MC Hammer

I would agree with Daswulf, it looks like he took an angle grinder to it to clean the face. Another serviceable anvil destroyed. No fault of yours, just an ignorant person on the other end of things.

Just make sure you use the wire cup brush with the angle grinder and not anything abrasive that will remove metal. It doesn't need to be nice and shiny metal. The wire brush will help you retain a nice patina on it in the chocolate or dark gray color range. I wiped 5W 30 motor oil on mine and I wipe it down periodically. I haven't seen a bit of rust, so BLO isn't the only thing you can use on them. Good luck

Looks like an early German Trenton. They have the feet on the bottom like a Peter Wright and no serial number. Also, the weight is always on the trademark side in between the legs of the anvil just like yours. An early German Trenton also will have a flat bottom, just like yours. It's likely yours was made before 1898 according to Anvils in America. Join the club, I have an early German Trenton as well. See the similarities?

I'm a little late to this thread, but looking in my copy of AIA, on page 12 it shows this anvil and it's not the same anvil. It should have a 5th toe to even be of the same type. Sure, it's colonial by the looks, but I wouldn't even dream of paying $4,000 for it. Something about the horn doesn't look right either. On those old colonial ones you can usually see that the horn was forge welded into a slot in the front and this one looks solid cast almost. I've not seen too many of them in person though.

GFS, I looked in my copy of Anvils in America and it states that your anvil was made in 1920, so she turned 100 this year! Looks like 2,435 Trenton anvils were made that year. Pictures would be nice to see in the future because we all like to see pictures of anvils. Another thing to keep in mind is that age really isn't an indicator of anvil quality. You can have the oldest anvil in America and have it be a very poor performer as far as forging goes. Another thing you may notice about our little community is that we can be a difficult bunch at times. Have a thick skin and enjoy all the info that is here to read. Most folks serious about joining this community do offer a hello or introduction of some kind. I wish you well in your forging endeavors.

With that kind of money stored up, I'd be picky and wait out a great deal. I find people get into the most trouble with anvils when they are in a huge hurry to get one. They quit listening to that little voice inside their head that's telling them the things that are wrong with it. If you look carefully, $700 should buy you an anvil and a decent post vise. I have about $550 into my first anvil and post vise, and my second anvil and post vise cost me $100 total! $50 each for the anvil and post vise. Using the Thomas's applied method works very well, it's just not always an instant thing. My second anvil and post vise were as a result of applying Thomas's method the first time around. Word gets around. Be patient and avoid internet auctions, antique stores, and any situation where there's a huge amount of sentimental value attached to it. My second anvil was bought from a family member. He'd abused it some and it quite possibly went through a garage fire, but he couldn't remember. He said he'd give it to me so long as he could have it back if he ever decided he wanted it or that is son could use it at my shop if he wanted to. I told him that I'd rather pay him what he felt was fair and explained to him that the temper could have been ruined on it if it went through a fire. He said $50 and I agreed that I'd take a chance on it. Turns out it's got a 75% rebound and was quite usable.

My two cents isn't in opposition of those that are trying to encourage you to use something other than an anvil, but I don't know anyone who is happier with a piece of scrap steel than with their anvil. Sure, there are people out there doing great work on things other than anvils and yes the London pattern is relatively new as far as anvils go but I think most guys starting out will be happier with a London pattern anvil. Most smiths I know say the same thing, that they started out with a piece of railroad track or a cheap Harbor Freight anvil but now they have a London pattern anvil. My advice would be to get a London pattern anvil that you can afford. Don't be in a hurry to find the first one out there, but take time to look. It took me a year to find my first anvil and it was worth the weight. I was using an old cast iron anvil borrowed from my Dad, but I learned a lot using the horn, hardy and pritchel holes. I think your money will stretch further buying an old anvil. A few years ago I paid $1.29 a pound for my first anvil and it cost $300. When new smiths get all excited they end up buying junk they are not happy with in a few years. If you can't find an old one for what you have saved, keep looking and keep saving more money. You might just have $400 before you know it which should buy a decent old anvil of good weight.

Anvils In America dates your anvil to 1912. That year Columbus Forge & Iron Co made 7,999 anvils with yours being one of them. The last serial number that year was listed as 114000. I'd like to see a closer picture of the diamond logo though. That looks a little low on the anvil. It should say Trenton inside that diamond. I hope that helps.

I have the same gas forge. You'll really like it a lot. I've used that side door so many times for odd shaped stuff.

Forge anything more yet Scooter?

Dreams, Anvils in America puts that anvil in the year 1903. They started their serial numbers in 1898 presumably with 0. It looks like you have one of 8,000 or so anvils that were made that year. If I'm right, I guess that would qualify as an "early" Trenton anvil. We tend to think of "early" anvils as some of the first of it's kind made, or at least I do. The early Trenton's were the German Trenton's like this one. Notice the "feet" on the base? That's a dead ringer for an early Trenton, but Peter Wright anvils have the same feet and some think the early Trenton bases might have be made by Peter Wright or were surplus purchased or something along those lines. The early Trenton's have the diamond logo and the weight is between the legs like the below picture. That's a great story about your grandpa's shop. It's good that you kept this anvil. For being in a service station it's in pretty good shape. Most service stations weld on anvils and pound cold metal on them causing terrible damage that we all have to live with today. Hope this helps.

