Pro tip: check your anvil's face plate welds before dropping a heavy billet

Last Tuesday I was working a 60 pound billet of 4140 on my 150 year old Fisher anvil and the face plate popped clean off on the third hammer blow. Cracked right along the old forge weld line near the heel. I had to spend the rest of the day grinding and prepping it for a repair weld instead of finishing my damascus billet. Has anyone else had a vintage anvil let go on them mid strike?

3 comments

3 Comments

smith.nancy1mo ago

Man that stinks. 60 pounds of 4140 coming down on a Fisher too, that's a real shame. I've got a 1916 Peter Wright that threw a chunk of the face near the hardy hole a couple years back. Had to do the same thing, grind it out and weld it up with some 7018. Took me a whole weekend just to get it flat again. Hope you get that old Fisher singing again soon.

wendy8201mo ago

@smith.nancy that's brutal man. My 190lb Fisher took a chunk out too, same weld fix. Fisher anvils are tough though, she'll ring again.

price.ben1mo ago

@smith.nancy that's rough, having a face plate pop off mid strike. I've been there with a different kind of failure though. My old 190lb Fisher had a big crack show up along the heel weld line last year. It didn't let go all at once like yours, but it sure felt like it was about to. I was working a smaller billet, maybe 30 pounds, and heard this awful pinging sound. I stopped and saw the line spreading right where the old forge weld was. Took me a full day to grind it out and weld it back up with some 7018. It's been holding fine ever since, but I check it every time now before I strike. Have you gotten that Fisher fixed yet?