IMAG0104

Wow! That is some pretty serious pitting! How are you planning to fix it? Weld and grind?

The top still looks in pretty good nick though. Congrats on the purchase. I look forward to seeing what you produce.

At first I thought I could just grind the mushroom from the steel plate and just smooth out the high spots. It's only on one side. Then I read some ones comment  how old anvils that have provided 150 years of service are desecrated by cleaning them up like that and thought he had a good point. It useable as is.

When I bought it I was told it was made between 1840 to 1880. So I'm going to try to get an age. If it is that old I'll use it for light work and find a newer one to work hard.  

Good call, a little charisma goes a long way. It looks like the top steel plate is about 1/2" thick. Should be fine IMO as long as you don't do anything rash on that side. I am definatly developing a warm spot for old tooling myself, the more I look around this site.