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How a piece of chalk cost me $200

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How a piece of chalk cost me $200

#1

How a piece of chalk cost me $200

Gary Smyth

Farm sale. 147 acres in Marcellus shale country. Very hilly but close to interstate highway access and most hasn't been worked for years. The owner was subsisting. Sold to Range Resources for $5000 an acre mineral rights and one million five hundred thousand to a developer to put up 60 mini mansions. Quite a haul for a older farmer. Decided to retire in comfort down South.

Anyway, estate people came and sold everything. Tractors, backhoes, household furniture, barn wood, heavy chains, raw steel, jacks, air and fuel hoses, farm tractor accessories, welding equipment, tire mounters, dozens of ropes and pulleys, loft hay hooks, tables of beat up and older hand and electrical tools – three barn/garages and a house worth.

Obviously I couldn't be at three barn/garages at one time so I asked where the work was done to the estate sale people and went there first. The line was substantial in front of closed commercial garage doors. When they opened somehow everyone turned left and being anxious, I went right. Within 10 seconds I found this well used Hay-Budden anvil. Covered in surface rust and dirt I didn't have all the tools I should have brought to such a sale and door light was dark in the back, BUT its edges were decent, and it rung true, and a trusty 1" ball bearing rebounded almost 100%. I bought it marking it with chalk as "sold" and immediately went to the pay table. $100. Two minutes tops. It was such a good purchase even the veterans of these sales and an always capable Amish told me "congrats".

Bought some other small stuff, including a buffer and an old cast iron stand in the other areas, loaded up the car and was home by 10 AM.

Once home I got the stuff put away and with the anvil. placed it on its side, wiped it down and used a piece of chalk to verify the casting marks on the anvil and a weight. It is indeed a Hay Budden, Brooklyn, NY and weighs 123 lbs. According to the internet 1912 cast. And then I saw it, a crack at the Hardy hole. My heart sank. Not an easy fix if possible at all. The best buy of the day dissolved with a chalk tell-tale, and substantially killed my dream of a big pay day at the market. My $100 purchase will still get $300 when I eventually sell it but nowhere near the double price for same if not damaged.

For now it's perfectly good if using the face and not the Hardy. But, well, live and learn.








Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

#2

Good for black powder launching!


Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

#3

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

GolfSteve in Calgary

Being a dummy I have to ask why the crack cannot be welded.

"easily welded" vs. welded may be a different thing.

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

#4

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

John K Jordan

Don't know if I'd launch one that might have pieces flying off. But I'd buy it, crack and all. I pound lots of things on my anvils but rarely use the hardy holes.

In my experience one issue in welding would be the huge thermal sink from the mass of the steel, causing poor penetration and perhaps making the bead harder than the base metal.. Might be best to preheat the entire anvil before welding. Hot job. But I have no experience with properly preparing an anvil - perhaps they need to be heat treated in some way.

JKJ

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

#5

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

Gary Smyth

A simple unprepared fillet weld will guarantee an increase the possibility of additional cracks and possibly a loss of temper. Two different blacksmith online people have provided different approaches with one being to leave it alone unless the whole anvil is preheated to 400 degrees. To do less, a weld on the heel will cause a thermal shock. The other opinion favors a ground out groove and a fillet weld (again on a low cherry color anvil) using a high temp Stoody heavy duty stick weld, followed by judicious grinding being careful of doing it in “stages” to lessen thermal and face hardness problems. A third suggestion was to simply have a metal fabricator band saw off the heel and not be concerned with it breaking later. Much of this is well beyond what I understand about such metal matters.

I would love to "make the anvil whole" but I‘d not want to ruin what is a really good anvil response as it is now. For 90% of what I do--straightening and bending, forming, upsetting, rounding over, I'll not need the hardy. As for the Pritchel hole, I‘ll find another way to punch holes, and hold down hot metal. As a hold down, I can rig a bicycle chain from one side to the other and a foot pedal to apply pressure.

All in all, still a good anvil. I’ll just use it like a knife makers anvil with the mass of use in the center working surface. Perhaps a bit of grinding clean up on the edges and the horn.

I hope this is an adequate reply.

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

#6

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

Rod Peterson--Ormond Beach, FL

Was one of your internet sources "Essential Craftsman" ? He's a contractor/builder/blacksmith in southern Oregon and who's really knowledgeable. While he may not be a lifelong blacksmith, he knows a lot about it and has a good friend who really is a lifelong blacksmith and knows just about all there is to know about it.

Scott is also a fan of Hay Buddens and has more than one of them. If you haven't contacted him, I'd say give him a try. Also watch any of his blacksmithing videos.

Rod

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

#7

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

Rod Peterson--Ormond Beach, FL

Hmmm. I seem to have forgotten how to embed a link. Here it is, spelled out:

https://essentialcraftsman.com/whoweare/

Rod

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

#8

Yes and no direct response as yet.

Gary Smyth

Perhaps he will reply from I think Seattle but I'm not holding my breath. I do look almost every day--just in case. FYI the other is (Glen?) GS Tongs.

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

#9

An aside....

John in NM

Anyone need those trusty 1" ball bearings? I have a bag of 100 in my office.

Every two years we service a perfectly good bearing and replace it's perfectly good balls with new ones. Previous engineers here have been working under the assumption that slow rotation is even worse (emphasis theirs) than high speed!

I think I have one more batch of new bearings, maybe two, and will probably cease replacement when they are used up!

So, anyone who needs a bearing or two for checking anvils, or even for practicing a Captain Queeg impression, just let me know :D

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

#10

How to order

Gary Smyth

I'll take half of what you have or all if you find it appropriate. If you want to spread them around I understand. But fifty or more would be welcome for stuff I play with like rollers, marble rolls, experiments, ...and anvil testing, etc.

Re: How a piece of chalk cost me $200

#11

I'll email you soon

John in NM

Waiting on a phone call, but sometime this afternoon.

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