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

In article ,
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

Hi,

I'd also try posting this over in:

alt.crafts.blacksmithing

Good Luck!

Erik

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

I speculate.

What if you ground the surface flat and then welded a chunk of hardened
steel to the flat top?

Seems to me you might get the flat hard surface you want without having to
re-heat treat the whole thing.

--

__
Roger Shoaf

Important factors in selecting a mate:
1] Depth of gene pool
2] Position on the food chain.



"kc" wrote in message
...
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

On 2008-12-21, Roger Shoaf wrote:
I speculate.

What if you ground the surface flat and then welded a chunk of hardened
steel to the flat top?

Seems to me you might get the flat hard surface you want without having to
re-heat treat the whole thing.


It would lose properties valuable in an anvil, such as ring and
rebound.

--
Due to extreme spam originating from Google Groups, and their inattention
to spammers, I and many others block all articles originating
from Google Groups. If you want your postings to be seen by
more readers you will need to find a different means of
posting on Usenet.
http://improve-usenet.org/

It would lose properties valuable in an anvil, such as ring and
rebound.

Just curious... what value does 'ringing' add an anvil? Rebound I can
understand.

I went way out of my way to stop mine from ringing...

Erik

Erik wrote:
It would lose properties valuable in an anvil, such as ring and
rebound.


Just curious... what value does 'ringing' add an anvil? Rebound I can
understand.

I went way out of my way to stop mine from ringing...

Erik

"Do not call" list???

On 2008-12-21, Erik wrote:

It would lose properties valuable in an anvil, such as ring and
rebound.

Just curious... what value does 'ringing' add an anvil? Rebound I can
understand.

I went way out of my way to stop mine from ringing...

I think that the value of ringing is the resale value of the anvil.
Otherwise I agree with you, I hate ringing too.
--
Due to extreme spam originating from Google Groups, and their inattention
to spammers, I and many others block all articles originating
from Google Groups. If you want your postings to be seen by
more readers you will need to find a different means of
posting on Usenet.
http://improve-usenet.org/

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:04:21 -0600, Ignoramus16228
wrote:

On 2008-12-21, Erik wrote:

It would lose properties valuable in an anvil, such as ring and
rebound.

Just curious... what value does 'ringing' add an anvil? Rebound I can
understand.

I went way out of my way to stop mine from ringing...

I think that the value of ringing is the resale value of the anvil.
Otherwise I agree with you, I hate ringing too.

Ditto. If it rings, it's probably not cracked or delaminated.
Minimizing the ringing in use is good.

Pete Keillor

In article ,
Pete Keillor wrote:

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:04:21 -0600, Ignoramus16228
wrote:

On 2008-12-21, Erik wrote:

It would lose properties valuable in an anvil, such as ring and
rebound.

Just curious... what value does 'ringing' add an anvil? Rebound I can
understand.

I went way out of my way to stop mine from ringing...

I think that the value of ringing is the resale value of the anvil.
Otherwise I agree with you, I hate ringing too.


I definitely buy the resale explanation!


Ditto. If it rings, it's probably not cracked or delaminated.
Minimizing the ringing in use is good.

Pete Keillor

Reminds me of a story an (often delusional alcoholic) neighbor told me
once as a kid... he claimed he'd had a job in a train yard, and one of
his duties (when not otherwise running the place), was to go around
smacking train car wheels with with a ball peen hammer... and report any
non ringers he found.

Then supposedly one day every thing he hit started sounding dull...
turned out his cheap ball peen was cracked.

Erik

On 2008-12-22, Pete Keillor wrote:
On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:04:21 -0600, Ignoramus16228
wrote:

On 2008-12-21, Erik wrote:

It would lose properties valuable in an anvil, such as ring and
rebound.

Just curious... what value does 'ringing' add an anvil? Rebound I can
understand.

I went way out of my way to stop mine from ringing...

I think that the value of ringing is the resale value of the anvil.
Otherwise I agree with you, I hate ringing too.

Ditto. If it rings, it's probably not cracked or delaminated.
Minimizing the ringing in use is good.

Ringing and rebound are very similar physical properties, they are a
manifestation of how little energy is absorbed by anvil, as opposed to
being returned to work. So a "good" anvil keeps ringing for a long
time after being struck, which is utterly useless, but is a good sign
of anvil's other abilities to return energy back to work.

