Can this be cleaned up?

[66HertzClone]

I have been looking for an anvil, smaller, for benchtop use and found this one on FB Marketplace a couple months ago. The guy selling it lives in a town in PA that a friend of mine does so pickup was real easy. I paid $80 for it and the seller gave me like 9 hammers with it, a few ball peen, a claw hammer and a few blacksmith hammers. I would like to clean those up, some rust on the blacksmith hammers and wonder if soaking the heads in vinegar would cause any damage to the portion of the wooden handle in the head.

The to0p surface of the anvil has been damaged in the past, I would like to have it restored to a smooth surface and wonder if a machine shop might be able to use a milling machine to grind off enough to do this?

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Grinder and a flap disc or two.

 

[The Cobbler]

wonder if a machine shop might be able to use a milling machine

answer is yes
but I bet it won't be cheap. and if you're going to use it, it will get marked up quickly again.

 

[micromind]

Basic angle grinder for rough, flap wheel for finish.

BTW, anyone else notice the impression of a coyotes head on it?

 

[Shiftless]

Somebody did a lot of pretty decent work to turn a piece of train rail into an “anvil”.
If that was mine, I would use it as-is. To smooth out the top I suggest using a belt sander followed by the flap discs already recommended.
Clamp your workpiece in a big vise to keep it from jerking around while you are working on it.

I have 2 short pieces of train rail I use on my bench top if I need to pound on something, Don’t use the back end of a vise as an “anvil”.

 

[MoonRise]

Soaking a wooden tool handle in water or a water-based substance WILL damage the wooden handle to some extent.

Water soaks into the wood, the wood cells swell inside the steel hammer head, wood cells get crushed, wood dries out and the wooden handle is now loose.

 

[Beerhippie]

Basic angle grinder for rough, flap wheel for finish.

BTW, anyone else notice the impression of a coyotes head on it?

You, sir, have quite the case of pareidolia there.

 

[PCustoms]

BTW, anyone else notice the impression of a coyotes head on it?

Now that you mention it...

 

[Beerhippie]

Now that you mention it...

That should be on the foot of the anvil.

 

[PCustoms]

That should be on the foot of the anvil.

Ok...

 

[RTM]

BTW, anyone else notice the impression of a coyotes head on it?

Apologies for the poor red lines.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Apologies for the poor red lines.

Think you would have used white lines.

 

[Shiftless]

You can see Wile E. better if you squint…

 

[RTM]

Think you would have used white lines.

You are obviously cleverer than I. Good point. Or I could have followed @PCustoms lead.

 

[MoonRise]

Re: anvil

Railroad track is a "work hardening " steel. Grind or machine off the top layer and what's left may be softer (almost mild steel soft, depending on how much of the work hardened surface is removed).

Hammer away on the surface and it will work harden again though. But may deform or get marked up again until it work hardens.

I'd say just use it as is until you get to the point (skill level or project demands) where the anvil surface affects your results.

 

[larry4406]

I have a 3’ section of track I want to make an anvil out of one day.

Edit - make 2 anvils.

 

[Shiftless]

I have a 3’ section of track I want to make an anvil out of one day.

Better make a stand for that. My 10 inch long piece is a handy size for lifting up and placing it in position on my workbench when I need to bang on something, A 3 foot long piece of rail even after you carve some away for shaping is still gonna weigh around 100 pounds…maybe more depending n what you started with.

 

[larry4406]

Better make a stand for that. My 10 inch long piece is a handy size for lifting up and placing it in position on my workbench when I need to bang on something, A 3 foot long piece of rail even after you carve some away for shaping is still gonna weigh around 100 pounds…maybe more depending n what you started with.

I should have said make 2 anvils.

My brother found the piece and wants one.

 

[MoonRise]

See if your railroad track anvil is magnetic or not.

If it's nonmagnetic, then it's likely made of manganese steel (aka Hadfield steel). Not a 100% test, but a strong indicator.

Or go get the X-ray fluorescence spectrometer from the garage and get a better determination of the alloying elements. Some scrap yards may have one if you can't find yours.

 

[MichaelP]

If your reuirements for an anvil are not very high, this one will work just fine: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFDWM5QL?tag=atomicindus08-20

As for cleaning the flat surface with a milling machine, it's an easy job. If you were closer, I'd do it for you.

 

[Steve_P]

If your reuirements for an anvil are not very high, this one will work just fine: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFDWM5QL?tag=atomicindus08-20

As for cleaning the flat surface with a milling machine, it's an easy job. If you were closer, I'd do it for you.

I have a couple of the generic Chinese anvils like this, including one Vevor. Both have >RC50 faces and were practically free when I bought mine with free shipping. I'm not sure what more you could need than this, even for real use.

If someone wants to chase magic USA cast iron that's beat to **** for twice the price, then go for it.

 

[cody1325]

Somebody did a lot of pretty decent work to turn a piece of train rail into an “anvil”.
If that was mine, I would use it as-is. To smooth out the top I suggest using a belt sander followed by the flap discs already recommended.
Clamp your workpiece in a big vise to keep it from jerking around while you are working on it.

I have 2 short pieces of train rail I use on my bench top if I need to pound on something, Don’t use the back end of a vise as an “anvil”.

Granddad shattered the flat point on a cheap one (despite it being marketed for that) somehow.

I'll pick up some extra belts for my new Warrior belt sander (as my 1980s Skil kept losing the belts) and fix up the small piece of mine cart track I've got that was turned into an anvil decades ago. It's really badly pitted on the top. It's only around a foot long, and very easy to store.

 

[LopezBart]

It looks like the previous owner used a hot/cold cut-off tool directly on the anvil. If you do that, you get those cuts in the surface. Use a cutting plate, and the surface will last a long longer...

