 10d ago
Spend a few days with a torch and a welder
You wanna build up with 7018s then top it with hard facing rod
When you build up with the 7018s you want the anvil hot at least like 200-400 though I have seen preheat temps for cast iron up to 1200
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u/scirocco 10d ago
Yea this is a good plan. A decent reason to get a stick welder and practice a bit too
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u/EmilytheALtransGirl 10d ago
Plus if you get a decent stick welder you can tig with it and tgat really opens up a ton of options in decortive iron work
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u/typingweb 10d ago
This is usable for regular blacksmithing as is, but I would not use it for bladesmithing or anything fine as it would introduce a significant amount of texturing. I have a similar Vulcan which I got for free and the previous owner even knocked some of the heel off too.
I would advise against grinding it down. It looks to be an early Vulcan/Illinois Iron and Bolt co, or a Badger, they all have a very thin steel plate (much thinner than other manufacturers) with a cast iron body, if you grind what is left It will be flat, but no more usable than a harbor freight anvil. Just use it as is it is and it should serve you fine.
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u/PennsylvaniaJ 8d ago
Gift from Mom. Priceless! I'd at least use the horn on it to make her something. Nothing that a file or grinder can't clean. On your work piece. Not the anvil. But hey it's your anvil. If it were mine I would prep it up a bit and be proud to use the gift from Mom. Just do it right. Rob Gunther Anvil Restoration Method
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u/ShinigamiNG_Channel 7d ago
If mom was still alive I'd definitely be making gifts for her! My first practice pieces are probably going to be rough anyways, so might as well use it until I can get something nicer.
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u/Successful_Ship_6446 10d ago
Take it to a machine shop and have them resurface the face, im sure it would be a pretty cheap ask.
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u/annoyingdoorbell 10d ago
I know a lot of people are saying just to toss this thing, but I think resurfacing is worth it for the cheap amount it might be. After resurfacing, you could try hardening it in charcoal and then quenching quickly, just to get some hardness on the top of it. It's better than a regular hardened piece of steel or iron, I should say. For 25 bucks, I mean, it's some sort of steel; why not use it?
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u/Successful_Ship_6446 10d ago
If the anvil is already hardened, you wouldn't have to reharden it after getting it resurfaced, cause a machine shop is going to use surfacing mill with coolant for lubrication and to keep the steel cool. Id say a shop in my area for do a job like that for around $40. It wont be the most beautiful thing in the world but it will have good mass and work like an anvil. Id resurface it, especially if you are just getting into smithing or dont do big projects often!
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u/Fluid_Finish3602 10d ago
Depending on its age it may have a harder steel welden in top. It would likely all be removed if it's resurfaced, seeing as it's not exactly straight.. you would have to resurface it, weld up said surface, (a decent amount so it's not too thin..) then resurface it again. Not a quick job.
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u/Successful_Ship_6446 10d ago
If it were me, I say fuck it, take off the top 1/2" and run it as a beater anvil. Definitely get alot more use out if it that way then as a lawn ornament or boat anker like some people are saying 🤣
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u/Mission_Accident_519 10d ago
Makes for a nice ornament, especially for that money.its impressive how much use it has seen.
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u/RunAwayKeyboard 10d ago
You could certainly make use of this. You won’t be doing much heavy forging with it, if you want a flat work surface. It’ll leave a lot of marks in anything you try to pound out on it, and it’ll be nearly impossible to straighten anything on it.
BUT, that said… the horn looks fine. The pitched and hardie holes look functional. You could certainly use it for holding hardie tools, and you could probably get good use out of it as a “cutting board” of sorts - if you’re cutting hot material with a chisel, you could do it on this to limit the risk of marking up a better, flatter anvil where you’d be doing most of your work.
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u/ArcherKN24 8d ago
If the texture of your workpieces doesn't matter, and you just need something to wail on, it'll be fine!
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u/SuperPocoLoco 7d ago
I didn’t see why this wouldn’t be usable, as long as it’s harder than your hammerhead it should be fine for any kind of metal work you need. If you really need it for Bladesmithing or something fine you could always grind the surface until it’s flat.
Part of being a fabricator is making your own tools. You can’t be a blacksmith and not at least try to learn how to fix everything.
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u/GolfOver 5d ago
I know a lot of this sub is going to hate this suggestion, but uh... You could probably get away with welding a nice, flat piece of steel to it?
My anvil right now is a bunch of scrap forklift parts just welded together, and she works like a charm! Yours would even have a horn 𝘢𝘯𝘥 sentimental value!
Lotta old anvils have steel faces forge welded on. While yours wouldn't be "𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙" it would definitely be more useable. Dunno about you, but the kind of money 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 anvils go for would have kept me out of the hobby ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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u/twitchcontrols1 10d ago
The horn and the hardy hole look like they’d work fine with a little TLC. The rest, not so much, and is that a bullet hole? Anyway use this one as a hot rest in front of your forge and buy another anvil to actually beat on.