My anvil face went from shiny to pitted in one summer, and I finally traced it back to my water bucket
When I bought my 150 pound Peter Wright back in 2016 the face was clean and smooth, rang like a bell. Fast forward to 2021 and the whole face was pitted and gray, probably a good 1/16 of an inch of surface lost. I blamed bad steel for a while, then a fella at the Ohio Forge Council meeting in Wooster pointed at my slack tub. I had been using the same water for months, and the sulfur from my coal fire had turned it into weak acid. Quenching hot steel in that soup, then letting the anvil sit wet overnight, ate the face slow. Now I dump the tub after every session and float a little baking soda in there. Anybody else notice their anvil face going downhill after switching coal suppliers?