njanvilman

2 hours ago, rule4 said:

Ok, thanks for the clarification. I should of added my location to the post and my profile. Still figuring this forum out. I'm in Massachusetts, USA.

I have some free time tomorrow afternoon and will be headed out to see it then. Finding time is always the hard part. I was planing to offer $300 and go from there. Being brand new to the hobby I just wasn't sure if this was a good price or a quality anvil. They seem to be all over the place with the prices so it is hard for me to tell if I'm getting a good deal for my money. Fisher, from what I read online is a very common anvil. 

If you are on Facebook, check out my Fisher & Norris Factory Museum Page for information on Fisher anvils and lots of photos.

Yes, Fisher made between 500,000 and 600,000 anvils, but how many of them are still around and usable?.  They are among the best of the steel face-cast iron anvils.

Its an investment for a long time.  Amortize it over 20 or more years, and the price is very cheap.

On 1/16/2017 at 11:37 PM, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

How many did Fisher make?

According to their advertising, they produced somewhere between 500,000 and 600,000.  No serial numbers, many years without dating, so an exact count is impossible.

7 hours ago, Paint504 said:

I live in SW Florida and I'm having a really hard time finding an anvil. Was wondering if you fellers know of a good place/website to score a good anvil from. 

EBAY, CraigsList, garage sales, flea markets, auctions,and ask everyone.  A nice Fisher just sold on line in northern Florida for a price I almost was willing to drive 1200 miles to get.  Be creative, and have cash ready, and a way to get it.

Family troubles with the owners, the depression, and lessening demand led to HB demise.

But in that 36 years, they made over 300,000 quality anvils!

13 hours ago, swedgemon said:

Josh, I looked pretty hard but there is no evidence of a dogleg crossbar between the two vertical lines.  If there are other 1979 anvils with the letter "M" on them, this one would be a brother or sister (are anvils gender-sensitive??).  I appreciate your responses and wish you the best with the anvil museum.

I will see what is in the museum.  I believe I only have one anvil from 1979.

There is usually just one letter ahead of the year numbers.  Looking carefully, can the mark be a M?  I can barely see the V between the I I?

Crossley was know to try to be as efficient as they could be.  It is not surprising to see grinder marks appear under the paint.  They did the grinding to quickly clean up any iron flash on the anvils.  The anvils that Fisher made back in the 1880's were of a better finish overall.

For the few anvils I have repainted, I find that John Deere Blitz Black paint to be a good color.  Not gloss, not flat.

Yes, the demise of American Industry is sad.  If we ever had to tool up the way they did for WW2, we couldn't.  Even if we had the tooling, we do not have the manpower with the skills needed.   

The 79 represent 1979, the year the anvil was cast and the final year of production.

I cannot make out what the other letter are.  Maybe II?  Do not use a sanding disc in the future.  I wire brush will do fine.

1 hour ago, swedgemon said:

Anvilman,  I looked thru my records, did not find a receipt, but I did find a 1979 list price sheet and a 1979 distributor price sheet for F/N anvils and double screw leg vises.  When I went thru the foundry that day all the usual casting, melt-metal handling, copes, drags, etc., were all there on the floor and against one wall...I do remember the plant manager saying the foundry was now (then) shut down and that they had cast a large number of anvils ahead (the large stack in the back corner of the foundry) so they would be able to fill Navy and Coast Guard orders as new ships were built.  That would make my purchase date some time in 1979 or 1980, instead of 1977.  He did  charge me the distributor price ($215).  I sanded the black paint from the throat of the anvil and could find no initial(s) or date under the horn (I had stamped my name under the horn  shortly after I bought the anvil).  Down under the hardie hole the numbers "11/9" are cast, but I found no initals.

A bit of topic drift, but still in the F/N thread, I also have a #4 F/N double screw chain-drive leg vise...got it in the tailgate section of the ABANA confrence in Ashville, NC, many years ago.  The screw had been broken just ahead of the handle and welded back in place...it wanted to follow me home.  I'll forward copies of the F/N price sheets for your reference.  I found a few receipts for hammers and a hardie from Manhattan Tool Co, Newark, NJ...I stopped by the plant several times in my NJ travels - nice follks.  On one of my visits they were forging lift hooks for Coast Guard rescue helicopters...it was a "rush" job.

 

The Letter and numbers are on the other end, under the tail.  I can see them in your original post, but cannot read them.

After Crossley shut the foundry down, them scrapped all of the tools used there.  All of the iron Flasks, clamps, boards all went to scrap.  When I explored the building in 1999, I found the remaining patterns, and whatever else was laying around in the dirt.  Everything I recovered is in the museum.  The Crossley building was demolished in 2001.

