Silverhill Forge

I hear that there's quite a few big Peter Wrights over in the US and Canada, but I rarely see them over here, which is weird considering they were made less than 50 miles from where I am now. I didn't even realise I'd bought a 4cwt until I got home and applied the brush to the side. Needless to say I was dancing around the forge like a lunatic! Cheers Dodge. I reckon a sheet of ply will do the trick! Cow Magnets! I've a friend who's a dairy farmer. I'll have to tap him up to see if he can get me a couple. Many thanks for the tip!

......But failed. It eventually took two of us to load it, and my van was creaking under the weight, but it's now home; my new (to me at least!) #455 Peter Wright. The markings aren't too clear, but they read 'Peter Wright......Patent......England.......Solid Wrought' The number stamping reads 4-0-7 rolling in at #455. It rings loudly when hammering steel, so I proposed to either mount it on a trunk and sell the stand or wrap chain around the anvil and use a combination of lead and silicone under the feet to assist in deadening the sound. My other Peter Wright was deadened nicely by mounting on a stump, so I'll have to see if my forester friend will find me a trunk cutting. I understand that this anvil came from a decorative ironwork forge near Birkenhead on the Wirral; the other side of the Mersey estuary to Liverpool. It appears to be a post-1910 production (unless someone can shed more light on the markings and age.....please do!) and probably had a hard life prior to being used in the Birkenhead forge and may have been used by a toolsmith or bladesmith judging by the chiselmarks! It'll be my primary user, that's for sure!

Sounds like a Wilkinsons 'Queens Cross' anvil from Dudley, West Midlands (Near Birmingham) About 50 miles from me! I come across them from time to time, the ones I've seen are wrought iron bodies with a steel face welded on, similar in composition to a Peter Wright. I don't happen to have Postman's book regarding anvils, but I dare say that there will be more information on Wilkinsons in there. The ones I've seen have had good rebound, but poor or little ring, this could be due to the fact that Wilko' anvils were forged from 5 separate pieces and maybe the ring dissipates due to the welds. Hope this helps.

You never know............ It could be a murder weapon!

Sounds like you guys are having a rough time of it! In the UK, coal production is slowly coming back into life as a result of the prices climbing, but much of the coal is coming from spoil heaps and tips via washing to produce coal for the power stations. I dare say there's plenty left in the ground, but the costs are too great to extract it, and they environmentalists create a good argument to leave it there! From what I understand, the floods in Australia and potential issues in Indonesia has resulted in China looking elsewhere for coal which means that 'normal' supplies will experience disruption while Australia gets back on its feet and new mines come online. We're kinda lucky here in the UK; you're (generally) never too far from a supplier of 'smithing coke, and good quality anthracite is available in almost every town.

That's ridiculous! The guy must be either insanely foolish or blindly optimistic!

Nice looking anvil. What do you reckon? Mousehole? or early PW? Sadly it's a bit too far for me to drive to have a look, but it should suit someone!

I can't offer much information on the history and detail of your anvil, having never seen many of the makes of anvil you have in the US as I'm in the UK. However I now have two anvils; a 2cwt (224lb) Brooks and a 2-0-20cwt (244lb) Peter Wright. The face of the Brooks is nice and flat, with few imperfections, but the Peter Wright is covered in small marks. I've forged with the Brooks for a couple of years now which was fine, but I bought the Peter Wright at the weekend and forged with it once, and it just 'feels' better. It's almost as if it's imperfections inspire you to create work that it's previous owners would be proud of, if you know what I mean. By regrinding the face of the anvil, you're essentially removing all of the history built up over how ever many years and how ever many owners it's seen. That's my take on it anyways, it may be a little nostalgic, but it's the way I see things Despite this, my thinking is that the face of the anvil doesn't NEED to be perfectly flat, you just learn to work with what you have. Mousehole Forge here in the UK used to produce anvils with all manner of custom 'irregularities' for specific repetitive tasks, such as the chainmaker, cutler, hammer-maker or the sythe-maker. Even though the standard 'London' style anvil may be a little worn or dinged, it still serves it's original purpose well, providing it hasn't de-laminated etc.

I really wish I had bitten his hand off now....It's on £112 already! Can anyone shed any more light on the likely age of this beauty? Or maybe confirm/deny my interpretation of the date? Also, is the number '3' stamped on the L/H anvil (as shown in the third photo down) front foot anything of note? It seems to be in the same font to the numbers used for the weight on the side.

The guy I bought the anvil (above) from, has already listed the other larger one. If any of you guys are curious, I've added the link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/peter-wright-anvil-and-stand_W0QQitemZ250709229268QQihZ015QQcategoryZ112398QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

lol! The guy said he's be in touch if he had any more. Such a solid bloke! If only shipping was cheaper, I reckon I could give some of you fellas across the pond a bit of a hand when it came to acquiring anvils.

Cheers! I reckon I'm gonna' enquire about the other anvil (that's if he hasn't already put the thing on Ebay! I've not got the space in my outside shop, but it may be of some use to someone else on here.

