Michael Hehr

It's a 'George WooLDridge & son', made in Stourbridge-England.

Greetings, my fellow metal heads! I aqquired this awesome stake anvil and I could swear I've seen these matings before, just can't remember where..It's a letter "T" and what remains of a 'fleur de lis' on a cross with 3 letters in it. Hopefully there is somebody out there who recognises them. Thank you! Kind regards, Michael.

Thanks! Your right: if there are any PW's in the Netherlands, they all are allready spoken for. On the other hand, "you can break your neck across the german ones"! German pattern is a bit to bulky for my taste. But fun I'll have for sure! Planing on taking it apart and give it a good cleanup, removing all the high gloss woodstain that was smeared on it by (one of) the previous owner(s)... (thank you for that, who ever you are!) and she'll be as good as new. Have a nice weekend! Michael By the way: anybody here who knows a bit more about the type of chamfer on the legs? As I understand there is a difference between the ones made for export and those produced for the local economy? Or is that a matter of in which period they were produced?

Thank you for your kind words, George! I thought my eyes were fooling me so I decided to play dumb and act like I've never seen a vise like this before (scrupulous, I know but since this was a once in a lifetime opertunity I had no other choice, lol) and asked her if I wasn't insulting her by offering only 50,- euro's. She asked me about my max. offer and I replied with "Euhm... 80??" and that was it. I had a grin on my face from ear to ear all the way home, for this was the deal of the century. Especially in the Netherlands, where these vises are increadibly rare! Only thing I have to do is give it a good clean up because she's covered in this high gloss wood staining stuff... doesn't smell very nice, haha! Thanks! So you realy think I've hit the jackpot here? Sweet!!!

Stumbled upon this gem of a post vise on "marketplace". Sold by a friendly lady, dealing in all sorts of 'vintage knick knack's' 66#, jaws 4,8" (12cm), few minor marks from use on the jaws, spindle and box as if they were made only yesterday! Only the nut on the hinge bolt (?), I'm not sure if it's original because it's hexagonal and not square. However: the amount of rust and erosion suggests that it is. I did some digging and was suprised how much it looks like a PW, even in detail. No markings to be found, so there is no way to be 100% sure. What also made me wonder is how many 'look-a-likes' that were made by other manufacturers. But who's complaining? Certainly not me!! *widegrin* (The 'nice' photo is taken from the ad itself) ps: and please forgive my 'dunglish'...

Well, after a lot of cleaning, wire brushing, electrolysis, more wire brushing and many hours of reading I am happy to declare the mystery solved! Not a Mousehole and not an Isaac Hill. It's an Attwood - Stourbridge! -The weight and makers markings are stamped on the correct sides: weight left, the rest on the right side. -There is also an inspector's mark on the front of the base, in the middle, under the horn. -part of the name ('OOD') is still visible, also part of the word 'warranted' ('ANTE'). Year of production estimated between 1830 and 1850 based on the bulging of the pritchel hole. So, there you have it. Not a mysterious 'Jane Doe' anymore. This beautifull lady now has a name AND a history! Only one thing left to do: build her a glass showcase... (just kidding)

Lol!! The answer to every question! I'll try the search on google, haven't read them all, aparently. And thanks for the heads up, I don't intend to be a spammer, haha!

Thank you Thomas. I feared it would be something like that. It's the main reason why I ask for 'new' pics... I'll post some of my own in a bit.

Don't worry about it. It's impossible to keep track on everything that's getting posted. There might be a way you could help me: as I was combing through here, I found a lot of posts on Attwoods. However, on most of them it was not possible to view the attatched foto's. "this item could not be found" or something similar like that. Any idea why that is the case? Or maybe you can give me some advice on how to reach as many ppl as possible with my question? Is it allowed to 'cut and paste' it in other topics? To spread the word, so to say... I'm looking for pics like this:

Good morning, Frosty. to answer your question: -it's the thrill of unraveling a mystery... -history (industrial revolution) is very facinating... -When I meet someone nice, first thing I ask is "What's your name and where are you from"... - I'm not the curious type, I just want to know EVERYTHING... -Knowing the answer is out there somewhere, not knowing it literally keeps me awake at night... It's like drugs and I'm the addict... -It's a beautifull and amazing anvil and now it's a beautifull and amazing anvil with a name and a background... -as I tried to explain before: I have autism... -Our local witch doctor is very pretty... I'd like to go on but then I'll be late for work... So, enough with the chit-chat: do you have the goods or not?!! (grin) ps: I'm considering building a glass showcase for her! nah, just kidding...

