John09040

2 hours ago, ausfire said:

Nice bunch of iron there. Interested in that Brooks anvil with the name cast rather than stamped on the side. Is the body cast iron, with a steel plate attached to the top, or is the whole thing cast?  I have an Australian anvil (Connelan, Brisbane) with a similar cast name. It's really an ASO with a ball earing bounce of about 40%. I would think a British made Brooks anvil would do better than that. Doesn't look like it's seen much work. Can you tell us more about it?

It is a solid one piece cast steel anvil and it has a new home rebound was over 90%. I don't have any for sale currently.

2 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Perhaps the two way traffic between WV and OH...

LOL I guess but at least a third of the anvils I find are Arm and Hammer and they are supposed to be a rare brand due to low production numbers but there everywhere in this area.  

17 hours ago, Frosty said:

Now I know what happened to all the anvils that aren't in Alaska! Those are some nice iron.

LOL

I sell some of them and keep the nicer ones for myself. Sometimes I make enough after say selling 10 of them to pay for me a nice one to keep. If I can make $100 on one I pick it up and eventually sell it. Sometimes I go a month and don't find any but sometimes I find several in a week.

2 hours ago, MC Hammer said:

Thanks for sharing the pictures with us.

Anytime I love every one of them I get but I have to sell most to keep making a little on each one. I meet some awesome people getting out and buying them My personal anvils is the two big ones and a 160 Hay Budden. I do some forging but unfortunately I had someone offer me too much for my forge so now I'm building a new one. Im not really a collector but I like Trentons and Hay Buddens so I have kept the nicer examples of those.  What I find is in my area there are more Arm and Hammers than any other I guess the close proximity to Columbus OH.

I was just going to show a few anvils I picked up over the last year all in my area. It goes to show what you can find if you just ask most of the better ones I have purchased are from conversations about other things and just ask hey do you know anyone with any blacksmith anvils for sale? The last time I showed a few on here the thread got deleted wasn't trying to advertise as I have none for sale. But here you go.Trenton 400lb lived its life in Huntington WV B&O Railroad blacksmith shop.400 Hay Budden Also from Southern Pacific Railroad shop Huntington WV the blacksmith retired and the company delivered it to his house as a gift and I was very lucky to acquire it from his 80yr old little brother. It sat on a farm since 1970 on a huge 1" thick plate steel stand that weighs prob 400lb. 350lb Fisher I bought from a guy 10mi down the road from my home was sitting in a old building was the grandfathers anvil and they no longer had a use for it. 160 Hay Budden came out of a old coal mine general store Beckley WV.Fisher 200 took in on a trade for a junk truck young man didn't know what a anvil was until I showed him a pic of one said yea theres one in the garage of this house I bought. 140 Peter Wright another just ask out of the blue and yea I have one I will sell you.Hay Budden 140 bought from a scrap dealer Hay Budden 138 same scrap dealer Arm Hammer 150 a guy answers a add on FB and said I have one for sale. Brooks 170 from local antique dealer. Arm Hammer 100 from guy answer a add. Arm Hammer 135 antique dealer. Trenton 140 from scrap dealer. Arm Hammer 124 from scrap dealer. Vulcan 300 from scrap dealer. And photo of some together with 300 Peter Wright and Arm Hammer 186 from scrap dealer. Once again none are currently for sale just trying to show some pretty steel.

Its at a friend I will try to get more pics 

16 hours ago, Fatfudd said:

ChrisPTF is spot on. If it has an "A' in the serial number then there should be a number stamped on the back of side of the heal.

There is a 3 digit number on the heel.

On 5/11/2018 at 7:53 PM, Fatfudd said:

I'm kinda surprised that Blackfrog hasn't weighed in so i will. The underside of the base is an early Trenton style before they went to the caplet style which Trenton and Arm and Hammer both used.

Hay Budden had a inch rim around the edge to provide even support and to prevent tipping  but it was a very shallow build up and subject to being lost over time.  Early Trentons had a similar edge but it went much deeper and couldn't be lost.  Its  a Trenton and a nice one at that. I have had several of the early Trentons with an identical base. 

Yes I have learned a lot from you guys and appreciate you guys taking time to explain it all. 

2 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Being Friday I must mention that YOU can stamp it yourself: Hay-Trent, Budton,.....R'yleh,....

LOL

4 minutes ago, jlpservicesinc said:

Trenton.. as already said.. 