Anyone has a good suggestion to reduce ringing? Stick a rag into the
hardie hole? Put a female tit on the heel?

--
Due to extreme spam originating from Google Groups, and their inattention
to spammers, I and many others block all articles originating
from Google Groups. If you want your postings to be seen by
more readers you will need to find a different means of
posting on Usenet.
http://improve-usenet.org/

In article ,
Erik wrote:

In article ,
Pete Keillor wrote:

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:04:21 -0600, Ignoramus16228
wrote:

On 2008-12-21, Erik wrote:

It would lose properties valuable in an anvil, such as ring and
rebound.

Just curious... what value does 'ringing' add an anvil? Rebound I can
understand.

I went way out of my way to stop mine from ringing...

I think that the value of ringing is the resale value of the anvil.
Otherwise I agree with you, I hate ringing too.


I definitely buy the resale explanation!


Ditto. If it rings, it's probably not cracked or delaminated.
Minimizing the ringing in use is good.

Pete Keillor

Reminds me of a story an (often delusional alcoholic) neighbor told me
once as a kid... he claimed he'd had a job in a train yard, and one of
his duties (when not otherwise running the place), was to go around
smacking train car wheels with with a ball peen hammer... and report any
non ringers he found.

That world work. I recall using the same trick to figure out what parts
of a brick wall were toast.

Joe Gwinn

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 19:16:48 -0600, Ignoramus16228
wrote:

On 2008-12-22, Pete Keillor wrote:
On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:04:21 -0600, Ignoramus16228
wrote:

On 2008-12-21, Erik wrote:

It would lose properties valuable in an anvil, such as ring and
rebound.

Just curious... what value does 'ringing' add an anvil? Rebound I can
understand.

I went way out of my way to stop mine from ringing...

I think that the value of ringing is the resale value of the anvil.
Otherwise I agree with you, I hate ringing too.

Ditto. If it rings, it's probably not cracked or delaminated.
Minimizing the ringing in use is good.

Ringing and rebound are very similar physical properties, they are a
manifestation of how little energy is absorbed by anvil, as opposed to
being returned to work. So a "good" anvil keeps ringing for a long
time after being struck, which is utterly useless, but is a good sign
of anvil's other abilities to return energy back to work.

Anyone has a good suggestion to reduce ringing? Stick a rag into the
hardie hole? Put a female tit on the heel?

Put lead sheet between the anvil and base. Fasten to board on bucket
of sand.

Pete Keillor

"Richard" wrote: "Do not call" list???
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That list doesn't even work on my telephone.

Welding a flat plate to the top of an anvil would doubtless leave some
airspace in many parts of the interface. Pounding on that setup would not
have the solid feel of a one-piece anvil.

"Ignoramus16228" wrote: (clip) Anyone has a good suggestion to reduce
ringing? (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ear plugs.

As sayings go, it's tit in a wringer, not tit on a ringer.

--
WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"Ignoramus16228" wrote in message
...


Ringing and rebound are very similar physical properties, they are a
manifestation of how little energy is absorbed by anvil, as opposed to
being returned to work. So a "good" anvil keeps ringing for a long
time after being struck, which is utterly useless, but is a good sign
of anvil's other abilities to return energy back to work.

Anyone has a good suggestion to reduce ringing? Stick a rag into the
hardie hole? Put a female tit on the heel?

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:49:58 -0800, the renowned "Leo Lichtman"
wrote:


"Ignoramus16228" wrote: (clip) Anyone has a good suggestion to reduce
ringing? (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ear plugs.


If it's tinnitus that won't help. Makes it seem worse. Maybe play some
chamber music or C&W at low volume or something.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:36:41 -0500, the infamous Pete Keillor
scrawled the following:

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 19:16:48 -0600, Ignoramus16228
wrote:

On 2008-12-22, Pete Keillor wrote:
On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:04:21 -0600, Ignoramus16228
wrote:

On 2008-12-21, Erik wrote:

It would lose properties valuable in an anvil, such as ring and
rebound.

Just curious... what value does 'ringing' add an anvil? Rebound I can
understand.

I went way out of my way to stop mine from ringing...

I think that the value of ringing is the resale value of the anvil.
Otherwise I agree with you, I hate ringing too.

Ditto. If it rings, it's probably not cracked or delaminated.
Minimizing the ringing in use is good.

