My new Anvil,No cracks no breaks or fractures that I can see but top is worn should I grind it flat or leave it as is?
Iv done no forge work ever.
Hi Jimbo,
Can you post a picture of the top. If it has a lot of surface rust then you may be better off taking an angle grinder too it, if there is minimal rust but there is rust dug in to the avil you nay need to leave the anvil in vinegar and then hand sand it with sand paper.
-Hope this helps somewhat…
Thanks for the reply Owen,I thought did post the image,I will try again.
I saw the original image all I was asking was a picture of like you looking down onto the top of it so I could see the surface rust, I see that there are some make fluctuations so it’ll probably take a tedious amount of work with an angle grinder to get level but I would say that the tedious work is necessary if you plan on working on any detailed projects soon.
Thank you for the pictures, it doesnt look too bad in the top I think it’d be fine to work with.
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
No problem, I hope I somewhat helped…
@Jimbo I probably wouldn’t touch that, the sway back is annoying, but overall it’s not in major disrepair. I would likely get a thick piece of steel for when I needed to straighten something out, your edges look a lot cleaner than mine.
I would maybe take a wheel a bit to that surface though, those hammer marks on the surface can be annoying when they start showing up in everything you make.
Thanks for that Grant,Can you tell me what swayback is?.
Hey @Jimbo, that’s just the a term for when there is a dip in the anvil plate - when you put the flat edge you see the dip in the body of the anvil on the top plate, that is super common with anvils that have seen a lot of work - the wrought under the anvil/softer steel gives a bit as work is done over time and the plate sinks a little.
I only have 1 anvil without swayback, its annoying to have it, but I just have to remember when I straighten the piece out, use the heel of the anvil, or use my 1 anvil with a flat surface, or just some flat surface will work.
Ahh thanks for that info Grant that clears it up.
If you did decide to try and resurface it looks like you have plenty of material to work with at least. For general blacksmithing you should be fine, but you may become frustrated it you are trying to produce knives or other items that require a flat surface.