Fatfudd

Actually there are a number of us that would be willing to drive over to purchase that anvil. Let us know what you'd like for it and stand by!

"Trenton's made in the USA are known to be forged top 1/2 and a cast base. However, yours is one of the rarer ones made with a forged base, which apparently they did at the beginning, or perhaps if the right size cast base wasn't available to fill an order. I've had some like this also with low serial numbers". To be a little more accurate, Trenton anvils were initially made with a forged base as your's was They then applied for a patent (December 1898) to incorporate a cast base and still made a 3 piece anvil.That is the base was cast and the middle section of the anvil was wrought iron and the top was tool steel. In 1927, at about the time Hay Budden was folding, Trenton went to a 2 piece anvil with a cast base and a tool steel top half. I have had a Trenton 3 piece anvil made in around 1918 which was truly outstanding and I regret ever selling it but hard times dictate what is sometimes necessary. As I said earlier, it is an interesting anvil and its value would be dictated by its value to collectors, because of its rarity or its value for utilitarian purposes for a smith because of its condition..

You have an interesting anvil and I'm afraid we need one or two more pictures. One of the top to show its condition would help and if you could turn it over so we could see the underside of the base that would help too. It may have been made in the first year of production of the American made Trenton anvils 1898. A VERY important aspect of its value is predicated on where you live. In some areas you will be lucky to get $2/lb and probably less at auction, whereas in other areas $5/lb is not unusual.

You might want to consider using a kiln shelf for the floor. You can cut it to size with a masonry blade on an angle grinder. It is hard enough to withstand almost anything you put on it. I put mine over the soft fire bricks and lined the forge with 2" of ceramic. I coated it with kiln cement and then ITC. You dimensions for your plan are about twice as big as it needs to be.

I used a harbor freight cheapy chop saw for about 10yrs but the switch finally broke. They now have two models, a lighter weight one and a heavy duty one. I bought the heavy duty one which was on sale for $89 and had a 20% off coupon. It really is a heck of a lot heavier than my old one. I didn't buy the warranty because I figured if it lasts me 10 years at that price who cares.

How about a board seat? We don't even have 3 willing to do it. I will if you will.

I saw that craigslist ad. It mentioned that the face had some repairs done to it. If its the anvil I think it is which I saw a few years ago it should work pretty well for you. If its the same anvil, the seller was originally trying to get $450+ for it. Just a suggestion, if you aren't already signed up, you might want to join the Southwest Artist Blacksmith Association (SWABA) an ABANA affiliate http://www.swaba-abana-chapter.org/ We have a meeting on December 1.

I would buy either for that price, good score!

If you want to clean them use a cupped twisted wire brush on a polisher. Don't press down hard just let the wires pick out the rust and crud. You can add some wd-40 or something similar but be prepared, it gets a little messy. They look very usable to me and I wouldn't hesitate to use either one.

I have heard good comments about rhino anvils http://www.incandescent-iron.com/rhan.html

Im with Pug $50 is a deal to play with it!

I'm with Frank- Looks like a Hay Budden to me, looks like its actually a post 1908 model in pretty nice condition That is its a 2 piece with the top half being tool steel. I'd for sure ask how they determined the weight. Was it stamped on the side. If i were closer I'd be there bidding on it.. Being in Montana it isn't going to be cheap.The welded feet aren't a big deal.

Unless you can provide a bigger picture no one can help you. The thumbnail is as big a we get.

I'm where Thomas is. to me the damage looks unrelated to the use of the screw and the screwbox. The screwbox damage might affect the use of the vise when the jaws are fully extended but for narrower usage the vise might be fine. Since you don't have much to lose, because it appears you have sort of written this vise off, try closing the vise tightly on a piece of 2" thick stock and really crank it down. That'll give you a feeling for its usefulness. Most of the time I use my post vises on 3" or less stock. Occasionally I use them for wider stock but not really for pounding and I have a bunch of big bench vises that will hold wider stuff better.

As usual Thomas has lots of good info, I need to invest in some of the books he quotes! But he's right they are expensive!!! Thanks Frosty- I think I'm going to try them with some fairly thin hot iron first but thicker than tin.I have made some hardies that are similar to a few of these tools and they work very well. I use them in conjunction with my swages Who knows some ideas might pan out.

Thanks Frank and John- I had been searching for Acier MOB and didn't come up with much. The tools are extremely well made and appear to be forged and not cast.

I recently purchased some stake anvils in nearly mint condition. At first I thought they were pexto but I was finally able to get a clear picture of the brand stamping on one of them. They are made by Acier MOB and are probably for silver smithing but were being sold by an old blacksmith. I'm not familiar with the company although I have seen a few MOB hammers sold on ebay. I assume some of you may know more about these and the company and would share that info with me? These aren't delicate by any means, the larger ones weigh around 10lbs. here are some pictures-

The most important thing to look for is that the threads on the screw and female receiver/screw box are in good shape. Usually the screw is fine because its made out of steel where as the screw box is cast iron. They can get messed up and the vise won't tighten. There isn't any easy fixes, that is you can't order new parts. If you look at the vises section here on IFI you can read what some folks are doing to fix their broken post vise's screws. The next thing would be cracks or poor repairs. Other than that if they will tighten with a lot of pressure pretty much anything else is fixable.

Typically they aren't plated and are softer, but John is correct some are and some aren't. I guess if you are trying to make your anvil purity go for it. That being said if they are just small dings they add character to an anvil. I personally wouldn't mess with the horn unless there is some kind of ding that is so bad it messes up your work. All of my anvils have dings in the horns and I like them that way, They all are at least 100 years old and the dings remind me of the many smiths that pounded out fine metal work on them.

I dunno- I gave about $50 in trade for it, figured it was worth it for having a different face to pound on. I'm not sorry at all it is very handy.

Another way to clean up rusty metal is to use an auto polisher with a wire brush. It's much safer than an angle grinder because it rotates considerably slower and doesn't throw sharp wires all over. Also its very useful for polishing hot metal and leaving a beautiful dark blue shiny finish. I have an old Milwaukee auto polisher I picked up on craigslist which is used to clean up everything.

Hmm- Interesting... The shape of the anvil plus the number 4 near the heal and the oval bottom would indicate that the anvil is one of the 3rd variations/shapes which means it was made sometime after 1907/08. At least that's what I read in AIA. One of my HB's with the same configuration as yours would date from 1907 so its possible that the serial number dating we are using from AIA may be slightly off about when the changes were implemented. OR they may have been partially implemented over time. More importantly that also means that the whole top half of yours is tool steel. I can't see a face plate but please correct me if I'm wrong? In that case some re-dressing of the face may not be all that problematic if done carefully. One other thing may be that your serial number of 117229 might mean that the second integer, which isn't quite legible, could be something else like a 4 or 7? Who knows it's just curious.

I think I want to be in his will!

Nice Trenton anvil!

Thomas is correct- That's a cast iron anvil and really not worth anything if you intend to use it for real forging work. Back away quickly!