Marc1

Along a 100+ years of service life, the chances of hitting an edge are rather high. Plus , you don't need to hit the anvil directly on the edge with the hammer to damage it if the base is soft. It is enough to strike the stock that is not hot enough in the wrong place once. However ... the elephant in the room is quality. Unfortunately in the US as in Australia, the vast majority of anvils are from English provenience and they do lack in quality. We tend to overlook their shortcomings because that is all we have with very few exceptions. The truth is that you will be hard pressed to find a German or Austrian or French or Belgian or Swiss anvil in that state. As for the anvil in the picture above, I am sure that an expert in anvil repairs would love to give that anvil a new lease of life. i would perhaps venture to do some minor repairs myself, but never something that involved. My suggestion is to look for an anvil repair day in your area and bring it along with a large case of beer.

And to answer my own question ... Thank you Irondragon for the link. The Blacksmiths' Song was composed by a Past Prime Warden, Moses Kipling, in 1828; it is sung every year at the Company Banquet in Mansion House In the good olden days when the gods condescended To visit this Earth and enlighten mankind, Amongst those who most us poor mortals befriended, Still Vulcan, our Patron, the foremost you’ll find; When he taught us with Anvil and Hammer to mould The Ploughshare, the Spade, and the Sickle to reap, Had we paid for such knowledge a mountain of gold, The purchase would still to mankind have been cheap. To the mem’ry of Vulcan our voices we’ll raise, May he and his sons be revered thro’ the land; May they thrive root and branch, and enjoy happy days For by Hammer and Hand all arts do stand. Withdraw the utensils produced by our art, And with them the best comforts of life will retreat; Without Knives or Forks we should look mighty smart; As with unshaven chins we sat gnawing our meat. Withdraw but the Axe and the Saw, and the Plane, Not a Table or Chair would be made for our use; To the mud-hut we would soon be driven again – The best, without us, that man’s art could produce. To the mem’ry of Vulcan our voices we’ll raise, May he and his sons be revered thro’ the land; May they thrive root and branch, and enjoy happy days For by Hammer and Hand all arts do stand. Still duly devoted to Love and to Beauty, Each true Son of Vulcan will ever be found; For Venus herself taught our Grandsire this duty, And with all her sweet charms she his gallantry crown’d. And still ev’ry lovely young Maiden will prove To Vulcan’s descendants most yielding and kind; For the good Man of Metal, in matters of love, Has always the highest regard in her mind. To the mem’ry of Vulcan our voices we’ll raise, May he and his sons be revered thro’ the land; May they thrive root and branch, and enjoy happy days For by Hammer and Hand all arts do stand. i also have a set of those, pulled off my old boat cradle. May be one day I figure what to do with them

Interesting motto. I wonder who was the author of "By hammer and hand ... " ? Considering it was used extensively by craftsman and tradesman, the word 'art' here, like in the Hippocrates quote, means craft and not art as we understand it today ... but only speculation from my side.

I like the Hippocrates quote you chalked up on that board. "Craft ( technique) takes long to learn, life is so short"

Ha ha, so true ... not to mention that if you had had more imports from germany or austria all those years ago, the now so famous english anvils would be relegated to second best for sure ...

Beard will grow back. Your scalp would have been worse. You got away scot free, Yes overhead plasma calls for bigger precautions. I have a welding helmet with a leatherback lining and so stopped burning my head and neck when overhead welding or cutting. I adopted long sleeve left glove long ago, to weld large material that requires long welds. Goes all the way to the armpit. I look like a crab. I am setting fire to my clothes now, so a leather poncho is the next purchase

Beautiful anvil and nice story. I bet the seller was not happy about parting with his tools.

And a prosperous new year to all and sundry. May the next year bring you inspiration, energy and even a new anvil if it is on your list. Hooroo Marc

I was wandering about the same thing. Did they express fractions of inches using the metric system back then?

291 lb Peter Wright double horn

You can improve on those fish tale ends by using a light cross peen hammer and make a little fan with the grooves along the flat bar end. A bit of filing the edge end round, and it will look great. I like your candy stick twist. A bit hard to chew I guess As for hammer, you can grind the edges of your hammer, or if you can afford one, get a rounding hammer ... or make one. After 55 years of cross peen hammers, I am using rounding hammer for almost everything ... well obviously not for making a fish tail end

Ha ha, plenty of eye shadow and ear studs down here, may be not mascara ... oh my

Do you get more tips looking that way? I wonder if I can try the lipstick trick ...

