Face milling an anvil

Face milling a hardened anvil.

[@tropifiori]

I have an 1820 Mousehole anvil I would like to do that with. It is just barely flat enough to work with but it is a little distracting to have to constantly have to accommodate for the sway. It is too big for my mill so I will have to find a machine shop that is willing.

[@lonniepadgett3616]

What kind of cutter and inserts are you using?

[@JohanCamel87]

why no coolent?

[@slome815]

Coolant would be very bad for the inserts in this case. Carbide is very sensitive for thermal shocks. It's better not too use it with hardened steel. Also, its a mess with a machine without enclosure. I do use coolant for most endmills, but with these inserts I don't feel like it's worth it.

[@JohanCamel87]

okay :)

[@deadtoad990]

One thing to add carbide is good with constant coolant, but I guess you guys don't have that kind of set up, also not strictly necessary because of carbides resistance to high heat

[@danielmosler13]

Why have you done that? The anvil was in pretty good condition and with the milling process you have removed the hardest layer od the tool steel plate.

[@slome815]

The anvil was in very bad condition, 5mm hollow with all the corners rounded. Way too much for hard welding a layer on and grinding it flat. There is nothing more annoying then an anvil with no flat surface. Every first blow bends the workpiece. It is also a cast steel anvil with a lot more hard material then a welded on steel plate. I had to mill off 5mm. The face is still just as hard as it was before. It was either the scrap yard or face milling for this anvil.

[@danielmosler13]

Sander Vercammen Ok. Corners should accually be rounded a little for set downs and drawing out sharp corners leave ugly marks in the workpiece. On the video the anvil seemed to be preety even but if you say it was hollow than its alright. Also during the heat treat the horns can bend down even 5mm or more thats normal, on my anvils the horns are bend down 2-3mm and theta are in exellent condition

[@slome815]

Yes, but you should at least have one sharp corner for setting down shoulders. I did not have to do much about the horns. It was a bit below the face of the anvil. Just some cleaning up was enough. The anvil was used for cold sheet metal work before I bought it and this did a lot of damage. I have had 5 years of artist blacksmith education and this anvil was simply frustrating too work with compared to the anvils they have at school. Now it is dead flat and works fine. A file won't scratch it so it's still at least 55 HRC. It may have 80% rebound or so.

[@naui_diver9290]

How much should i expect to pay for this service?

[@marlin123ish]

@@naui_diver9290 find someone with a mill and ask if they will do it for a case of beer.