Zozon

Thank you AnvilAntics,  I haven't decided to take it or not.

16 hours ago, Latticino said:

Very good name hammer.  Quite large size as well.  Looks to need some significant work for reassembly, but likely quite promising if all the parts are there and the pistons haven't seized from that rust.  Good luck with it, careful rigging it home if you get it, that's no light weight either.

Thank you Latticino! I know it's not light weight, someone said anvil is over 500 kg!

Last week I saw an add "Blacksmith tools for sale".  According to the price man was asking I thought it's nothing special ... well it was! JEB anvil 132 kg, 9 different blacksmith tongs  and a small swage block 12 x12 x 4 inches. Block is small and it is not in good shape but it's the first swage block for sale less than 1000 km from me I ever saw! This time it was really close to me, I couldn't resist  and after a 40 km drive I took it home.

   I will reserve one afternoon to clean everything, including S&S anvil I promised to clean few month ago and will post new pictures!

  That's all folks :-)

      Hi guys,

I need advice and I believe I can have it here.

I have opportunity to buy Alldays & Onions 2cwt power hammer. I know nothing about power hammers ... especially this manufacturer. It used to be in a railway workshop but last ten years it  is not in use. It is in a backyard of one blacksmith workshop. It was left in working condition but who knows what has happened these years ... and, yes it's disassembled and it is not possible to see it working.

I'd like to know what should I pay attention of? According to photos it is complete.

I suppose 2cwt is power of hit, 2 x112 lbs  ... I'd say it is a serious  punch?

I believe some of you guys know what is electric motor power, what is its weight and what is it worth?

Thank you guys, I hope I am not asking too much :-)

Today I was lucky enough to catch one more JEB anvil. 132 kg/290 lbs!

Very good shape, great rebound and million  chisel marks.

This time it was in my neighborhood and I did not have to drive thousand miles :-)

On 4/10/2022 at 7:20 PM, Julianb said:

The overall look and the fact, that S&S produced cast iron anvils with welded on steel plate since the 1930s, strongly suggest that. Of course, I still could be wrong.

How's the cleaning process coming along, Zozon?

We will have to wait a few more days, I am about to finish planting season, after that I'll have more time for workshop :-)

On 4/11/2022 at 4:03 AM, Frf said:

Does it have a square hole on the bottom or is it flat? The upset block has what looks like a forge welding seam.

The hole on the bottom used to be square but being in concrete so, so long made that hole very strange shape, I'll make a photo of that.

I have one more photo.

Hello again,

I've found some photos of A little unusual  S&H anvils. These photos are not mine, I found them on an advertising site. I hope there will be problem to share them here!

First one is a monster size 358 kg -790 lbs ... I do not know what to say just take a look at the first photo, compare anvil size and the man on the right!

Second one is from the same source. Cant see weight mark but according to dimensions it is not light. Very uncommon thing is the "bow" between  anvils feet, never seen S&H this pattern.

  That's all, I hope you guys will enjoy!

You are welcome Julian.

I was delighted when I saw Museum's site!

Hello Julian.

I have one S&H anvil. Forged anvil, South German pattern, made in 1890 on fire no.2, 140 kg.  Has a little damage on it but I am very proud to own such a piece of art in my workshop.

Here are some photos, if you find them useful- use them!

I can take more photos in close up if you need them.

I'd like to share this  very useful link with all the guys on this forum:

https://museodellincudinedisanmartinoeng.wordpress.com/

Good luck with your research, cheers!

Zoran Novakovic

On 3/5/2022 at 11:09 PM, ThomasPowers said:

Too thickly settled and industrialized; my Mother grew up on a farm with no electricity; lots of hand powered stuff out there!

On 3/5/2022 at 11:36 PM, George N. M. said:

As Thomas mentions, I think that the difference is the result of historical settlement and development.  In the US the settlers and homesteaders were thinner on the ground and had to have their own equipment.  Most folk who tell me, "Oh, my grandfather/great grandfather was a blacksmith." actually mean that he was a farmer or rancher who had a forge and anvil to do his own repairs rather than spending a day or two going to town and back for a repair or a part.  This pattern of settlement coincided with the late 19th century production of portable, hand powered forges.  So, it was pretty easy for many folk to acquire a blacksmithing set up at an acceptable price.

