Grinding down my anvil face was the best mistake I ever made

I got tired of that stupid hardie hole wobble where tools never sat flush. So one afternoon I took an angle grinder to my 30 year old anvil's face. Just a light pass to knock down the high spots around the edges. People told me I'd ruin the temper or mess up the rebound forever. Well after 3 months of daily work the rebound actually feels more consistent. No more chattering when I'm drifting holes in 1 inch stock. I picked up an old Peter Wright at a farm auction near Harrisonburg for 200 bucks. Did anyone else ever resurface an anvil face like this or am I just reckless?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathan8511mo ago

Yeah, "consistency" is a funny word for what I did. More like I got bored on a Tuesday and decided to play Russian roulette with my anvil's heat treat. Lee's article guy sounds smarter than me though. I just used a regular grinding wheel and hoped for the best. Honestly, the only measurement I took was "does this still ring like a bell or sound like a wet noodle?" It still rings, so I'm calling it a win. If anything, the surface is flatter than my ex's promises, which is saying something. But yeah, I'd never recommend it to anyone with a good anvil. Mine was already beat to hell, so what did I have to lose besides a couple hundred bucks and a finger?

lee.lucas1mo ago

Read a article from an old blacksmithing forum where a guy did the exact same thing with a Fisher anvil. He claimed the key was using a fresh flap disc instead of a grinding wheel so you don't dig in too deep. Your point about consistent rebound makes sense to me, I bet that old face had more unevenness than people realize from years of hammering in the same spots. Did you take any measurements before and after to see if the hardness changed much?