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Arftist - I can't fire the worker that did the grinding. The anvil had been welded to an I-beam base and I asked him to cut it off. After cutting it off, he thought some light grinding would help the face. He was just trying to be helpful and he is a great worker and person, I just wished he would have asked me. The anvil still has great rebound, so I don't think he hurt it much if any. Even with the grinding, it will make a great anvil for my son and if I have my way will never leave the family.

Friday the 13th from now on will be considered a lucky day. I went to the machine shop, the company I work for always uses to have the face of the 70-90 lb cast iron anvil I had previously posted about ground flat. After discussing the plan for the cast iron anvil, the owner took me back to see the anvil he had. It was about 4 times the size of the cast iron anvil and and it was steel. The anvil face was in decent shape. When I asked how much he wanted for it, he said since my son was just getting started he would take $100 for it. He knew that anvils go for upwards of $2.00 per pound, but he is a really good guy and I think he liked the idea that my 18 year old son had an interest in metal working. Needless to say I bought it. One more thing about the owner, when I asked him how much the machining would be for the cast iron anvil. He said not to worry about it, that he was glad to help my son out. Again I need help as to the anvil ID. I think it may be a PW. There is a H on the left foot under the horn, it is the right foot when the looking at the anvil from the side and the horn to the right. Of the three numbers that describe the weight. The first # is definitely a 3, the 2nd number is obscured from abuse. In the the area where the 3rd number should be there is a 0 and possibly a 2 right in front of it. I lightly brushed the side of the anvil, powdered the side and I can't make out anything else. The anvil's face is 5 1/2" X 24". The overall length is 37". The height is 14 3/4". Just guessing I would think the anvil weighs between 250 and 350 lbs. The guys at my shop decided to run an angle grinder over the face without consulting me, which I was really bummed about. So now my son is going to sand out the angle grinder marks with a random orbital sander. Any help as to the ID and weight would be greatly appreciated.

I hope this okay, but I am going to start a new post in regard to the large anvil. Hopefulluy I will get some more input as to it's ID and it's weight. I think it may be a PW.

Thanks for all the input! Friday the 13th turned out to be a really good day. Before I tell you about that, I want to post a little about the cast iron anvil. The top plate is about 1 1/8" thick. The anvil only has about 50% rebound. I didn't know what good rebound was until I went and looked at the anvil the machine shop had, which I mentioned in my previous post. I decided to go ahead and have the cast iron anvil top plate machined flat. Probably will take off less than 1/8". Then my son can use it as a spare. Now for what made a really good day. I went to the machine shop and after discussing the plan for the cast iron anvil, the owner took me back to see the anvil he had. It was about 4 times the size of the cast iron anvil and and it was steel. The anvil face was in decent shape. When I asked how much he wanted for it, he said since my son was just getting started he would take $100 for it. He knew that anvils go for upwards of $2.00 per pound, but he is a really good guy and I think he liked the idea that my 18 year old son had an interest in metal working. Needless to say I bought it. One more thing about the owner, when I asked him how much the machining would be for the cast iron anvil. He said not to worry about it, that he was glad to help my son out. Again I need help as to the anvil ID. The only marking I could find on the anvil is a H on the left foot under the horn. The anvil's face is 5 1/2" X 24". The overall length is 37". The height is 14 3/4". Just guessing I would think the anvil weighs between 250 and 350 lbs. The guys at my shop decided to run an angle grinder over the face without consulting me, which I was really bummed about. So now my son is going to sand out the angle grinder marks with a random orbital sander. Sorry for for such a long post, but there was a lot to cover. Any help as to the ID and weight would again be much appreciated!

That's exactly what I was thinking, but I'm a woodworker and really don't know anything about anvils. On the plus side of this, I just talked to the owner of the machine shop my company does a lot of business with (the place where I was planning on taking the anvil to have it milled) and he has what he thinks is a 150 to 200 lb anvil that he never uses and is willing to sell. His son knows where it is and is out today, so I won't be able to go see it until tomorrow. This anvil hunting business is very interesting, I can hardly wait to go see what he has!

I work with a very good welder. Is it feasible to have him fill the grooves and then take it to a local machine shop and have them mill the face flat and re-bevel the edges? The welding would be free and I think the machine shop would cut me a good deal as we do a lot of business with them. At least then it would be usable until we determine if my son is going to stick with it or not.

In addition to determining the ID, I would appreciate any input as to whether or not this anvil would be sufficient for my son to learn on. After getting it cleaned up, it seems like the face and edges are pretty rough. I know I have read on here, that almost always the reply to, "should I have this anvil repaired" is use if for a year and then decide, but this anvil is a little rougher than the majority of anvils I have seen asked about.

So I cleaned up the anvil with a wire brush and took new pictures. The only markings I could see are raised. It looks like a 70 and maybe a 56. For sure a 6, but not sure on the 5.

I plan to clean it up with a wire wheel brush when I get off work this afternoon. After I have cleaned it up, I will post new pictures.

I have been haunting the forum for a while, but haven't had a need to post until now. My sone is a college freshman and has decided to pursue forging. We have been looking for an anvil for the past month or so, but I didn't want to spend too much until Iknow if this is a passing fad or not. Well today I took a chance and stopped in a likely looking machine shop out in the country and the owner had a few anvils and was willing to sell one. I think it cast as it has a raised 7 and 0 on the base under the horn, but it had a thick plate and seemed to have decent rebound and the price was right so I bought it. Any help with ID would be appreciated.