Julianb

Hello! This channel is a goldmine for images of traditional trades of the "Rheinland". There's more interesting stuff about the iron industry, here's just a few: There's a lot more related stuff, like the making of large grindstones, etc. Cheers! Julian

Hi, as a historian, I'd really like such a thread! Cheers! Julian

Hello! As it is currently around 0°C in my unheated shop and the fire alone doesn't warm up the machinery and tools enough to forge, I thought I'd tackle the cleanup of multiple anvils, that need derusting and oiling up... I started with a stake and finished with a smaller anvil by H.P. Winterhoff: Cheers!

Hello! The number 9 pattern is correct, but what makes you think it is a Refflinghaus anvil? Do you mean August Refflinghaus or Gustav (later Ernst) Refflinghaus? The former usually punched in a makers mark (circle with the letters A R S M, for "August Refflinghaus Söhne [Sons] Milspe [the location]", sometimes including the fire number inside the smaller inner circle), also they punched in "kg" for kilograms behind the weight numbers most of the time, though not always. Without any destinctive makers mark, we'll never be able to say for sure, we could only narrow it down comparing the different styles and fonds of the markings we see. The number 009 could refer to the pattern 9 or the forge fire, although I think that's unlikely, why would they punch in the zeros? It is also in a different style/font, so it might be added later by the shop that put the anvil to use, as an inventory number or something. Concerning the age, I'd put it somewhere between the 1890s and 1960s. I hope that helps a little! Cheers!

Hi! That's a good looking result, I need to try electrolysis myself some time! No idea about the maker though, but I can't really make out every letter. It is a little more difficult to find out the manufacturer of vices though, as they were produced by a whole lot more toolmakers. They might have even been marked with a resellers name or the name of the company/ person that used it. I have a similar vice with a name stamped in, but I cannot for the life of it find out more about it... Cheers!

Hi! I've been following this thread since I joined the forums and just wanted to say how awed I am by this amazing work that is displayed here. Really, really impressive and interesting to watch! Cheers! Julian

Hi! That is not an easily answered question and it definitely differs between the manufactureres and time frames. I might be able to offer some insights concerning German anvil makers and will concentrate on the time period from around 1850 to 1920, as I have an actual basis of sources for it. The chosen period is quite long and there have been different methods of steelmaking utilized during those years. As my english vocabulary is not up to standard on the scientific terms for each of those methods, I'll ignore those for now, but it is important to know, that there are different methods of production, that lead to the product we now generalized call wrought iron (the same goes for steel). In addition to that, the definiton of iron and steel was not exactly the same as ours today. To get specific now: The very widely known anvil maker Söding & Halbach used iron and steel from at least two different production methods during the years of 1850-1870 alone. They refined crude iron and english cast iron and from the 1870s onward worked closely with a local steelworks and utilized crucible steel, made with different methods. In comparison to that, the not so widely known maker Hermann Kuhler from Remscheid is said to have shut down its last own puddle iron production in the 1930s. At that time the method of puddling was long out of date. I know it is just one example and anvils with their way of manufacturing are rather special, but maybe it helps a little. Cheers! Julian

Hello! Nice find! I would put it into the timeframe of about late 19th to early 20th century. No idea who made it though, without any specific makers marks present. The markings on the side, "K (#?) 101" could point to a maker, but only one letter is not as common as a pair of letters. I don't know yet, if I'd tend to identify those kinds of markings as makers marks or some kind of sequential serial numbers. There are arguments for both, but nothing confirmed by hard evidence (yet, maybe never). Cheers! Julian

Hello! The smaller vices are not meant to be used as a post-vice to hammer on. They are more of a general metalworkers vice. The German term would be "Schlosserschraubstock", Schlosser originally meaning locksmith, but the profession of general metalworkers is called Schlosser as well. Those vices have been made with legs of different length, but they are meant to be fastened to a workbench etc. like this. This is usually not a modification. There are also post-vices to be used as a blacksmithing vice to hammer onto, which are then called "Schmiedeschraubstock" (Blacksmiths vice) or "Feuerschraubstock" (Fire vice). They usually are available with wider jaws than the short-legged ones. I'd love to upload historical tool-catalogues as a source here, but I do not own the rights to those pictures. If I ever find some originals to own by myself, I hopefully remember this thread here. Cheers! Julian

Hello, and please be careful with steel that came from used car springs in parts with such a vital function, like the arm of a crossbow. You do not want a previously damaged piece of steel fail in exactly the wrong moment. Stress-related microfractures don't repair themselves by reforging the spring. Cheers and good luck! Julian

Great, thanks! You can clearly see the capital K and lower case g. Also noteworthy: The number of the fire, marked with a capital N and small but underlined o, followed by a large number. If nothing else is visible, you can identify Krägeloh anvils by the fire number stamp. Cheers! Julian

I'm afraid that the picture opens only really small and I cannot make out any kind of marking. Larger and clear pictures of the anvil would be really appreciated! Krägeloh usually stamped the number of the fire in which the anvil was forged onto the piece as well. Their weight stamp also seemed to consist of a number and then "Kg", with a capital K and lower case g. Please be careful though, all my statements are based on ongoing research and are still not yet founded on a broad enough basis of scientific evaluation. There might be deviations in or changes from their "standard" procedure.

