Anvil repair

slatercreek

Well-Known Member
I have a Peter Wright anvil that weighs a little over three hundred pounds. The face is in good shape but the edges and hardy hole are a little worse for wear. I have done some research but would like some thoughts or considerations of those that may have repaired on anvils.
 
I have repaired a few , Its not as easy as it looks . The first item that must be right is the welding rod , It must be compatible with the original steel . Second , make sure you splash some cool water on weld spot. I tried using a regular welding rod and it did not stay put
so I went to a better rod, and problem solved. Lastly grind out the rough spots trying not to dwell on one area. After grinding pour some cold water on spot and it should be ready ...... I hope this helps you. ....... Bubba-san
 
Not anvil user but I do work for Cat in the field of training welders and weld engineers. Been working in the field of welding for 26 years. bubba is correct. The very first thing you need to know is what type of steel the anvil is made of. Basically is it low carbon steel med. or high carbon steel. A simple spark test with a grinder can help figure this out. I would explain this but it would make for a lengthy post so your best bet would be to search the web for "spark testing steel" After you have determined what type of steel your anvil was made of you will next need to determine what type of rod/electrode you will need to match the base material. Make sure any area's that you plan on repairing are CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN!. There are several types of electrodes. Again I have no experience with anvils so I have no idea what they are made of but I would assume it would be a med carbon steel and if this is the case then then I would suggest a hard surfacing rod. When using a hard surfacing rod you may see some small cracks in your welds as the weld cools but they will be very small and this is normal for any hard surfacing electrode. If you decide to use a hard surfacing electrode, DO NOT pour water on the welded area after you have welded it. It will only promote cracks and some will be large.

Hope this helps,
Jeff
 
Anvils are a little different , in that they need to be a little springy . After heating them , they will be softer in the area you heat so naturally
you want to harden it . Dont use any water if cracks appear , they will get larger . Grind out the cracks .You dont need any cracks as they will just get bigger as you use anvil , if you quench it or not . Anvils are made from a variety of steels . So choosing a rod is important. I used to heatreat untreated anvils
made by Tom Clark .... we would heat them to below critical and kick them in a pond or lake edge . Never had one crack.......
 
Cracks are my fear. My brother tried repairing one with hard surfacing. Cracked all over. I read about about heating the anvil prior to welding. I thought I could use a branding torch which is a glorified weed burner to warm the thing up. Hate to mess it up.
 
This is the paper whose author is pretty much THE authority on anvil repair. Lots of people have used it and their anvils have held up wonderfully. Lots of people have read it and tried to substitute this for that, etc and their results have varied between wonderful and outright failure.

http://www.anvilmag.com/smith/anvilres.htm
 
I had previously found that particular article. What I read seems to make sense. Thanks for the replies. I seem to spend all summer dreaming up things to keep me busy in the winter. I will try to post the results if I decide to tackle this project.
 
You can also have the top hard plate removed and a new one welded on . A little more expensive but, you end up with a new Anvil

there are a few welding shops around here that repair anvils professionally , we have lots of blacksmiths around here. They mainly shoe horses and do minor repairs. Good luck on fixing your anvil . It.s not nearly as easy as one might be left to believe..... Bubba-san
 
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There is much to repairing a large chunk of metal, and in the case of an anvil, it's actually two different types of steel unless the anvil has been made from cast steel.

Pictures would help diagnose the extent of the problem, but generally speaking you're going to have to bring the anvil up to around 450º before welding and then insulate it so that it cools slowly after you're done welding. Pre-heat and Post-heat are always recommended when welding on large masses of steel because the mass will suck the heat out of the bead very rapidly. This can cause all kinds of issues with the quality of the weld, including having it simply pop off. Peening a bead isn't a bad idea as this can counteract the shrinkage that occurs.

Lots to think about and research if you want to do the job properly. It's certainly not cheap or easy to do.
 
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