Wyatt Kindler

Hi Steve, That's a Trenton anvil - forged in Columbus, Ohio. The weight and serial number are stamped under the horn on the front foot. Looks like it was 120lbs when it was forged, and the serial number looks to be A92003 (maybe)? Trentons from that era were 3 pieces: the lower half is cast mild steel, the upper half is forged wrought iron, and there is a face of high carbon steel forge welded onto the wrought iron body with a steam hammer. The base and the body are arc welded together - that's why it looks to be repaired. That faceplate would've been around 3/8" to 1/2" thick when it was welded on. That thing has seen some work! That corner probably popped off during use and it was still used afterwards. Trentons are neat because you can see the steam hammer forging marks underneath the heel in 5th photo. The cross marks are from the edges of the dies that were used to draw out the heel. Hope this info helps. Wyatt

This is a bit of an old thread but I figured I'd throw this question in here since it feels relevant: I have 2 Kohlswa anvils and I've noticed the cast "stamps" differ slightly. My 50lb Kohlswa has raised Kohlswa Sweden lettering, and my new-to-me 105lb Kohlswa has sunken lettering - it is still very clearly in the casting, and not a stamp. I understand that some of the info on the company isn't exactly the clearest, but I'm curious if the raised lettering were earlier anvils? They seem to be cleaner markings, as if there was slightly more effort put into the mold. Above is the 50lb-er. The lettering is clearly raised, and very crisp. Above again is the 105lb-er. The text is clearly sunk into the casting - but again its not a stamp. There actually appears to be some slag/mod material still stuck in the lettering. Does anyone have any info on why the cast lettering is different? Are they from different periods of Kohlswa's lifetime? I understand that the later years before they stopped producing anvils that they had some quality issues (soft faces) but both of these anvils are very hard. You can see both have some minor edge chipping, and they both put a ball bearing right back to your hand. Thanks for any info. Wyatt

I'll add a piece of insulation board behind it. Thanks

That's the same math I did to come up with my final 8x9 opening. The adjustable opening probably would've been a good idea but it's a little late now... lol And as for the bottom plate in the front, I didn't have it there originally so I could put stock all the way through the fire. I didn't want the hood to take up lots of forge space. However I did add one to it but left about a 2" gap in the middle for more versatility. The hood seems to work very well. The ducting system isn't complete yet so I just added 4 feet of 10" pipe to test it. I lit a small pile of leaves in the firepot and the smoke went sideways up the hood very nicely.

Right now I have the opening about 10"x 11" with a 10" pipe. I'll decrease the opening to maybe 8x8 or 8x9. Thanks as always

I will fix that as soon as possible, thanks

I'm sure 12" would be the best but I got quite of a bit of 10" for free from family so I'm going with that. I also changed the design of the hood I'm going with, as Jim mention my hood design did not work at all. I went with a design very similar but with some small dimensional changes as the super sucker side draft. Should work much better. Thanks for all the great info, much appreciated

Ok, I'll take some time later on today to read more on hood design and entrance. Thanks

Ok thanks for the responses guys. As for the stack I have an 8" flange sitting in top for now but I still have to get the pipe. I'll try to get 10" or 12" if i can.

I'm building a new coal forge and have a large part of a stainless steel drawer that is going to act as a hood. I know it's not the perfect shape but it seems to be about the best I could come up with for no cost. I am a little concerned about the hood being stainless steel; will the stainless give off any sort of toxic gases at a high temperature or anything else hazardous I should know about? I'm not sure what grade of stainless it is. Thanks, Wyatt

As for the date, it was made sometime before 1898. It seems to be a later German Trenton as the earlier ones have different stamps.

Just picked up another Trenton this morning. Weighs 159 pounds and I believe it's another made in Germany. Got it for $200 which I think was a fair price for these days because there's a few weld repairs on the edges, although they seem old and have held up through use. It has excellent rebound (about 90-95% with a half inch ball bearing) and a nice ring. The bottom photo is comparing the stamps between the 159 and the other 234 boker I have. The new to me 159 can clearly read "Trenton, patent, solid wrought ( in a circle) and the weight, 159.

It also has that signature PW look to it, nice anvil.

My broken Boker Trenton also has a bit of the peter wright look with the flats on the feet but is clearly made in Germany.

On the note of prices at the moment, it sure seems FIF wont be going away any time soon. More and more people seem to be watching and enjoying it as the seasons progress.

Got some good laughs out of this, the CL for Buffulo NY is pretty funny at the moment with the keyword anvil.

Cool to know these were drop forged. I like the u-bolt design as well, i recently found a 6" peter wright leg vise that didnt have a mounting bracket. Simply did exactly what you said, i forged a u-bolt out of some 5/8 round and used a heavy piece of angle as the mounting bracket. Thanks for the info. Heres that PW with the u-bolt.

I've had this vise for a little over a year now and I have tried to find some info on it, with no luck. It has 4" jaws, weighs 35 pounds, and was obviously made by the columbian vise co. For the past while now I've been trying to figure out how it was made. It has raised letters and numbers which seems to imply casting, but i cant find porosity anywhere which seems to be common with casting. Were these vises drop forged? Any other info such as when it was possibly made would be appreciated. Thanks.

That vise in the top 3 photos is awesome, looks like all original parts, great job. Pretty much finished with the mounting bracket, all I have to do is drill some holes for the bolts. I went for the simplest design I could think of. Its a simple u-bolt I bent and threaded out of 5/8 round bar, and a big piece of angle iron (that i might shape with a grinder so it's a bit more pleasing to the eye). Seems like It will be pretty solid. I got the design from my 4" Colombian leg vise in the bottom photo.

It truly is a thing of beauty. For mounting the vise, should I try to use the original U bracket and try to make my own wedging system? Or should I go simpler with a u bolt and some heavy angle iron as the mounting bracket? Not sure what to do yet because I believe the wegding system might be difficult to duplicate. Any thoughts?

I'll try to do some research. Mine might have said "patent solid box" but it was probably obliterated by rust and stray marks.

Thanks for the info, I'm in love with the vise. I cant wait to make a new bracket and get it mounted. Any clue about when these vises were made?

What a great scrapyard find for 40 bucks! The vise is in pretty good condition but is missing the mounting bracket and wedge. The jaws are 5.5 inches wide. The vise stands at 40 inches tall and weighs 105 pounds as is. The lead screw and screwbox are in remarkable conditon for a scrapyard find. The only markings I could find are "R444R" on the bottom of the screwbox. I believe it's a Peter Wright, but does anyone know more about it? Thanks for any info.

Lol, I guess mine find was pretty lucky, but the condition that one is in is amazing for 65 bucks.

Wow, i would love to have that kind of luck, that sounds like a dream.