Found out most old anvils are way softer than I thought

I was reading through some old blacksmithing manuals from the 1800s online and saw that many anvils were made with wrought iron bodies and only a thin steel face. That really surprised me because I always assumed they were solid steel all the way through. Has anyone else run into this when trying to weld a repair on an old anvil?

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3 Comments

susan812mo ago

Remember a lot of those old wrought iron bodies were meant to absorb shock, not break.

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sammartinez2mo ago

Man I wish my brain absorbed shocks like that instead of breaking down at the first sign of stress. My old pickup's got a rusted out wrought iron bumper that's seen more hits than I have good ideas. Meanwhile I drop my phone once and it's game over. Funny how those old blacksmiths figured out metallurgy better than I can figure out how to open a pickle jar.

9

olivermason2mo ago

Makes sense with how a lot of old tools were built tougher but not necessarily harder.

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