Found an Anvil Finaly, My First Using TPAAAT

[stovestoker]

Well following in Glen's Footsteps I used the Thomas Powers Anvil Acquisition Technique, to get my first Anvil.

 

This is a story in two parts. It starts with me asking a Facebook group for my home town if anyone knew where I could find an anvil. The first lady was very sweet and stated that her granddaddy had a blacksmith shop on his place, but the place had fallen to ruin and that I was welcome to go look and I was welcome to have anything left out there. The search didn't yield much but it was a great day of adventuring in the weeds,

 

The second post came from a gentleman who said his brother in law had one. Numbers exchanged and 2 days later I picked up my first anvil.

 

Arm and Hammer, stamped 197. Great bounce. edges are a little rough but not bad. he wanted 300 for the Anvil but said I had to buy the post drill too. They came out of the same shop and had to be sold together. I wasn't in the market for the post drill. But I wasn't going to let the Anvil get away. So that cost me an extra 100. He threw in a couple pairs of tongs as well and showed us his tool collections. All in all a great day of hunting.

 

If anyone can provide info on both I would appreciate it.

[ThomasPowers]

That serial number equates to 1917-1918 according to Postman

That is a GREAT anvil in quite good condition.  It was made by Columbus Anvil and Forging co, in Columbus Ohio, USA and you got a smoking deal on the anvil.  You could also say you got a decent deal on the anvil and all the rest of the stuff was thrown in free.

[macbruce]

Go buy a lotto ticket, ya done good....... B)

[stovestoker]

Thomas and Macbruce, thanks for the info. I feel better about my purchase. especially justifying it to my better half.

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning,

 

Now you start the LONG process of trying to wear it out. Give it a name, start it out with Training Pants, Don't get mad when it spanks you!!

A LONG friendship is under way. I will start the process off with it's name "AH-HA" (meaning Arm & Hammer, both ways).

 

Naaaah, we don't have to be Nurmal, BUT, We HAVE TO have fun and grin.

 

You can make every tool you want and need, call it "An AHHA moment" :) :)

 

Neil

[rustyanchor]

Very nice anvil and a nice price.

I like the post drill as well.  I can't see if the self feed arm is there but that one looks otherwise complete from the pic. 

I can drill a pretty decent sized hole and not worry about destroying a bit. My drill press is a wood working version so drilling big holes is a challange,

A post drill is a good tool if you have the arm power to turn it, and are not in a big hurry. Works pretty well if power goes out too!  

 

Mark 

[Dan C]

You got quite the deal on that, both are very nice and should serve you well.  I'd also wager that if you chose to do so the drill press would sell rather quickly at a higher price than what you paid for.

[Frosty]

NICE score, TPAAT strikes again! You might want to radius the chipped edges, radiused edges are handy and it'll help protect the edges from missed blows. The drill looks pretty much there and I think I see something on the far side of the feed wheel on top that might be the feed lever and mech. It might be the feed handle though, we NEED more pics! <grin>

 

It feels a little like Christmas morning in a vicarious way when someone in the IFI Clan scores a juicy find. It makes me want to rip the wrapping off and examine all the bits, fiddle with the levels, turn the knobs and screws. That drill wants some oil, she's parched and thirsty give her a drink.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[stovestoker]

I was wondering about dressing the edges up. someone should do a how to on anvil maintenance. also was wondering. when an anvil is procured do you wire wheel it? Leave it alone? Keep oil on the body to prevent rust? The thing has been around a hundred years I figure without outright abuse it will last another hundred. But I am interested to know what good practice is. The post drill is pretty cool. All those gears reminds me of the industrial revolution. I think I will clean it up and mount it just to have because it's cool. Ill post more pics.

[ThomasPowers]

Many people wire wheel to remove loose rust.  The best thing to get the face pretty is beating red hot iron on it IMNSHO!

 

(I have an anvil that was left in an unheated shed near a swamping creek in OH for 50 years and so has fine face pitting from condensation.  Rather than remove any face thickness to clean it up I just forge on it---the sweet spot is just about polished out---scale is an abrasive.)

 

You can round the edges if you want; but noticing how many old ones come that way I guess it generally wasn't considered necessary or i would have seen at least one of them that way in the "wild".  What you don't want to do is to sharpen the edges!

[Glenn]

Why not USE the anvil before you make any changes that can not be undone?

 

A year from now or 5 years from now you can always modify the anvil, if you feel the need.