Harbor Freight Anvil Improvement, Part 1

[AirborneProductions]

Thanks for the honest feedback! Part 2 is on the YouTube channel already, but I'll post it up here pretty soon.

The ductile cast iron that they used sucks. It isn't hardenable, and it is so soft that even a light hammer tap leaves a deformation in the face. A2 is so much harder than what they used.

The gap that we left was a mistake in judgement. Sealing up the gap with welds completely across the back of the face is the way to go. That gap eats up energy, and rebounds probably less than the cast iron. But at least the A2 doesn't deform like the original cast iron face.

The tool steel we used was under-hardened, which we will remedy in a third video. We will also temper it properly to reduce brittleness.

Honestly, if I had to do it again, I wouldn't. I'd build one completely from scratch instead of starting with their cast iron.