Some of you may have read my recent post regarding trading up from a 2cwt Brooks to a 4cwt (unnamed but in reasonable cosmetic condition) on account of the ringing which I could just not kill! Although I will be following the advice of Dan E, who kindly suggested making a stand filled with sand. Having aborted the idea of purchasing the larger 4cwt anvil for a number of reasons, I stumbled across an anvil about an hour and a half drive from myself. Upon closer inspection of the Ebay listing, I found that the anvil was a Peter Wright, weighing in at 2-0-20 or 244lbs. The photos were pretty shocking, and the anvil looked a little worse for wear, but I took the gamble (stupid I know) and bid for it, winning it at £151/$241 dollars. The weather was quite kind here today, as we're having a touch of an Indian Summer, so myself and the wife set out from Derby, in the shire, to collect the anvil from Bradford, West Yorkshire. Upon arriving, the seller of the anvil promptly offered to sell me what I can only describe as at least a 4cwt/448lbs Double Bick Peter Wright!!!......If only I had the cash, and the vehicle to take it home I would've bitten his hand off! The guy had no idea of it's worth,and despite it's fairly poor condition, he told me that it came from a local farm, and he even had the cast iron stand with it (which was cast with a 1" high 'W' on the side). I've a good mind to go back with the company van an relieve him of his burden!! Anyways, I digress, the anvil I purchased was given the 'before and after' treatment with photos below; If anyone cares to have a stab at dating the anvil, feel free. I seem to think it's post-1910, based upon what I've read on the net. Not in the worst condition, but still needs a bit of a tidy-up! The face is nice and flat, which is a bonus I guess! You can just about see the markings on the side of the anvil, but they were ingrained with dirt and rust they just shouted 'clean me'! The finished article! Anyone have any idea what the number '3' is doing stamped down on the left-hand side foot at the front? A close-up of the side/waist showing the markings in a clearer state having given the anvil the once over. ......And finally, a bit of an 'arty' shot, with a striker I knocked up for a guy on another forum. Sorry if I've bored you with the blurb, and probably too many pics, but I had to let my joy out somewhere! I guess you guys were the victims :lol:

Cheers for the info here Dan. If you're following my post about the potential anvil purchase, I may have found a way of helping my pocket as well as keeping the neighbours happy! B)

Mick C; I was going to pay £330 for it (or $523 for our friends across the pond), as the seller didn't want a deposit in the end. I went back to have a closer look at it today, and I've noticed the following: 1) It's definately forged and not cast (just like Jose Gomez said!) as you can see the lifting holes underneath the horn and the heel on the body. Not only that, but what I originally thought was a casting mark is quite evidently a forged joint with the upper portion (including the face and the horn?) being approximately 1/6" thinner than the rest of the body. 2) For the life of me, I couldn't find a makers mark. I went over the anvil with a fine toothed comb and found that there was quite a bit of 'weld' dotted all over, where stick welders have been tested and much of this, along with the cut marks and the 2 or three paint jobs its had, have probably removed all trace. 3) There is a a hole approximately 2" in diameter towards the heel and pritchel which has been filled with weld. When I first went to see the anvil I was more interested in rebound, and the ringing and failed to remove the surface coating of rust to see this flaw, but I found it this time. All in all, it's still a big piece of steel for the money. I'm sure many of you guys would give their right arm for something like this over in North America, but to be honest I'm not sure if I'm willing to take a gamble on it now............Something just doesn't 'feel' right. As always, your thoughts are welcome. :D

I'm planning on trading up from a 2cwt/102kg Brooks anvil. As much as I like the Brooks, it rings like a church bell, and considering how close I am to my neighbours (less than 20 yards) I really need to get something a little quieter (but bigger is also good!). I've tried many ways of deadening the sound of the Brooks, such as dropping a carriage bolt into the pritchel hole, wrapping a chain around it, mounting it on a thin layer of lead sheet, and none of it really helps. The one above, has fairly good rebound (although not as good as the Brooks) but is large enough to keep me happy, and the surface of it is like a pool table! The photo looks as though there is no pritchel, but there is one tucked away towards the back of the anvil. Cheers for the responses so far guys! I'll have a closer look for the makers mark when I pick it up next week.

I've popped into a (reasonably) local ex-army surplus supplier late this afternoon to have a look at one of the anvils they have and put down a deposit. The only problem I have with the anvil, is trying to guess at the manufacturer. She's a 4cwt/220kg anvil from Woolwich Arsenal barracks down in London, and I believe she may have been used as a bladesmiths or toolsmiths anvil judging by the sheer amount of cuts and marks on the feet. The bick of the anvil, whilst in fairly good condition, is slightly offset from the rest of the anvil, and there is a pronounced casting mark about quarter way down the side. The one in question is labelled 'A' in the photo below; To give you an idea, the two smaller anvils are 1cwt/50kg-ish, and the one marked 'D' is 2cwt/102kg-ish.

Some nice little anvils there! I'm sure if a few of the new guys got together, they could form a bit of a 'co-operative' and purchase the lot. To be honest, some of those anvils look like they'll be snapped up by collectors. :blink:

Safety appears to be somewhat of a hot subject in workplaces both side of the pond, especially in the environment such as the forge or workshop where hazards are abundant and 'common sense' needs to prevail. However I'm particularly interested in what form of Respiratory Protection Equipment you use, if any? I'm sure those who use LPG forges don't really have much of a problem in this department, however those using solid fuel forges may have a stronger view on the subject. From personal experience I tend to use a small disposable face mask whilst working with my bottom blast coke-fuelled forge, even though I'm in a sheltered corner of my back yard. I'd be especially interested to see if I'm in the minority when it comes to wearing RPE.