 

Are you going to do an epic reveal and tell us?

LOL no a few were on the fence to what it was. Was just hoping someone who may know the differences between it and a Haybudden and Trenton may know more what to look at.

Just now, Daswulf said:

While it's nice and fun to learn the history of a useful old tool, there comes a point where you just gatta Use it. There are two kinds of anvils. Good ones and not good ones.  well, aside from variations in shapes to fit what you use it to make. 

Yea its getting use and it's a good one will outlast me and its more than what I need so it don't really matter what it is.

2 hours ago, ChrisPTF said:

I don't think your photo posted.

I didn't post any more was just wondering if anyone else that have a idea what brand it may be based on the photos I had posted before. I guess its about impossible to tell without a stamp of some sort. Shame they didn't mark it but I guess they never thought someone would care a hundred years later lol.

1 hour ago, ChrisPTF said:

According to anvils in America serial number A17922 for a Hay Budden anvil would date your Anvil to the year 1919

It is serial #A17922, because Hay Budden Anvils never went up to serial number 417922

Thank you I thought it was an A but hard to tell for sure.

Could be 417922 or even 117922 the first digit isn't stamped very clearly.

The serial number is A17922

Anyone else have any input to to possible maker?

47 minutes ago, John McPherson said:

I can see what looks like a Trenton diamond in the last picture; oblique lighting would help.

I see what your talking about but its not I have had it wiped down with a flash light at every angle no stamps whatsoever 

The guys brother that I purchased this one from has the 500lb Hay Budden

1 hour ago, otisdog said:

My take is that it wasn't forged by any of the above suggestions makers. Huntington, West Virginia was home to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroads large steam shop. This is where they had the ability to do anything needed to service the very large steam locomotives that hauled the heavy coal trains through the adjoining mountains. They had no problem forging replacement side rods and other massive pieces needed to keep the locomotives running....so it would be no problem to knock out an anvil.  It would be cheaper than buying it, no doubt.

They often used an existing "store bought" anvil as  pattern, so it is no surprise that the folks posting above can see simularities with other, known manufacturers. I have a 400 pound anvil that was made by the Southern Pacific Railroad shops in Sacramento, California (I think...Sacramento was the home of their large steam shops, just as Huntington was the home of the B&O shops, and my anvil came from Truckee, Ca. which is up the main line from Sacramento, but 5,787 feet higher in elevation.). My anvil is a dead ringer for a Hay Budden, but it has no identifying marks on it of any kind. The only thing that ties it to the railroad is the very distinct green paint that the S.P. painted all their maintenance tools, and where it came from.

So that's my theory...Mine rings like a bell, and has great rebound. I enjoy this anvil so much I sold my 400 pound Fisher.

Oh, and very nice anvil. What happened to the 500 pound Hay Budden?

Thank you.  Thats very interesting.

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

If they were making their own I would wonder why they would do the base depression.

Thats the same thing I wonder seems like only a anvil mfg would do that.

47 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

I thought I could see a bit of a number marking on the front foot; can you look there real carefully?

I can't find anything on it 

10 minutes ago, Daswulf said:

Looking again I see different angle grind marks on the face. 

Be cautious. Test thuroughly around the whole face of the anvil. 

Oh..... Well that does change things. 

I would not pay nearly as much knowing that. 

I think I will pass at $1200 he had it up for $750 at first then someone told him it was worth way more so he took it down and wants $1200 now.

 A few pics before he cleaned it up and welded the one place on the edge.

Thanks it seemed like a killer deal for a big anvil but I guess $1200 is about the upper end of the price range for it.  

45 minutes ago, C-1ToolSteel said:

Looks to me like the face may have been milled down, so MAKE SURE TO TEST FOR REBOUND BEFORE YOU BUY IT, or you could be stuck with a $1,200 hunk of Anvil Shaped Object!! Otherwise, looks like a very nice anvil, if you want a big one that badly...

After looking at it again, are you sure that is a Fisher? No mounting lugs at the base (though an anvil that large may not need them), and the casting looks rougher than most Fishers. Ninjaanvilman would know.

It says Fisher on the front foot.

Heres my smaller one 160lb Hay Budden.

Thank you. There's no markings anywhere on it I have cleaned it and looked everywhere on it. It does have excellent rebound. Someone may be able to tell by the construction who built it. There was a 500lb Hay Budden right beside it in that shop though.