anvil identification

[hdwarner]

please help me identify this anvil i picked it up today

it weighs 280 pound
it has good ring , it has good rebound , it is one piece of cast steel
but it wasn't finished it still has a parting line down the center
there were also some 500 pounders there also
thanks chuck

[larrynjr]

Not that I'm any help in IDing an anvil but it's harder to tell given the size of the image. Got one that is larger?

Sorry, just went to your gallery page and saw the larger size picture.

Again I'm no kind of expert but to me it looks almost cast iron and not cast steel.

[R Funk]

If it rings it can not be cast iron.

Cast iron contains carbon particles that dampen the cast iron structure. This is one advantages of using cast iron for machine bases, gear boxes, and similar applications where noise and vibration could be an issue.

It would generally be difficult to distingish cast iron from cast steel with only visual examination. I would want to do a physical inspection including, tapping with a hammer, spark testing etc to detrimine whether or not it is cast steel or iron.

However, many of the cast iron anvil shaped objects can be visually identified as cast iron due to relatively thick heels required by the lower structural strength and impact resistance of cast iron.