It's quite common to see that on the side of anvils and is not necessarily a sign of delamination of the hard steel face. If you just look at 100 anvils you will see similar marks on 98 of them most likely. If you tap the face with a hammer you should hear a "Ping-ping-ping". If it sounds dead there or makes a different buzzing ring sound you have a problem. It's why it is so important to do proper testing on an anvil prior to purchasing it.

Very true Thomas! I'm thinking since they are students, they will be learning with small stuff.

Remember to always have the anvil, forge and post vise set up to work in a triangular pattern. It's really more efficient to have each of those important tools a step or two away from each other. I'd think several stations set-up like that for students.

I feel your pain Owen. I had to tear down a cabin on the land we bought this year, move all the parts, and rebuild it. I was stuck with a lot of the cob-job things the guy who built it did. I corrected as many as I could along the way. Greater than 7/12 pitch on my roof. I am worried about your pitch though because you can get a pretty severe snow load in Maine. That load transfers to your walls so you'll need to look at rafter ties and such to keep those walls from wanting to spread out under a full snow load. Anymore updates?

Glad to help you get started. If it were me, I'd strip the blue paint off it like the one in the video and secure it really well to a wood stump. For the price, it should beat a piece of railroad track any day. The guy in the video would have told you if he thought it was a piece of junk. Let us know how it goes using it.

If you want a cheap anvil that is better than a railroad track or a cheap Harbor Freight anvil, check this review of a cheaper 66 pound anvil by an experienced blacksmith: I was kinda surprised that it performed well enough for someone to use it to get started. I hate to see people go the railroad track route. I've heard so many guys talk with great regret all the years they spent using them and struggling to move metal. Again, not a great anvil but better than many other alternatives and it's affordable.

Be patient. It took me over a year to find my first anvil and it was a lot of work to finally meet up with the guy and get it. Since then 160# Fisher fell into my shop for $50. I agree with Glenn, always calculate the price per pound when looking at an anvil. Anything above $3 per pound should be approaching pristine condition. When people pay these ridiculous prices it just keeps fueling the craziness that has driven even common blacksmithing tools up to prices that just don't make sense to those of us who use the tools. The #1 thing I hear from people now when I tell them I'm a blacksmith is "Man, those anvils are worth some money now." That's just the common guy, so anything from an antique store will be even more. When I talk to junk store and antique store owners they say this a lot: "Anvils, well yeah I've had a few and sold them. I made good money on them to. Know where I can find anymore?" So if the common guy thinks they are worth big money and the antique stores want to make good money on them, the end purchaser will see crazy prices. Keep looking at barn sales, garage sales, and of course use the TPAAAT method because it works. Somewhere a guy has stubbed his toe for the last time on grandad's old anvil he has sitting under the workshop table and you need to be the guy there first to "help" his toe feel better. This guy will mention at morning coffee at the diner and the waitress there will remember that you told her you were looking for an anvil and the rest is history. TPAAAT works just like that.

@jlpservicesincThey do seem really "hard" and I think that's why the edges get chipped like they do. Mine has really great rebound like in the 9.5 - 9.7 return on a 10 inch drop.

Looks to me like a Frankenstein fix to a cheaper anvil. That plate on top looks like it was welded (sort of) on top of the anvil after the original face fell off and that another piece was welded above the waist where perhaps there was some imperfection there??? Not much else we can tell you without seeing some numbers or letters giving us a clue as to the maker.

She's a beauty. I have a 179 # German Trenton. Mine doesn't say "Germany" on it so I believe mine might be one of the earliest of German Trenton's. Yours is in a little bit better shape than mine, but you can't beat the beautiful rebound. Here's a picture of mine:

JHCC, yes those are the exact shears that were given to me. Look to be the same size too. Heavy as heck. Nice to know I can cut up to 16 Ga sheet metal with them. I won't use them to hot cut anything. I feared exactly what Latticino said above and figured I'd ask around and see if anyone used them for hot cutting. Sometimes you can get away with things and usually others will know. I still like them and the price was right

Anything is possible to do with the right tools and materials. Is it worth the time? Probably not. You will spend a lot of time and resources trying to recreate the wheel so to speak. If you are just looking for a challenge to see if you can do it, go for it, but if you intend on using it and diving into blacksmithing, Pnut it right, you can make a simple improvised anvil to get started.

Frosty: I'll take a picture tonight, but these things are dang heavy and over 3 feet long. Pretty heavy duty. No doubt I could probably cut cold stock up to something like 1/16 of an inch. I guessed they were tin cutting shears based on what I found on the internet, but I think they could cut steel as well.

I was given a pretty heavy and long pair of those tinsmith shears that have the ends that will fit in your anvil hardy hole. I know they are used for sheet metal, but would using them to hot cut thinner metals remove the temper of the shear blades and ruin them for their original purpose. Has anyone here used them for hot cutting? I can see them being useful for cutting thinner stock for ornamental work instead of using a chisel. Just thought I'd ask since most people mistake them for a blacksmith tool.