![]() Make sure to get into any fractured chips or folds. You want to grind all the surfaces you’re going to weld to expose good, clean material. If you want to fix a cracked anvil, the basic steps you’ll need to take are to sand it down, grind down the cracks a bit, and weld it. If you really need to straighten a piece of metal, a block of wood and a mallet often does a better job anyway. Most old anvils are a bit concave (the depression is called a “swale”), and they’ll work just fine. If you mess up the hardened top of your anvil, it will only be good as a garden ornament! The steel face of your anvil is what provides it with decades of working life.ĭon’t even worry if the face of your anvil isn’t perfectly flat. You can also put a light coat of oil or wax on your anvil to prevent further rusting.ĭON’T take sandpaper or a grinder to your anvil if you don’t know what you’re doing. In fact, you don’t really want sharp edges as they’re more likely to chip and can also cause cold shuts in your work. If you really need sharp edges for your work, it might be easier to make a hardie tool with good edges instead. Then it will be much easier to clean off with a wire brush afterward.ĭon’t worry about edges until you’ve had a significant amount of experience with an anvil. Place your anvil in the tub of vinegar, making sure it’s completely covered, and let it soak with the lid on for about 48 hours. You’ll need a large plastic tub with a lid, several bottles of vinegar, and likely an engine hoist or something to lift your anvil up. To make your cleaning job easier, you might want to consider giving your anvil a bath in vinegar to clean it off a bit before you start. Although I’d still probably leave the face of the anvil and allow hot metal and scale to naturally remove any rust or patina through use. This can give your anvil a more iron/steel color. If you just want to clean your anvil up and make it look a bit nicer, I’d recommend taking a wire brush to it and removing some of the rust from the surface. A master blacksmith can make do even with sub-par tools.Įven if you spend the time and money to get your anvil welded up right, you’re likely to still damage and chip it again as a new blacksmith while you’re still learning. Good blacksmithing isn’t about using tools that are in pristine condition, it’s all about your skill as a blacksmith. Most anvils still have plenty of working life left in them without any kind of repairs. If you try to “fix” it and screw up, it can be a lot harder to “un-fix” it later on. Like I said earlier, chances are that trying to fix your anvil will do more harm than good. Think Carefully: Do You Really NEED To Repair It? The constant pounding and heat will really start to make everything pretty flat and uniform before long. Sometimes the best way to fix small damage or imperfections in your anvil is just to start using it. And hot steel will quickly start to remove rust from your anvil. Sharp edges will start to get worn smooth. The main areas where new blacksmiths might be worried about damage on their anvil is the face (the flat top surface where most of your blacksmithing work is done), and the horn (where most bending work is done.)īlacksmiths might also worry about rust or patina on their anvils and want to remove it as well.Īnvils Are Somewhat Self-Repairing If You Just Use ThemĪ lot of minor imperfections in your anvil will get naturally worked out just by using your anvil. ![]() But in many cases, the damage is purely aesthetic and won’t really impact your work. There are many reasons why an anvil may legitimately need repair, as well as reasons why people might think an anvil needs to be repaired when that isn’t really the case.Ĭhips, cracks, grooves, pitting, and dents can make an old anvil look really worn and damaged. 10 What If I Just Want My Anvil For Decoration? Why Would An Anvil Need Repair?
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