A Few Notes About Stoody Rods

Contributed By: Steven O. Smith

I have been answering questions about anvil rebuilding lately, where there seem to be plenty of contradictory opinions. I decided to call the Stoody hotline at (800) 832-4123 and ask some questions about using their rods. I have gotten some very interesting (if inconclusive) information as a result.

2110 rod is designed to bond dissimilar steels together. It is about 20 Rc as deposited, and can work harden into the mid 50's.

1105 rod is an air hardening tool steel. It is 43 Rc as welded.

1102 is similar to 1105 but harder--54-58 Rc as welded, it is a Relatively new H12 air hardening tool steel rod.

The Stoody guy I talked to said that if the 2110 cracks when put down first (which fits my experience), then the base material is acting as if it were a cast iron. He said that if the 1105 welds without cracking, just use 1105, don't bother with the 2110. He also said that what works, works. If you have experience with an approach that works, stay with it. A lot depends on exactly what type of steel you are welding to, and this will vary a whole bunch from one anvil manufacturer to another.

I asked him about the tendency of 1105 rod to stress relieve itself by cracking (micro fine cracks) but not chipping or breaking out. He didn't like that one bit! He said that if it is cracking either the material isn't suitable for welding with 1105 (i.e. cast iron), or there was insufficient preheat used.

I end up finding his recommendation of 1105 only (if it bonds well to the base material) compelling. 1105 is cheaper for one (3.50 vs. 5.20 per pound), and as for needing a harder top layer, I haven't gotten much if any deformation out of my top layer 2110, which means that it hasn't done much hardening-- 20Rc according to Stoody.

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