humphreymachine

The die is not that large(probably about 125lb or less) so I’m not sure what the gross weight is for the entire package. Depends on how much of the sow block or whatever it’s called is below grade. I’d love to incorporate it into an old school trip hammer but there’s no way they’d risk the liability for the relatively small sum the stuff is worth.

As long as you have the correct tools to efficiently execute the projects you wish to make does it matter where they came from? To some yes – to others – no. I totally get/understand and appreciate the accomplishments of smiths who choose to forge their own tools. Personally however, I enjoy used/vintage/antique tools and the history their maker’s and user’s represent. Whether forged in the Atha plant or by a smith in the mining districts of Colorado knowing that a tool played some role in the industrial heritage of our nations adds a little something extra for me. I recently picked up a nice forging hammer twice stamped by one of the now defunct local steam railroads. A well made tool with a history which transcends the day and the project I’m hammering on.

No one has identified the maker yet. Here are several more photos if it helps.

They used these to score a rail around its permimeter and then broke it. Kind of cool history just the way it is, might be a shame to obliterate the RR name but that is up to you.

The wood splitting augers that I have seen came to a point and had a spiral thread like a large wood screw. The piece in question appears to have small oil holes at each end? Almost appears to be some sort of odd step pulley for sewing machine type belting.

I don’t know much about bladesmithing but 70 lbs sound small for sword making? An 1/8 inch is a fair amount to remove but you should not have milled through the hard face unless it had been milled before. If a simple hammer drop left a dent the face sounds soft which could indicate that it was in a house/shop fire at some point in its life. Further metal removal will do nothing to harden the existing metal. Really cool that it has family history but possibly not the best anvil for serious swordsmithing.

Thanks – that explains it. The preheat reservoir could displace/jostle/float the steel plate from time to time. It sounds like there were a lot of sprues – vents – etc to break away after the casting cooled. Very interesting. Books are a lot of work – I understand. We all look forward to it.

I see – they really were “Cast Steel” rather than ‘cast steel’-- the generic term for some tool steels of the era which would have been forged to shape. Were the main top plates actually cast to shape or sheared from cast steel plate? Will make it there at some point. Can’t wait!

Or the railroad police!

Were the horn steel plates ground heavily to shape after casting or completely/mostly pre shaped? I’m guessing they were pre shaped but how? In power hammer or power press dies?

I’m sure the anvil is a great user but were I putting my name on it I would have been tempted to throw it back in the furnace and try again. Is it common for Fishers to have that many exposed gas bubbles in the iron? The layer just under the steel plate looks kind of odd as well – like scrambled eggs or conglomerate stone. I guess there’s yellowish surface rust on it but the crystalline structure appears off. How were the cut nails used to support the steel plates in the mold? I’d think the steel would sit in the bottom of the mold and naturally lay parallel to the anvil’s upturned base but apparently it was not so simple.

Nice anvil! I guess the “cast steel” refers to the top plate. Has this stamping been seen on other Fisher anvils?

Thanks njanvilman. That's a great collection. I don't make it down that way too often but hope to in the future. How far from NYC?

What is the earliest 300 lb or over Fisher that you have come across?

1915 - I forget the exact spec concerning the name and eagle. Photo on the first page of the survey but it’s not a great one.

Thank you for clearing that up. 1 ½ seemed large for my size anvil so it makes sense that it was a special order. Interesting that the latter anvils were drilled and broached. Did they offer all sized anvils in the last decade or two or only the smaller ones?

I’d love the iron table too but no way that the RR would bother selling it. The place is way to unstable and the hassle/liability issues far out way the paltry financial upside.

Couple more random photos of the shops

It sounds then like Fisher used a 1 ½ hole for all their larger anvils. The makers of wrought anvils seem to have used a wide spread of hardie hole sizes depending on the anvil’s weight. A 150lb Peter Wright is going to have a smaller hardie hole than a 250. The Hay-Budden catalogue shows a wide spread of hardie hole sizes. 40-100lb anvils used ¾” hardie holes, 125 -150lb = 7/8”, 200lb = 1”, 250lb = 1 1/8”, 300 – 350lb = 1 ¼”, 400 – 450lb = 1 3/8”, 500 – 600lb = 1 ½”, 700 – 800lb = 1 ¾”

Peter – I agree on the one hand but on the other we’ve lost so many interesting industries and buildings to “progress” since the beginning of the industrial revolution – these shops are the exception in that they are clinging to life unlike all else which has been cleared away with hardly a clue to prove that they ever existed. These shops were built at the height of steam railroading when railroads dominated commercial and civilian commerce throughout the land. They are far too large and inefficient for today’s pared back railroad industry. I shudder to think what the yearly heating bill would be at today’s energy costs. New England had blacksmith shops in almost every town, water powered mills on almost every brook, foundries in almost every town of any size and thousands of interesting industries throughout(true for most of the country). I guess it is the curse of nostalgics like us to lament their passing.

Have photos of the Fisher patterns been posted here in the past? I’m guessing that the anvil’s steel top plates were prepunched with hardie holes prior to the casting process? If so was there a core print for the hardie hole sticking out of the pattern's top? I’m guessing that the core would have used the punched hole in the steel plate to ensure alignment during the casting process. I have a 300lb Fisher with an 1 ½ hardie hole which is large for that weight class of anvil when compared with other anvil makers. If anything I’m surprised that Fisher didn’t make their hardie holes slightly smaller than the norm for a given weight anvil to give as much strength to the weaker cast body.

Here’s a neat gas or oil fired heating furnace from the Railroad’s boiler shop. The entire furnace floor can pull out on tracks. The last photo is early piping for an oxweld welding station.

Out of curiosity can anyone identify from the few remaining clues who made this power hammer? It appears to have been a self contained unit but I’m far from an expert on power hammers. This is in an old railroad repair facility which once had dozens of steam hammers but at the end this was all that remained at a single forge station in another part of the complex. The company broke things up with brutal efficiency when scrapping out the property. Interestingly they left behind this large low ironworking table. Not really a swage block – not really a stake table. I’m guessing that the various holes were designed for bending and punching.

Just picked up this Peter Wright anvil and am curious about the double anchor mark? An inspector’s stamp or something else? This may have been discussed in other threads but I missed it if it has. I do have the large ‘X’ stamped in the bottom which was discussed in another thread although mine is not stamped as deeply and is partly obscured by corrosion. Overall this 187 lb anvil is in fairly nice condition with only light surface rust. I will probably clean only the top surfaces.

Cool finds. Almost looks like Railroad initials on the hook.