That old anvil my grandfather left me finally made sense after 15 years

I pulled my grandpa's 150-pound anvil out of the barn last week after it sat there since he passed in 2009. I always thought it was just beat up junk with a flat face and chipped edges. But I watched a video from a smith in Ohio who said worn anvils actually rebound better for certain work. I tried forge welding a small hatchet head on it and the hammer bounced back way cleaner than my new one. The face has this slight dish to it now that holds the hot metal steady. Any of you ever find an old anvil works better for specific jobs because of the wear?

2 comments

2 Comments

mark4913h ago

Oh man, I totally get this. I had a similar thing happen with an old anvil I picked up at an auction for like 40 bucks - the face was all pitted and had this weird wavy spot. Turns out that wavy spot is perfect for drawing out material on the edge without it sliding around, and the pitting actually grips hot steel better than my flat new one for certain things like scarfing. The rebound on that old girl is way snappier too, I think because the steel got work-hardened from decades of use.

elizabeththomas10h ago

So how bad was the pitting on that face? I've got an old Fisher that looks like someone used it for a cutting board, but I'm scared to grind it down too much and mess up the tempered surface. Did you just leave yours as-is or do any cleanup to it?