Hello- and, me too, brand of my anvil???

[racer3j]

Hello to all- I have not been near an anvil for 40 + years. Even then, it was small parts for plains style half-stock rifle furniture. I worked in a gunsmith shop for a year before I started practicing law. Learned some shade-tree heat treat and torch welding. When I took up racing later in life I torch welded daily and then to tig for chrome-moly sprint car frames and parts- still stress relieved with torch. I have a mig for rough stuff, sold the big tig and so use torch again- making some handtool parts.

So, except for welding, and some heat-treat I am just a rookie. My anvil has "1 3/4 CW", a place where the name was likely ground off, and below that space, "England"( area about 1 1/2" tall and not quite as wide as the word "England."). On the other side "87 Kg." These are cast in. The anvil rings on the face with just bare knuckles- side of the horn shows grind from cleaning off mold flash. It has never been used. Hardy is 1 1/4" sq.( still needs to have flash filed out) and pritchel is 3/4." It is painted with what I would call "Record blue." This refers to the usual hue of Record handtools and vises. OAL is 27". Face is 4 1/2" wide and 16 1/2" long, then a lower by 3/4" flat face, 3" long and 4 1/2" wide. It is 12" exactly on the height of the face. The horn does not have a significantly dished sweep- main diameter is just over 3 1/2" tapering to 7/16" nose.

Those are about all of the features I can think of to help with ID. I am right in town, so I will be using a Propane forge- right now I am too lazy to mess with wool and cement and finding good jet burners- will likely buy. My father and his father are probably "spinning" - they were both fuel engineers specializing in coal.

I am sure all of you can teach me plenty. Any help on the anvil will be appreciated, though who made it won't change how it will work unless it is from a foundry that casts in defects routinely. I haven't hit it with a hammer yet. Best regards, jet.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Jet.

A quick test for your anvil is to bounce a ball bearing off the face. Hold it a foot or so above it and let it drop. If it returns 9-10" it has good rebound and is probably a good anvil.

Don't worry too much about the "ring" some don't have much and are still good tools.

Lastly except as the replacement test for the bearing bounce you really don't want to hit your anvil with a hammer, you want to hit the metal in between.

Frosty

[alabamablacksmith]

anvil brand from your description is probally a Brooks anvil, made in England and very good quality. Google Vaughn and Brooks anvils. This should give you more info.

[racer3j]

Brooks had been suggested to me. I did not mention it so anyone's thoughts would be open. I also found Vaughan and it could be one of theirs. My earlier google search for Brooks anvil got nothing. Vaughan does show an anvil with the very same configuration, even the blue paint, and weight is in their range. - I will try again on Brooks. It was a good deal- $2 per pound. Thanks for thinking this quandry over for me.jet

[Frostfly]

I love the english, Label an anvil in Kilos, or CWT. and still talk about price per pound.

No wonder I watch so much BBC.(Top gear!)

[racer3j]

T'would be even funnier in GBP per pound. I found the connection between Vaughan and Brooks. They appear to now be vending under Vaughan. I am looking at a propane forge from one of the ebay regulars, the two burner knife maker/ general smithing- the guy with the formed, coated liner. Talked to him on the phone- he was a gentleman- told me what he does for his and did not badmouth any of the competition. I found sources for the parts to make my own, but at regular prices for burners and regulators and valves/hose it is hard to match a pre-built."Bob's your uncle!"

I read a selection of posts before registering- I liked that folks here have their opinions, but treat each other with respect- even the arguments were civilized.jet

[Glenn]

Originally Posted by racer3j

I liked that folks here have their opinions, but treat each other with respect- even the arguments were civilized. jet

Thank You.

IForgeIron was built as a blacksmithing resource. Discussions are encouraged in order to exchange blacksmithing information. Opposing views on a topic must remain civil in order to provide and absorb the information presented. Again, thank you for your comments as it confirms the correct decisions were made when setting up the standards for the site.

[matt87]

racer3j, I just compared your decription with this year's edition of Vaughan's price list. The 1-3/4 Cwt single-bick London pattern anvil that they currently offer matches almost all of your dimensions, excet that the face is listed as 4-1/4 wide and the overall height is 11-1/2. The weight is listed as 88.9K. Oh, and yes it is available in any colour you like so long as it's Record blue

Price, for reasons of interest/curiosity is GBP£536.15 + carriage + VAT (17.5%, but only applies to those in the EU and for non-business purposes). That's £2.73/lb... before tax and shipping! Ouch...

[Frosty]

Very nice anvils but out of my range. (Monetary and geographical) Still, I'm really enjoying the whole £/lb. comparison image I'm getting.

Thanks.

Frosty

[matt87]

Of course, to add historical geekery to the topic, £ originally comes from lb; in early mediaeval (IIRC) England the currency was, as usual, precious metal. The pound comes from... a lb of sterlings (the sterling being a silver coin).