aaamax

That looks nice and I'm guessing a Söderfors at over 100kg.

The vise is good looking as well, is it heavy?

Nice find at a good price.

seems like post vises are cheaper in Scandinavia than in the States, but anvils sure have gone up in price the last few years. 

That 40kg Kohlswa was a good price as well. looks like your local thrift shop might be a gem.

I never would have guessed that one. thanks for the info.

what do you all think might be the culprit of these striations and holes on the feet?

Possibly made during casting?

100+kg Söderfors for those that like the details.

Cheers

On 4/26/2020 at 1:33 AM, PWS said:

19 photos,  warning photo heavy.

This is probably the most impressive post I've seen here. You are doing a terrific job of restoring as well. What is your work method? I'm guessing wire brush and oil? Looks great. Cheers.

HI,

Are you thinking of buying it or selling it?

To my eyes that looks like a Söderfors. However I am not familiar with the name Sisco. I'm guessing it is a name used for export.

Söderfors is one of my favorite anvils.

Those edges are still very usable. you just have to find spots that suit your profile needs. That horn is one of the best and is in fine shape. That alone is worth the price of admission.

If it's yours I wouldn't sell it unless you absolutely don't need it.

If you're thinking about buying it I would consider anything under $1.5 a pound a bargain.

Good luck

Thanks everyone for the sound advice. I just needed some encouragement to do the right thing. 

When you only have yourself to bounce ideas off of one can easily choose the path of least resistance.

Well, at least I now have a new handle for the new head when I do get around to trying to match this profile.

Cheers all,

Here is a pic of what was once my favorite Rounding hammer. I hadn't used it in some time since it was waiting for me to re-handle it.

After a much needed dressing I see small fractures in the face. How long they have been there I don’t know. They look to be old. So I was probably using this hammer with these fractures for years. I am just amazed I didn’t notice them sooner.

How serious do you think this is? Would you retire it? Which I would hate to do since she just has such a good balance and moves metal the way I like.

The photo makes the fissures look larger than they really are. Maybe since it hadn't chipped out while I was using it means that whatever heat treating it once had is now gone and it is soft=not a safety risk?

On 1/14/2020 at 1:41 AM, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

Pictures or it didn't happen.

lol

I have to remember that one. perfect.

On 1/14/2020 at 6:23 AM, LucBartek said:

Ya that’s very true. There is a lot of history behind these old anvils cleaning them up more than necessary is taking that away from them in a sense. Didn’t really think about that until now. Thanks for your comment. Cheers 

Glad you think so Luc. Also the patina is probably the best protective coating short of painting it.

Cheers to your terrific anvil.

That is a good looking anvil you got there.

Personally, I don't clean my anvils unless they have heavy orange rust. What you have there is what I would call a century's worth of patina and I wouldn't touch it.

As said earlier, just start using it and the face will shine right up. Much better than any wire wheel could ever do.

27 minutes ago, JHCC said:

The little dots between the numbers were typical of Mousehole Forge (aka The Undisputed King of Anvils), and they did make Yorkshire pattern anvils. 

now that would sure make this a FIND! And in such good condition as well.

Söderfors for runner up to the king? 

On 12/5/2019 at 3:47 PM, rustyanchor said:

... The top half should be solid tool steel...no face plate...

Oh my. What would the rebound be on this thing if truly hardened steel for the top half? Never have used one like this and wonder if the feel would be much different.

Greetings from the North.

I just saw this anvil on for sale and it has no recessed chisel table. The whole face is flat. Is this odd or common?

My 104kg Söderfors is the only other one I have ever seen with out  a drop for the table and I have always wondered if something got modified along the way. Would like to think that it was maybe stock and not modded.

For those of you that like the details, the one pictured is 108kg and is 6000sek, almost $600.

Glenn, that was impressive! Thanks.

Sitting in a guy's garage and hasn't followed me home yet. 250kg makes you stand up and think how on earth you're going to move that thing.

These are good problems to have right? plus some misc. hardy tools/vise, etc. don't know the final  price yet, will post when I do. no easily read markings.

Guessing Swedish, but the block is unusual, so maybe German.

On 10/15/2019 at 8:37 AM, pnut said:

I've seen a length of chain wrapped around the waist  used to make an anvil quieter but It's been on anvils with thinner waists

this is how I was able to live with my Soderfors that had a deafening ring. A long length of boat-anchor quality to the tune of probably 10 meters.

that's always fun isn't it? too bad we don't get to do this more often. 

Then again, there are some that have a room full of misc. anvils.  

My last acquisition was a year ago and it still puts a smile on my face. Try explaining that to an outsider... lol.

Cheers.

there certainly seems to be the remnants of some writing on there. 

Maybe try rubbing with some chalk on the surface to see if it makes it easier to read?

Some of the old hands around here probably have a better way of bring it out.

Now this is something you don't see everyday. A 150kg cast anvil stand supporting a 180kg north German style anvil.

Have any of you seen this type of stand before? 

10 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

3 Soderfors for the elven kings under the sky

7 Hay Buddens for the Dwarves in their halls of stone

9 Peter Wrights for mortal Men Doomed to die

1 Nimba for the dark lord on his dark throne

In the land of smithing where the coal smoke flies

Well put, I dig the poetry.

On 11/1/2018 at 11:54 AM, beammeupscotty said:

On a London pattern anvil I would be very suspicious at the lack of a step.  I would not be surprised if someone machined it off. 

I agree, it is a bit unusual. I have only seen one other Soderfors without a step. This one I would wager is factory done.

Maybe the Soderfors guy himself Frosty can weigh in on the subject?

Cheers

Thanks for the responses.

Very interesting idea that with having a hardy tool, but that the business end is over the waist, Brilliant. I'm guessing that if one gets the angle of the arm correctly, that the fuller itself would be resting nicely on the face without much movement or vibration whilst giving one the benefit of the "sweet-spot".

Crispy edges I know are frowned upon, but they sure do give one fantastic necking-down abilities. Just something about an over 100 year old anvil still having its edges intact makes me hesitate to radius , almost out of some kind of respect to the previous users. If/when I would start to soften the edge maybe I would just do a short length on one side. Or, just get my old, well used edged anvil to reside next to this one and use it when needed. I suppose one could look at anvils as we do hammers, the right profile for the job... 

Well maybe that is another question for you all with a large grouping of tools. Do you tend to profile all your anvils in similar fashion? 

All right Boys and Girls, what do you think?

When working on the horn instead of the sweet spot over the face/edge, how much energy/efficiency, if any, do you think is lost? When using a Hardy tool I feel that there is a significant loss in energy compared to the sweet-spot

I recently acquired a Stepless 107kg Soderfors anvil that unbelievably has very good edges and I am loath to radius them until I have played with it for some time. My old Soderfors (85kg) has what most would consider badly mushroomed edges, but for the work I do, those radiuses are perfect. On this new anvil I have to use the horn to acquire a similar effect. When I use the new one's edges I am getting into cold shunts territory I am afraid.

Cheers

On 7/31/2018 at 10:27 PM, Alexx said:

There is no need to quote what we all just read.

Holy Smoke that is awesome! What a setup you have there. I'd call it an art piece.

Cheers.