Yes, it is clearly forged and a North German pattern. That puts it in the ballpark of at least the first half of the 20th century. After the second world war, there remained only very few manufacturers of forged anvils. F.W. Krägeloh was one of them, but I don't know, if they ever stopped putting their markings on anvils or if they changed the lettering at some point. If you've got a "kg" marking, then it is probably not Krägeloh and might be pre WW2. But it is really difficult to say, as there were dozens of anvil manufacturers around and only a few famous/ larger ones are still known or identifiable by their markings. And again I doublepost, hopefully it combines the posts automatically again. That's an anvil I own, no other markings than the weight. Does your "kg" marking look similar? Or is it in a different lettering or in capital letters?

Hello! If you could provide a clearer picture of the stamped numbers, that'd be great. Is there any kilogram abbreviation marking next to the number? That could at least narrow it down a little, but if there's no other markings, you might never now who made that anvil. Cheers! Julian

Hello! A few months ago, I promised to find out the maker of the hammer with the C.D. marking inside a crown. Lo and behold, I finally have an answer: It is the company of "Carl Döhl", later "Carl Döhl Söhne", founded 1859 in Wuppertal Ronsdorf, Germany (the German chamber of industry and commerce published a note on the 100th anniversary of the company in 1959). They were purchased by Peddinghaus (yes, PFP) in 1963, according to the Peddinghaus 175 year anniversary brochure. They produced tools for sheetmetal work, blacksmithing, later on also for the ever growing automobile industry. I'll try to clean up my sheetmetal tools tomorrow and post some of them, if there's enough time, I own at least one hammer by Carl Döhl, I think. Cheers! Julian Oh no, made a mistake. It is not PFP that purchased the company, but Carl Daniel Peddinghaus. Same name, also tool industry, same geographical area, different company. Just mixed them up again, as happens so often... Ah, and now my posts have been merged, I'll try again to just mark the above as an edit.

That is absolutely correct, the plates depicting anvils are available for free on the website dealing with the encyclopaedia.

Hello, there won't be a "source" that will say "Square holes in anvils exist since year xy." You could do a very extensive research into historic depictions of anvils to be at least able to say that such holes exist at a certain point in time and to a certain amount. Anvils as a source are also not very reliable, as they are not properly datable and stamped or engraved dates don't provide a reliable date of manufacture, at least not on ones dated back to the pre-industrial age. In general, the research on anvils and their manufacture is extremely time-consuming. Why not concentrate the video on the bottom tools, there's at least a lot of archeological material to rely on. Better to downscale a bit, than risking adding more to the enormous amount of simply wrong information and being a multiplier of hearsay and myths. If you have any specific questions regarding anvil manufacture, you could also pm me directly, if you like. I'll try to find some publicly available sources from my pile as well, but might not be able to get to it in the nearest future. Cheers! Julian

Could you post a link to this ad? My attempts on reverse searching come up fruitless.

Well, thanks! Another thing on this patterns which can be confusing sometimes: even if this particular pattern is called "north-german", it doesn't necessarily have to be produced in northern Germany. For example the well known company of Söding & Halbach produced lots of regionally named patterns, while sitting in western Germany and there is no so called "west-german" pattern. They might have originally stemmed from the typical styles and attributes found in a particular region, but at that point those designations are made, they are available everywhere. Cheers! Julian

Well, I didn't do much and couldn't really help out anymore. I also might be totally wrong!

Hi, I definitely have seen this mark before and I'm pretty sure I have a tool or two with it somewhere. I am at a total loss about the maker though. I'll try to find out more about it! Cheers! Julian

Hello, you have a nice north-german pattern anvil there. The year of 1887 seems a feasible interpretation, as 1827 would be a bit early for such an anvil. Although dated, if there's no other markings, it's not really possible to determine a maker. I compared it to the lettering styles of the more known ones and cannot find any resemblances that point into a certain direction. There are a lot of examples of anvils from the 19th century, that have a date stamp and nothing else, though. No way to tie that to any specific manufacturer. Cheers! Julian

Hello, I wouldn't do anything about the chipped spot, it happens and wouldn't even be substantial for a guarantee claim at S&H. The other questions are kind of a question of faith. I'd go with a large enough wood-stump, my 222kg anvil rests firmly on one of those and it does not move. Just a light coating of oil on the face would prevent rust, but as you're using it every day, I suppose, that shouldn't be necessary anyway. Cheers! Julian

Honestly? For 500€ I would’ve passed on that one. Around here there‘s so much cheaper stuff to have, it is just a matter of patience. But hey, that is absolutely luxurious, compared to prices in the US.

Hello, this is a very late Söding & Halbach anvil, they sometimes didn't punch in their logo in between the numbers of the year during the last years of production, at least it seems this way. It is No. 58, South-German pattern with side shelf and upsetting block. If the price is right, buy it and take some more detailed pictures, please! Cheers! Julian Edit: And are you sure it is 1938 and not 1936? It certainly looks like an 8, but I cannot tell for sure, from the grainy zoomed in picture. That'd be very interesting, if it was made in 1938!