After the long and perilous journey of identifying one's anvil... -we've all been there: research, researching, more research, blood, sweat, the occasional tear, tons of ellbowgrease, even consulting the local witch doctor... and voodoo. Did I mention voodoo?- ...I am proud to say that I'm 99% sure my anvil is an Attwood from Stourbridge, England. To be 100% sure, I need (close up) pictures of the markings on other Attwood anvils to compare to the ones I found on mine. So, grab your phones, run to your Attwood and take those pics for me... please? :-) And if you know people who own an Attwood... or people who know people who... *wink* Thank you all, your help is greatly apreciated! Kindest regards, Michael.

Hi, Dax. That's a very good looking anvil! It looks to me that one pritchel is drilled and the other is driven... if that's correct she will be almost two centuries old. Have you tried wire brushing the markings on the sides? I took things even one step further by cleaning my anvil using electrolysis... which led to an 'almost' 100% positive identification! Almost because I'm still comparing foto's on the web with the markings on my own anvil.... There is loads of info on cleaning anvils out there but be gentle: to much 'cleaning' can do serious harm to the id-markings that withstood the test of time! Good luck and please share your findings with us!

Thank you, Neil. You're right, I'll absolutely enjoy using it. However: knowing her history and where she came from will make a big difference on the experience. To me it wil add to the magic, otherwise it will be 'just an anvil'... if you know what I mean.

Don't worry, I didn't grind anything. Just a soft wire brush on a powerdrill. Previous owner only polished the face and put some oil on the body. No sighns of welding either.

Now I'll stop spamming you with pic's, I promise! (unless you want more... -lol-)

Fijn dat ik niet de enige kaaskop ben, hier! lol! (nice to know I'm not the only 'cheesehead' here) Thanks for the welcome. It's good to have acces to such a vast amount of knowledge when it comes to blacksmithing and things that relate to it. The anvil still sings like a bell. Not a real rebound test but when I tapped her with a small hammer, she responded very 'lively'. The face and table are worn nicely, no damage whatsoever exept for a very small chip from the tables corner edge. It's obvious that she was well treated by her previous owners. I'm completely smitten by her so no, I don't care WHAT brand she is, just WHICH. However: it keeps me awake at night (no joke), wondering where she came from, how old she is, who made her... it's an autism-thinghy... hahaha! She must be very old because the pritchel hole was punched (by the looks of it), not drilled. This means, if my research is correct, that she was made in the first half of the 19th century. That, amongst other things, makes her so special to me and that's why I'm so eager to learn as much about this anvil as I possibly can! I don't know how to explain this more clearly but 'not knowing' or 'not being able to find the answes to my questions' drives me nuts! Autism sucks when it comes to things like this... haha. May Wayland hear my lamentations and pitty me...

Greetings, all. My name is Michael, I live in the Netherlands and I just started blacksmithing. Long story short: Last weekend I bought myself a 'real' anvil (330 pounds/150kg) since the one that I made out of a piece of railwaytrack is only good enough for making coffee spoons. Now, I was almost 100% sure this anvil is a Moushole. However: after cleaning it up and removing grease, paint and rust, there were only 2 markings on the entire anvil. A single '8' on the side of the body (or a '3' ?) and a partial capital 'E' on the front foot... No name, no weight, no date, nothing. Only a '8' (or 3?) and a 'E'. Somebody sugested it looks a lot like an 'Isaac Hill of Birmingham'... Your thoughts please? Thanks! Oh and the under side of the Pritchel hole is bulging outward... could that be a clou to it's age?