Ringing and rebound are very similar physical properties, they are a
manifestation of how little energy is absorbed by anvil, as opposed to
being returned to work. So a "good" anvil keeps ringing for a long
time after being struck, which is utterly useless, but is a good sign
of anvil's other abilities to return energy back to work.

Anyone has a good suggestion to reduce ringing? Stick a rag into the
hardie hole? Put a female tit on the heel?

Put lead sheet between the anvil and base. Fasten to board on bucket
of sand.

A lead sheet on -top- would work a whole lot better.

--
Women and cats will do as they please,

and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.

--Robert A. Heinlein

On Dec 21, 8:26*pm, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,

That world work. *I recall using the same trick to figure out what parts
of a brick wall were toast.

Joe Gwinn

I use it to find hollow trees that might blow down in a storm.

Ignoramus16228 wrote:
(snip)
Ringing and rebound are very similar physical properties, they are a
manifestation of how little energy is absorbed by anvil, as opposed to
being returned to work. So a "good" anvil keeps ringing for a long
time after being struck, which is utterly useless, but is a good sign
of anvil's other abilities to return energy back to work.

Anyone has a good suggestion to reduce ringing? Stick a rag into the
hardie hole? Put a female tit on the heel?

The lead sheet is a good suggestion. Also, try a large magnet on the
underside of the heel.

Ignoramus16228 kirjoitti:

Anyone has a good suggestion to reduce ringing? Stick a rag into the
hardie hole? Put a female tit on the heel?

How about tying leather/rope around the anvil waist ?
Tarred rope sounds like perfect vibration killer.

Why haven't I read anyone tried those ? Is so that old smiths "get
used" to the ring = hearing weakens.

--
Uljas

On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:02:54 GMT, the infamous Uljas Vauhti
scrawled the following:

Ignoramus16228 kirjoitti:

Anyone has a good suggestion to reduce ringing? Stick a rag into the
hardie hole? Put a female tit on the heel?

How about tying leather/rope around the anvil waist ?
Tarred rope sounds like perfect vibration killer.

When I wrenched for a body shop (in another life) we used to have a
6x6" patch with sticky backing for use in deadening door panels. I'll
bet they're still available. The adhesive on the back was thick,
maybe 1/4", and very pliable. I'm guessing that's what absorbed the
ring in the sheetmetal. If you can't find those, I'll bet the cheap
sticky traps for mice could work. The adhesive is similar, and it
would ensure that your anvil wasn't infested with a mouse colony.
har


Why haven't I read anyone tried those ? Is so that old smiths "get
used" to the ring = hearing weakens.

That's highly probable.

--
We should take care not to make the intellect our god;
it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
-- Albert Einstein

In article ,
Ignoramus16228 wrote:

Anyone has a good suggestion to reduce ringing?

If you have a real news provider, go to alt.crafts.blacksmithing

For the ring, while there are several common options, the most generally
accepted and least fuss is a sheet of lead under the anvil.

Others include wrapping it with chain, putting a large magnet at some
point on the underside (finding the right point being part of that
process) etc.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

We generally referred to those sticky patches as Sound Pads. I know 3M and
others were producing them for the autobody repair and industrial
maintenance/repair industries.

Sound pads were good for deadening sound penetration, and also dampening the
resonant aspect of a span of sheetmetal.
This would have a dampening effect similar to wrapping the rubber strap
around a brake drum when cutting it on a brake lathe, to keep it from
ringing.

--
WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:02:54 GMT, the infamous Uljas Vauhti
scrawled the following:

Ignoramus16228 kirjoitti:

Anyone has a good suggestion to reduce ringing? Stick a rag into the
hardie hole? Put a female tit on the heel?

How about tying leather/rope around the anvil waist ?
Tarred rope sounds like perfect vibration killer.

When I wrenched for a body shop (in another life) we used to have a
6x6" patch with sticky backing for use in deadening door panels. I'll
bet they're still available. The adhesive on the back was thick,
maybe 1/4", and very pliable. I'm guessing that's what absorbed the
ring in the sheetmetal. If you can't find those, I'll bet the cheap
sticky traps for mice could work. The adhesive is similar, and it
would ensure that your anvil wasn't infested with a mouse colony.
har


Why haven't I read anyone tried those ? Is so that old smiths "get
used" to the ring = hearing weakens.

That's highly probable.

--
We should take care not to make the intellect our god;
it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
-- Albert Einstein