It appears to me that the hard plates were about 1/2" thick or so.
Thicker on heavier anvils, I'd think, but about that thick on yours.
Things to think about:
- It also appears that the hard plate starts at the height of the
"cutting table". So, any thickness above the cutting table would be
hard plate.
-We don't know how many times that anvil may have been dressed in the
past, so you can't simply assume that you have 1/2" to play with.
-The whole hard plate may have never gotten fully hard. There's a fair
chance that the plate gets softer as you dig deeper into it.
-If there are lots of chisel marks, maybe it's one that never got all
that hard to begin with. I think they used simple carbon steel for the
hard plate and you only have a few seconds for the material to get from
"non-magnetic" (about 1450° F) to below 400 or 500° F to get full
hardness. With all the mass of the base firmly attached to it, it's
easy to see that on might get a real hard plate for only the top 1/4" or so.
-It's also possible that someone already repaired the anvil with mild
steel welding rod. There was a guy around here who did that for many
years.

So------ I'd first get out a sharp file and test various places on the
face to see how hard it is now.

-If it's pretty hard by about the same amount all over, then it won't
hurt to take off 20 or 30 thou.

-If it's pretty soft in some places, primarily where it's worn the most,
Then the "temper" is already gone and you might as well take it down to
get rid of the dings, because you'll be driving those "designs" into
every thing you ever make. And, if you ding it up some more yourself
(more likely from wild hammer blows than from chiseling, since you are
already sensitive to that), you can:
---Just grind some more off.
---Or, you can rebuild the whole face with special rods made for the
purpose. This is not a job to be taken on lightly. It is a hot and
dirty job. If you want to learn more about this approach, email me off
list for more information.

Note: I don't rebuild anvils. I do surface grind them for others who
are in your situation and for those who have rebuilt them and want them
flat.

Pete Stanaitis
----------------------------

kc wrote:
I recently picked up a 174lb Peter Wright anvil.
There is a slight sway 1/32 on the main work surface which is
acceptable and there are no serious edge chips, but the unit looks like
it was used by a chisel freak.
The entire surface has chisel dings from the ledge all the way to the
tip of the horn.
These anvils are forge welded from a couple of pieces of wrought iron
with the top layer hardened (I believe)and I wonder if anyone can tell
me how much dressing I can do on the surface (with a cup on a 7"
grinder) before I am onto softer material thus screwing everything up
completely?

Keith