In Europe the pattern of settlement had been established for centuries and villages had been in place for generations.  It was, at most, an hour or so walk or ride from any farm to the village and its smith.  Many villages had their own blacksmith shop that had been in place for generations and the older bellows worked just fine to supply blast.  There was no motivation to replace it with hand cranked equipment.  The old bellows were replaced by electric blowers once power was available.  So, there were never as many hand crank blowers or reasonably portable forges ever used in Europe.

Also, I do not know if there were scrap drives in Europe during the World Wars like there were in the US.  Much old equipment and historical artifacts went into those in the US.

You are both right, here we had isolated farms and households but they were not that far from villages/cities as in your country. We also had smaller blacksmith tools for farms but forges/ blowers were foot powered, for some reason hand powered blowers were not available here.  I have one but it's not ready for photo session yet :-)

Here is a few photos how they look, when i finish mine I'll post more photos or make a new topic, cheers!

On 3/4/2022 at 8:25 AM, Jobtiel1 said:

Very nice anvil! Congrats! And I agree, anvils aplenty, German pattern vises too. But forges, not so much. I'm still on the lookout for a proper hand crank blower!

~Jobtiel

 Thanks! Hand powered blowers are so, so rare, it's almost impossible to find one in this part of world :-)

8 hours ago, Rojo Pedro said:

Nice one. Is that a date between the S's?  Looks like 1941 maybe?

Yes it is, made in 1941.

3 hours ago, JHCC said:

Very nice indeed!

Thanks!

3 hours ago, Julianb said:

A fine example of a cast anvil with welded on faceplate! A clear picture of the cleand up markings would be great!

And by the way, "Schlasse" is a proper noun, "Schloss" would mean "lock".

 

Cheers!

I will post more photos when I clean  it properly :-)

7 hours ago, George N. M. said:

That is a beautiful anvil.  It will inspire a LOT of anvil envy.  It has generations of life left in it.  It is hardly broken in.

I wish there was some way, at a reasonable cost, to be able to ship things like this from Europe to the US.  It seems that anvils are more available on the right side of the Atlantic and things like blowers and forges are more abundant on the left side.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Thank you George. You're right about anvils, we have forges here but they are different type then on the left side of Atlantic. I have one  forge it's very old  but it's not functional. I will post some pics when I have time.

2 hours ago, Frosty said:

She's a BEAUTY, sweet score!

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks Frosty! I'll be back with more photos when I clean this beauty correctly :-)

   A few days ago I went hunting and came home with 150 kg (330 lbs) North German pattern S&S anvil.

In previous life it was "in" concrete base, hardy hole was blocked with piece  of steel, very, very rusty and it was ideal for testing welding sticks ... despite everything sound was amazing, rebound too!

  I had no time to clean it completely  but I just had to release its feet from rests of concrete, had to take out peace of steel from hardy hole, cleaned working surface and made a few photos and videos for you guys, I hope you'll like it!

Thank you all for answers!

I know that anvil and stand on the first photo does not fit each other. It was an auction in Switzerland ended 12 hours ago, both sold for 580 US$  ... Anvil stand measurement  are 27" X 23" X 20 " anvil itself is 35,5" long, 15" high and 6" wide,  I guess it's close to 400 lbs ! They do not fit but it was a bargain.

   I have seen so many different types of anvil stands, most of them were wooden stumps, tripod metal  bases even barrels filled with concrete but cast iron anvil stands are so rare that I could see them only in photos!

   I'd like to hear your opinion and  experiences  about them?

   Here are a few photos I've found on net ...

   Thank you guys!

Looks very old, I'd like to know who made it ...

Nice find BartW ! Am I wrong or someone cut off feet of this beauty?