 

[66HertzClone]

A friend came by my house to give me a hand wit a few things, while we were in the garage he saw my anvil and we started talking about it. I mentioned that I wanted to get it cleaned up and he said he knew a guy that might be able to help me out with this. He dropped it off this morning and I am very happy with the results. Wish he had evened up the sides and done a little work on the front section but I'm pleased with the overall results. I will be sending his friend a nice adult beverage for his efforts.

 

[DSEng]

For a box of beer face milling the top seems like a good deal for both parties. Cleaning up the sides would have been a bit more work in getting it squared up nicely on the table, then side milling with an endmill. Depending on what tooling he has and how hard it is, it could dull some hss/carbide in a few passes.

The front nose section pretty much would be hand finishing with a grinder or files.

To just facemill you bolt it down roughly square and go to town. Likely wouldn't cause much wear on a set of facemill inserts. 15 min job if you are organized.

I guess I'm saying it would go from being a box of beer job to something a bit more involved.

 

[Griff79]

Here is a cool video.

.

Griff

 

[ecotec]

For beating on cold steel, I like “bench anvils” made of railroad track and round cutoffs. I have yet to shape a piece of railroad track into an anvil shape.

I, also, do not mill mine down. I just use them as is.

A 7-8” round cutoff is awesome for using punches on.

 

[KnurledNut]

Someone did a really nice job making that ASO, anvil shaped object.
I was gifted a crudely made one of old mining car rail which is much smaller.

 

[AEAdam]

A friend came by my house to give me a hand wit a few things, while we were in the garage he saw my anvil and we started talking about it. I mentioned that I wanted to get it cleaned up and he said he knew a guy that might be able to help me out with this. He dropped it off this morning and I am very happy with the results. Wish he had evened up the sides and done a little work on the front section but I'm pleased with the overall results. I will be sending his friend a nice adult beverage for his efforts.

That looks like it was fly cut, which is what I would have done. You NEED to clean up the sides and corners. You should be able to dress them good enough with an angle grinder. Try to keep the corners fairly sharp, then dress them down with a file.

Then take the angle grinder (I'd start with a 36 grit flap wheel) to the horn and just blend out some of the nicks, but don't let the local surface become concave, or you'll regret it.

I have a VERY similar anvil. I think mine is a probably a 100yr old GE Forge "Farrier's" Anvil, which I think yours is as well. Farriers' anvils are quite elegant, with long over hangs at the table and horn. They are typically lighter weight for lighter work and transportability.

Last, as you are messing around with your anvil, please keep in mind you own a piece of history. They literally do not make them like that anymore. I bought mine probably 20 yrs ago for around $100. I think it's worth quite a bit more now ($3-5/lb now). In a past life, I worked closely with various tool making smiths (blade smiths). It was my experience that every single one was a multi-millionaire, corporate exec, or member of the secretive american aristocracy who chucked it all and took up the hammer for a simpler life. Preserving the essentials of this trade is smart for SO many reasons.

 

[66HertzClone]

That looks like it was fly cut, which is what I would have done. You NEED to clean up the sides and corners. You should be able to dress them good enough with an angle grinder. Try to keep the corners fairly sharp, then dress them down with a file.

Then take the angle grinder (I'd start with a 36 grit flap wheel) to the horn and just blend out some of the nicks, but don't let the local surface become concave, or you'll regret it.

I have a VERY similar anvil. I think mine is a probably a 100yr old GE Forge "Farrier's" Anvil, which I think yours is as well. Farriers' anvils are quite elegant, with long over hangs at the table and horn. They are typically lighter weight for lighter work and transportability.

Last, as you are messing around with your anvil, please keep in mind you own a piece of history. They literally do not make them like that anymore. I bought mine probably 20 yrs ago for around $100. I think it's worth quite a bit more now ($3-5/lb now). In a past life, I worked closely with various tool making smiths (blade smiths). It was my experience that every single one was a multi-millionaire, corporate exec, or member of the secretive american aristocracy who chucked it all and took up the hammer for a simpler life. Preserving the essentials of this trade is smart for SO many reasons.

Thanks for this information, I will have to be careful using the grinder, I have very little experience using on so I amy find some scrap stuff to get comfortable in how to handle it.

 

[bwringer]

You'd have to remove a LOOOOT of metal to significantly clean up most of the corners, and there are large areas on the sides that are really too damaged to reasonably recover. The fly cutting removed a fair bit of metal from the top face, and they stopped at a good point; you certainly would not want to go further in order to smooth out the last few deep cuts.

As @AEAdam stated, you can clean up and blend some of the damage with a flap wheel, but you certainly don't want to try and get everything, since that would move a lot of metal and drastically reshape the anvil.

Anyway, it looks like a nice useful tool, with a lot of history. You really wonder why someone didn't seem to give a hoot about using a chisel on the top face. What in the world were they making or doing?

 

[MichaelP]

Chiseling pieces of metal, I guess. That's one thing anvils are used for.
Sure they shouldn't go through, but **** happens. Especially, over decades of use.

 

[AEAdam]

Hot cut tab

Chiseling pieces of metal, I guess. That's one thing anvils are used for.
Sure they shouldn't go through, but **** happens. Especially, over decades of use.

Hot cut table is the little flat on the horn in front of the big table. This anvil was owned by an amateur or someone who didn’t give a F.

Aren’t people curious when they see they just gouged the top of something like that? Hmmm. I wonder if I’m doing this right. I think in America, even a 100yrs ago in PA there may have been no one to ask who knew within 50 miles. I’ve seen quite a lot of tool abuse. Like the mushroomed socket chisels.

 

[MichaelP]

How about cold cuts (pun intended)?

P.S. I'm with you on the tool abuse issue.