Seth MacNeal

well, so be it then, although i'm still on the lookout for a name or a similar look, thanks again to all of you for your time!

Well i'll do my best to get a ball bearing in the near future, but my only real way of spark testing it would be to tap it someplace with my grinder, i'd rather find another way to spark test, as for the horn being broken and replaced, i heard that possibility yesterday, and it wouldn't be surprising, once i've established whether or not it's got a good bounce it'll help me decide whether to try fixing it up or just leave it alone for now, if it's already in bad shape then it can't hurt to clean it up and fix it, but if it's in decent shape yet i'd rather leave it alone, don't have the equipment to do any heat treating if i mess it up. Now, assuming that horn is replaced, what does that anvil most resemble? seems the top 2 contenders are fisher or vulcan, but i haven't confirmed on it either way, and thank you all again for spreading butter on this dry bread!

There's no seam across the striking face, meaning it was added on after the apparent casting had been done, and presumably the maker was smart enough to use good steel, as for the bounce, as i said it's probably quite inept and inaccurate, but i just used a claw hammer to test the bounce, i'd say i dropped it around 8 inches and it bounced back maybe 4 or 5, not great but not surprising, as i also said the striking surface is heavily scarred, if you've got better suggestions for testing both the quality of the steel and the quality of the temperament for a guy who doesn't have much in the way of traditional metal tools, i'd be happy to know them

I'd like to apologize a little bit too, i've been going around all day working on finding out what this thing is, i didn't realize how repetitive i'd gotten of what i had to say for myself, thankyou for bearing with me

okay, i've added my location, but to save you the trouble of looking for it i'm from Upstate New York, and to be honest i'm not sure where the last owner got it from, he lives here in new york now but there's a chance he brought it with him when he moved here from south texas, just fair warning

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum, and new to metal working, but i just recently got an antique anvil, and i have no idea what brand it is, so i'm gonna list everything i've found out up to this point, and maybe you can help me out? Thanks! Okay, so to start, i did talk to a couple of other nice folk and they've at least pointed me in the right direction as far as what to look for in an anvil, and so what i'll do is list the specifics, and if you want more photos of it i'll be more than glad, it's no great shakes but a definite milestone for a beginner. So first off, it weighs about 100lbs, i had it on a scale for measure. Secondly, it's got a seam easily visible on both ends and across the bottom, that's what leads me to think it's a cast anvil, but it's definitely got a steel top, but again i didn't really notice much ring, and the bounce seemed okay, but it probably won't be accurate considering i just used a claw hammer to test it, and what i'm told is the horn is far too thin to be cast, but at the same time we're not sure if steel castings were done in the year this was made, kind of a foot stomper but the looks would suggest the horn is original, but then again possibly not. Third, the hardy hole is roughly 3/4 of an inch, and the pritchel hole is roughly 1/2 of an inch, they're on the same end and kind of set close to each other Fourth, the base is flat underneath, no depression in it Fifth, being the base has a couple of rather large chips out of it, and the top face is heavily scarred, i took the liberty of buffing off the rust myself, it's definitely fixable for someone who wants to put the time into it. Sixth, i didn't notice much ring, but the bounce seemed okay, i only used a claw hammer though so i doubt that that's very telling of the quality of it Seventh, the year is faint but visible, 1896, and just below that is a round circle, i assume the maker's emblem was there, but it's too heavily pitted and such to make out any details Eighth and most important, thank you so much for your time in reading this and helping out someone new to the trade! I'm afraid i don't have many metal working tools yet as i'm a novice carpenter and wood worker but i'm more than excited to work with metal too! I'd like to add that this is my first anvil and i'm already proud of just having gotten it, i don't intend to sell it but to hopefully find someone experienced to help me restore the working face to a good usuable condition! Thanks to all of you for your time and for helping a novice in the trade!