6 hours ago, swedgemon said:

About 1977 I worked for a major oil company...one of my accounts was Delaval Turbine in Trenton, NJ.  I was talking about blacksmithing with a few of the folks in the plant one day and asked whether any of them knew where I might get an anvil.  They immediately referred me to Crosley Machine, a few blocks away.  I went to the plant and met with the plant manager at the time, a thin wiry man about 80+ years old.  After discussing the ethics of him selling directly to me, he agreed to sell a 100-lb Fischer Norris.  He took me out to the foundry (closed for some years at that point)...stacked in the back corner there was an impressive pile of anvils.  He said most of them were made to US Navy/Coast Guard specs.  I picked out a 100-lb piece and he said to come back for it in a week or two...it had not been "dressed" yet (the table had square edges).  He said the older fellow who dressed the anvils only worked periodically. I don't recall the price.   Anyway, I have had the anvil ever since.

The two numbers cast in the base are "100" on a front foot and "11/9" down under the hardie hole.  The anvil stand came from somewhere out of the fog in my mind...I like being able to move the anvil, as required.  As can be seen, I have had to reinforce the 2X12's a few times.  Some day, when I grow up, I'll get a larger anvil, but I really like this one !!   

Are you sure of the timeline....I have all of the artifacts from Crossley in my Fisher & Norris Factory Museum.  When I was given the material in 1999, they told me they actually cast anvils until the end of 1979.  They were ordered to close the foundry by the end of the year due to EPA regulations of the open furnace.  You state you got your anvil in 1977.  I am wondering about this two year gap.  

Also, could you tell what the initial and number are under the horn?

If you are on Facebook, check out the "Fisher & Norris Factory Museum Page" to see more about Fisher anvils and where all of the artifacts ended up.

If I am reading correctly, and the serial # is 38808, your anvil was made in 1898.  It was made in Brooklyn NY.  Hay Budden made anvils from around 1892 till 1928.  They are considered one of the best brand anvils.  Your anvil obviously has some use and chipping, but it is still fully functional for another few hundred years of pounding.

The Z is probably an inspectors mark.  The 126 was its original weight when made in lbs.

That anvil is just about worn out.  Walk away and look for a better one.  Most of the horn steel is missing, you have no edges to work with, and what is left of the face plate is very thin.

Hard to tell from your photos, but does it appear that the heel area was forged as one piece as the body, or was the square-ish section welded on as a repair for a broken anvil?

TRENTON anvil,  made in 1928, in Ohio,  127 lb when stamped.

Probably a Trenton.  They typically marked the front with the weight on the left, and the serial number on the right.

HB put their serial number on the left, and the weight on the side with the name.

Interesting that two more of this identical pattern were sold on EBAY last week.  One brought $700 and the other $560.  It must be a very popular configuration.

On 10/5/2016 at 10:18 PM, Clover Saint said:

I'm looking more for something along a sawyers anvil. And around here scrap is scarce. And I'm just south of cleveland.

At Quad States this year, someone was selling cut up HUGE forklift pieces, tool steel, by the pound.  These were as big as 4" x 6" x 10".  A lifetime of hammering would probably never ever show.  You should make it a destination for you next September.  As noted above, people drive in from all over the country for this event.  Me....650 miles each way.

Anvils listed on CraigsList are open for sale to the world.  There are people who use programs that alert them to certain key phrases in every listing in this country.  And from the wording on the ad, it might have just been someone fishing to see what their items were worth?  There is no public accounting as to whether this was actually sold or not.

If it is a Trenton, you serial # puts in in 1910.

Thanks John.  Yes, it does match exactly.  

Do you know where this foundry was?

I recently got this 100 lb block on a trade.  It is 12" x 12" x 4".  Interesting that I already have two others that are identical to it.   All three blocks came from from different places and over a period of many years.  I guess that these were all made by the same foundry.  I think it is rare to have two swage block that match.  Now I have three that match.   These blocks will be for sale in the Spring time.  Too busy to mess with them now.   Does anyone else have a swage block with this exact pattern?  

One can never have too many anvils!

If you can afford the Brooks, buy it.  Use them both, and eventually sell the one you do not like.  But I would bet you will keep both.

How heavy is the anvil?  The heavier the anvil, the thick the plate.

It is probably about 7/16" thick.

11 minutes ago, JT said:

thank you njanvilman !! that's interesting !! JT

Your welcome.  Sweet piece.  A lifetime investment that will never decline in value.