I know anvils are much more expensive  in America than in Europe, in my country normal price is about 3 - 4 Euro/kg (1.6 - 2.2 USD/lbs) but this time I was a very lucky to buy this one for 1.22 $/ lbs.

Maybe I should not tell price to you, didn't want to make you envy guys ... well ... maybe just a little :-)

On 1/8/2021 at 6:06 PM, ThomasPowers said:

I know you are posting that just to get me banned for bad language!!!!  Moderators; you said intent counts so I guess this counts: "                                                       "!

Lovely large anvil and I envy your possession of it. Are you willing to say what you paid for it?

I paid 350 EURO - 420-430 USD for that ... no comment :-)

On 1/8/2021 at 6:40 PM, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

Your good deed, selling the first one to a student, has been rewarded.

Yeah, but  this young man is a real MAN, when he saw an ad, he called me and said " ... look Zoran, there was a  big Skoda for sale but it was sold so fast ... don't know how ..." I appreciate  him very much!

On 1/8/2021 at 6:50 PM, Frosty said:

It's lovely, congratulations. I'm feeling a little anvil envy.

Frosty The Lucky.

Thank you Frosty !

On 1/8/2021 at 6:58 PM, jlpservicesinc said:

Wow , that is an anvil of beauty.   congrats..  That is fantastic.

Thank you jlpservicesinc !

On 1/9/2021 at 1:01 AM, Davor said:

I had no Idea Skoda made anvils. Now I’m envious because it is a beautiful anvil and because it is a Skoda.

Hi Davor, yes, they made anvils ... i did not know it until I saw some ads ... it turned out Skoda was so serious heavy industry ... probably anvils are just a small part of this Czech Republic giant !

Well guys I have news.

I've decided to sell one of my anvils, a young blacksmith came to see them and fell in love with Skoda ... he was so enthusiastic that I decided to sell it to him. I missed Skoda a little but I was not sorry, no doubt he was the right person to continue working on that anvil!

Just a few days later an ad appeared, a big Skoda,  South German form with side wing, upsetting block and a wooden stump. I couldn't wait until morning to call at a decent time, did not discus about price at all, just asked about condition ( there was just one small picture in the ad), weight  and time to pick it up! They did not know the weight or manufacturer,  actually they did not know anything about anvils ... they are export-import company and this came within a whole workshop they have bought. It turned out it is a 159 kg (350 lbs) and I knew the rest before :-)

As usual it was just a couple hundred miles away from me  but this time it was cheap ... I've enjoyed that journey !

I didn't have time to clean the paint but it looks very good, rings like a bell and edges are almost untouched.

Now a few photos.

That's the story, cheers guys, I'll add some more photos when I clean it!

On 3/23/2020 at 3:43 AM, Benona blacksmith said:

They were forging this shape way before casting them!!! I can find photos of forged ones If you would like?

Sure, I would like to see them Benona blacksmith.

On 3/23/2020 at 1:21 PM, jlpservicesinc said:

 

by the way this is super interesting.. Thanks Zozan for sharing the info. 

 You are welcome jlpservicesinc :-)

   Hi guys, sorry I am late with my answer. I took photos of of three anvils bottom, first is 140 kg/ 308 Lbs S&H forged anvil, second is 91.5 kg/ 202 lbs Skoda third is 80 kg/ 176 lbs JEB. You can see welding lines on S&H  very smooth and flat surface on Skoda and some holes on JEB.  On the final photo you can see them all.

On ‎2‎/‎7‎/‎2020 at 5:56 PM, Benona blacksmith said:

I'm 100% sure your anvils isnt cast steel. Based on the handling holes and the weld line just below the edge of the face it is a forged anvil for sure.

   This should be  a cast anvil with forge welded top plate. It would be almost impossible to forge all the details on anvil this shape,  if you take a closer look whole anvil is very smooth, no signs of hammer hit.  Take a look at this 36 kg JEB and a 140 kg forged Söding und Halbach, the difference  is obvious.