Foundryman

People these days seem regard anvils as precious relics, when this "damage" was done to these anvils there were literally hundreds of companies mass producing anvils. They were, and are, just a tool to do the job, yes its a shame that you cant see the makers mark any more but if you want a pristine anvil, then buy a pristine anvil. I agree with Dan P, what's much more upsetting is the way people have used anvils as cutting tables and welding benches or worse still, the way they were scrapped wholesale in the years between the downturn of commercial blacksmithing and the start of the hobbiest blacksmith movement.

Looks like a table top to me if you get some glass cut to cover it or possibly a clock if you can mount it securely to a wall!

There's also what appears to be a diamond shape with letters issue stamped beside the 38. The hardened steel face of an anvil is finite, in some cases they are very thin and without it's hardened face an anvil is nothing but a block of iron. By grinding away the face you reduce the life of the anvil and actually make it a worse tool.

For what it's worth, brooks anvils of that size are highly desirable in the UK at the moment, going for well above the price of the average used anvil on the market. Though that may not be 100% relevant to where you are, be aware that it's a high quality anvil and should command a price towards the higher end of the market.

The version of that I know is "if it ain't broke, fix it until it is!"

I believe they were made in Sweden originally but had production moved to Portugal, that's not to say that they haven't moved it again though!

When I was looking into getting a semi decent set of files I found a lot of folk recommending bahco so decided to give them a try and I've not been disappointed. Though I can't say I've used a great many different bands of file I know for a fact that where I work buys cheap case hardened ones and you can certainly feel the difference between those and my bahco files at home. They may not be the Rolls Royce of files but they certainly aren't the worst on the market. Whichever brand you pick up, be sure to grab a file card too so you can keep them in tip top condition.

Just a word of warning, tell your friend to make sure the crystals aren't in direct sun light, my old school teacher came home one day to find a circular section of her carpet smouldering due to the crystal on her window sill magnifying the sun. If she was home 10 minutes later it could have been a lot worse than having to but a new carpet.

I don't know about your side of the pond but that's the abbreviation for "long wheel base" in the Uk! Beautiful anvil by the way, it has so much character to it!

Not often, it's very reliable and well made, it also doubles as a power hammer when I'm working billets of Damascus, a very handy bit of kit to have around the shop!

I only really use my anvil to mount my vice, with sanding attachment as can be seen in the picture below. I mount the vice in the front of the two hardies and the polishing attachment sits comfortably on the horn. It's a 450lb anvil so it's good and stable, if a little grubbier than shown in the photo as it was taken two and a half years ago or so.

No one has mentioned this yet so I figured I should, do not quench pipe, it'll fire a jet of steam right towards the hand that's holding it, very nasty burns!

This isn't antler but I came across this video of a guy fitting a handle with the same method, drilling a large hole in the handle, then mounting a slotted dowel inside to accept the tang of the knife. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehqrnss969E Hope this helps.

Congrats on the find and welcome to the forum! I'm sure Frosty will be along any minute to tell you just how amazing sodedors anvils are!

Speak for yourself!

It looks like a Peter Wright with those flats on the feet but I think some Trenton anvils had those also. It looks to be in really nice condition but who knows what that paint is hiding, it'll be next to impossible to check the rebound with the face painted like that. You might want to ask nicely if she'll let you remove the paint from the face so you can test what you're buying, otherwise it's a total gamble. Good luck with it!

It's hard to say but it looks like a Peter Wright but the photos aren't ideal, if you post another photo showing the feet it should confirm it. The feet on Peter wright anvils have a flat top under the horn and heel.

loving the heel and horn indicators in your template! That's going to be one solid anvil stand when it's finished! Looking good.

As does mine, but regardless of what the scale goes up to I rate myself as a 2-3. As a hobbiest with limited time I focus on a very narrow area of blacksmithing where my primary interests are so there are vast parts of the craft I have little or no knowledge of. Regardless of this, I am very happy in my ignorance, I do what I enjoy and I enjoy what I do.

That is one ugly bell! I'm guessing it doesn't sound so good either if its cast iron, they're traditionally made out of bronze (around 22% tin and the rest copper).

I agree with Ian, it looks very much like an English made Brooks anvil with those feet and thick heel. It's made from cast steel and they are very fine anvils, nice find!

The best way to know if the grinds are ok is to use the hammer and look at the marks it leaves on the steel, then you can see if it's coming down too much on one side and will be able to adjust the shape of the hammer head to your personal forging style. I wouldn't worry too much about it getting too hot in the grinding, in my experience modern store bought hammers are generally fairly soft anyway, I guess they don't want the court case if someone gets blinded by a chip! it looks like a good forging hammer to me, time to put it to work!

I can't remember the height of my anvil off the top of my head but it's 36" long, 6" wide with a 1 1/4" hardy and its marked 4-0-0 (448 lbs) so you're probably in the same ballpark. whatever the scales say its a good sized shop anvil, providing you don't have to move it too often!

My first job was as an apprentice mechanic at the "old forge garage", so should I ever get round to naming my forge, I think I'll have to go for "old garage forge" as it's located in my parents garage, at least for now.