Crocs are in rivers and the sea up north past Brisbane, not down here in Sydney. We do have bull sharks but we tend to ignore them and they ignore us. Mostly juveniles all he way up the Hawkesbury. Big ones down the mouth of the river and out to sea. They never stopped us skiing or swimming. never a recorded attack to humans. Some stories of dog disappearing though. There is also local stories of a monster Loch Ness style ... but I never seen it even when some swear to have seen it right in our neck of the woods. I hope to catch it on camera one day. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/does-a-prehistoric-monster-haunt-the-hawkesbury-river-sydney-has-its-own-nessie/news-story/b77b47c46f6d225cb132f346c7f78f10?sv=661f0fcab50bb288cbd5c969f176aba3

Yes, good observation, not very politically correct, that is why no one dares to generalize this way, but that does not make it less true. There are also other loose link to socio economics, cooler climate seem to be more prosperous than hotter ones. Australia seems to escape that rule however, at least in regards to war or violence in general. Perhaps because we have been here just 200 years, a drop in the ocean of genetics.

Yep, the boat is fuelled and ready to go anywhere. That is my daughter (number 3 out of 4) and grandson number 8 ( out of 9)

The fire near us, called the Gospers mountain fire, has grown to a gargantuan 484,000 hectares, that is 1.2 million acres. For some miracle we are in a small pocket surrounded by fire from all sides but south, and still safe. The only road to our property is closed but for residents to allow fire trucks to pass freely. It is a rather narrow road. I have a fire pump at the ready if ambers start to fly. The river will be my escape route if it comes to that. Meantime my daughter that bought a beautiful rural property recently has the fires closer to home. She evacuated to an RSL club who is looking after her, the girls and the chicken, giving them and others shelter and food. Nothing is lacking for them. Husband is a firefighter alone at home with pump at the ready. We had 47C yesterday and winds from the nordwest , and all indications that the fire would pass over the property. Yet in the afternoon, the temperature dropped in the thirties and a persistent southerly blew the fire back north. we have forecast southerly all week and things are looking much better. Keep in mind that 85% of fires are lit by arsonist 43% ...and accidental stupidity the rest 42%. This means that the bushfires are a factor of population numbers. More people more fires. Yes, those so inclined are trying to make political milage from other people's misery and blaming global warming. The sad reality is that bushfires are man made, by directly lighting them and by indirectly preventing fuel reduction burning in winter for ill conceived ecological reasons. We have triplicated our population in the last 70 years, an experiment that few countries have ever made. Your thoughts and prayers are welcome. Marc

I once took the rod description to the welding supplies nearby to see the equivalent in Australia only to get blank looks ... you know the one that say ... whaaaat? Post some pictures of the progression on that repair. You have most that is needed to do it. I say most, only because you have never done it before. The anvil is toast as it is, may as well try to resurrect it ... and $75? bargain. If you are going to name it consider Lazarus. If you are not religious then Rhino.

that 'keep the change' always bring to mind the movie, "Home alone" where he uses and old gangster movie to scare the burglars ... what does the guy say? ... "Keep the change you filthy animal, ha ha ha ha. " Anyway, that is just me

I agree. Furthermore that anvil, besides looking like the skin of a dehydrated Rhino, seems to me to be damaged by more than just hammer. and chisel. Someone messed with heat on that anvil. Then again I may be wrong and it is just lack of water

Is it you? You are back! I bet you are not that little anymore Welcome. I don't know the maker of that anvil. Strange step on the square horn side. Still, a nice anvil for a good price. Make good use of it ... or polish and sell on ebay for $3000 as an antique with obscure history, being on a pirate ship, used to reforge the pirates cutlass when they got damaged ... etc ... :

Tips are a mystery to me. No tipping exists in Australia. if someone tipped me i would think I was badly underpriced.

ha ha ... do you dress up for the occasion? I suggest long pointy shoes, possibly white, an elephant tail hair bracelet and a multicoloured bandana on your forehead. Re-pricing higher ... yes, polish or wire brush it first The 75k threshold is for gross sales not profit. Haggling is something I wouldn't dream of doing to an artist / artisan / craftsman and not even to a tradesman. Big projects in the tens of thousands i ask ... can you do it for $X ? All I can get is a no. Many times i get a yes and a supplier or tradesman i can call back many times over. Like I said, pricing is an artform and many never got the memo

Gee whiz ... what does she ... did she do for a living? Don't tell me knife manufacturer's inventory manager Lock - unlock ... yes, my sliding door's security bolt requires to push the door back a bit to release the pressure on the side of the bolt, a mystery that is only clear to myself. We must be relatives

I love the $5 punishment increase. In general ... and this is a personal perception, Items on display with no price are automatically suspect of being overpriced even if they are not. Pricing correctly is an artform, and an item that does not sell may sell if you take it off the table for a season and return it for twice or triple the price. But don't tell your customers that