Build up weld on anvil horn

[Pond frog]

Bicks on anvils are not usually fully round , although used for making curves it is not really a former think of it as more of a radiused edge and curves are made by hitting off anvil. However bicks are often subject to wear as unlike the face they are not hardened. The flat on yours is on quite a distinct angle and looks very much like the kind of wear you could get from constant use in one place. If it was mine I would jut learn to use it as it is, as you said treat it as a feature.

 

[Screwdriver]

Bicks on anvils are not usually fully round , although used for making curves it is not really a former think of it as more of a radiused edge and curves are made by hitting off anvil. However bicks are often subject to wear as unlike the face they are not hardened. The flat on yours is on quite a distinct angle and looks very much like the kind of wear you could get from constant use in one place. If it was mine I would jut learn to use it as it is, as you said treat it as a feature.

It does look like that but a little bit of digging reveals that is in fact a feature for this anvil. It is a John brooks London pattern farriers anvil. Being a farriers anvil means as @hotponyshoes already pointed out, you may want to slightly open up a curve and the best way to do that is over a round with a depression.

The workaround is to stand on the other side of the anvil (bick to the right) so that you can draw out over the slightly offset hump which is now on the opposite side of the bick. This is due to the flat being slightly angled (which rules out my "flowerpot" theory) and is clearly present on other examples of this particular anvil (which rules out angle grinder theory). Finally if you look carefully at the pictures you can see an identical flat exactly opposite the one on top. This tells me the flat has been deliberately forged into the cone and caused a flat on both sides.

it is of course quite likely with a hand made product that some anvils will be more equal than others iyswim. This one is quite pronounced, I'm sure yuo could find others with a similar but less distinct flat...

 

[outofthefire]

I was taught to either draw out with a cross or straight pein on the flat surface of the anvil or over a rounded edge of the main surface with the flat end of your hammer or a slightly domed rounding hammer, I personally prefer the second method. Like a lot of things it's what you get used to, i'm not too keen on doing much of owt on the bick even bending steel I usually use bending forks.

 

[Parm]

@Screwdriver have you made anything with your forge and anvil ?

 

[Screwdriver]

@Screwdriver have you made anything with your forge and anvil ?

Yes a few gifts and knicknacks. I should post up some examples guess but the forge and anvil are (currently) used mostly for restorations and repair jobs rather than crafting.

The last couple of times I have tried to make something for the sake of it, I seem to have picked up hardening or tool steel which I really struggle with.

I am currently trying to tidy the place up a bit and sell some stuff to make room (and make some money, I'm skint).

 

[Parm]

Yes a few gifts and knicknacks. I should post up some examples guess but the forge and anvil are (currently) used mostly for restorations and repair jobs rather than crafting.

The last couple of times I have tried to make something for the sake of it, I seem to have picked up hardening or tool steel which I really struggle with.

I am currently trying to tidy the place up a bit and sell some stuff to make room (and make some money, I'm skint).

Is your project all about selling stuff to make money or just for fun?

I’ve got a coke forge and anvil, I’ll never be a blacksmith, but I’ve had some really good lessons from some ace members (you know who you are). It’s really good fun

 

[Screwdriver]

Just for fun and I'll be videoing it to set up a YouTube channel.

Meanwhile I really need to get rid of a lot of stuff if only to make some room but ideally to make some operating capital. I have a dozen bike projects to get on with, a Bridgeport to nail together almost too much for two lifetimes let alone half.

But no, I have no illusions about making my fortune from blacksmithing. I just realised fairly early on that despite the mountains of stuff and the neverending list of projects, the one thing you can never have is too many tools....

 

[Brad93]

My dads built up quite a few.

Do you want it to be hard or a bit softer?

If the anvil has a fire welded piece of steel ¾-1” thick on top, it probably wants building up with 309 to butter it, then hardface with something around 30-40HRC. You don’t want anything too hard.

We have gone straight with 7018s for the above but have experience the edges breaking off. It was also quite soft.

If it’s a cast anvil, use 7018s (your 7016 Filarc 56s will be fine) and you should find it comes out okay hardness after 1 layer as you pick traces of carbon and manganese up through dilution.

If it needs more than 1 layer you will need to hardface again.

I’ll get you some pictures if he has a built up one. Most of them he sells to his apprentices.

 

[Screwdriver]

I'll be interested to see the pictures of course but it is just the horn/bick that I thought was an issue and that's a manganese alloy cast steel. I have decided not to go ahead and to keep it as-is and instead, I'll make up a suitable anvil shaped object or hardie tool.

 

[dannyp]

When I built my anvil up. I chopped a 205ltr
Barrel down to just short of the anvil put the anvil in it. Filled it up with water and started squirting metal at it with the big mig

 

[Screwdriver]

Why would you want to keep the anvil cold when welding??

 

[TechnicAl]

Why would you want to keep the anvil cold when welding??

If it is Manganese Steel you need to keep it cold to prevent grain growth which can lead to cracking....but Manganese Steel is only cast....

 

[dannyp]

It wasent to keep it cold it was more to keep the temperature manageable, and fired most of a roll of 1.2 mm in it in one hit. Then sat it on the mill and faced it off. And went round the edges to build them after with hardfaceing rods and ground it near enough.

Technically probaly all wrong but it got the job done