Vent: Hit 1,000 hours on my anvil and noticed a crack I missed for months

I was cleaning up my shop last Tuesday and saw a hairline crack running from the face into the heel of my 150 pound Fisher anvil, and I have no idea how long it's been there since I hit that 1,000 hour mark last spring.

3 comments

3 Comments

tyler61mo ago

I read a thing from a blacksmith out in Pennsylvania who said cracks in anvils like that are sometimes from the original forging process and not user error. He mentioned that Fishers are cast steel but they can have internal flaws that don't show up until a lot of heavy use. I've also heard that if you drill a small hole at the end of the crack it can stop it from spreading further, kind of like stopping a windshield crack. That might let you keep using it for a while longer without it getting worse. Just a thought from what I've picked up in the forums over the years.

haydenbutler7h ago

Doesn't the face plate thickness matter more than the crack itself?

amy_murphy851mo ago

Haven't you ever seen a crack spread past a stop-drill hole though? I've tried that trick on a few things over the years and it didn't always work, especially on something that gets hit with a hammer all the time. The vibration alone might be enough to keep that crack growing no matter what you do. Plus, Fisher anvils are tough but that doesn't mean they're perfect... drilling into one just sounds like a good way to make things worse if you hit something inside you didn't expect. I'd rather keep using it as-is and keep an eye on it than risk messing it up with a drill bit that might do more harm than good.