Bright Forge

Hello my friend, I’d like to thank you kindly for taking the time out of your day to share such valuable knowledge. I’m currently an apprentice smith/toolmaker working in Norway and I’ve just recently been blessed with the opportunity to become the steward of a stupendous 193kg S&H south German anvil with voramboss in near perfect condition, and as such I’ve got a couple questions I’m hoping you could help me out with. My first big quandary is about your choice of anvil stand. Though 193kg is far from being the largest anvil imaginable, it’s certainly hefty and begs the question of what system or material would do it the best justice and make the most of its weight? I see in your photo you’ve got a large section of log your anvil is place atop, but I’m wondering if wood becomes problematically light in respect to the anvil itself when getting into the 200kg range? I don’t want my anvil to be able to tip and rock or run around the forge floor. Matter of fact, I’d prefer it be near immovable aside from when necessary. Short of the cast iron bases and solid blocks of stone that I’ve seen in use around Germany, what would your recommendations and thoughts be on the matter? My second question is regarding chipping. As I mentioned I’ve been blessed to find a both beautiful and almost un-damaged anvil, however there is one small chip in the square horn and I’m just curious if you have any thoughts on what to do about it? I’ll kill before welding on my anvil and I won’t be grinding a single grain off of its beautiful hard surface but I’m curious if you do any dressing/softening of the edges that have been chipped? Maybe less so to make it an ideal work surface again but more to reduce sharp edges and the potential for more small chips to come out from that same location? (Thankfully the one instance of chipping in my anvil is shallow and on the square horn in a rather non-bothersome location) My last question for now is regarding surface finish. I see you stripped the paint from your anvil (wirebrush?) and returned it to its raw state as I’ve been planning to, and as such im wondering if you guys do anything to treat the surface of the anvil to prevent corrosion? I was going to just oil it all except for the face and call it a day (I don’t live by the coast or any other location that’s rough on iron) but if you have any recommendations I’d be grateful to hear them. Thank you again for your patience and for taking the time to read and respond, Mr. Bright

Maybe if you find some old grandma and convince her her husbands anvil is worthless but certainly not on Kleinanzeigen. especially not a 200kg S&H with a side shelf in almost perfect condition

Yes, that’s not a common price in Germany either, I happened to see it get posted. I saw the thumbnail photo and sent a message before I could even look at the actual photos or the price and thankfully got there first! Got lucky after months of checking notifications religiously.

Fantastic! I had a feeling it was S&H but I wasn’t sure. The price is beyond right… it’s almost crazy. 500 euros is what I’ve paid for it, god bless the German tool market. I’ll post some nice photos when I’ve got it to my shop.

She’s dang near my dream anvil if not exactly it. And for the price…. I almost feel bad just saying it

Hey, I understand. The second photo shows all the markings on the anvil. A date on the main body (1938) a weight (192 kg) and what I’m guessing is some type of serial number (J430) It is of course German but aside from that I’ve not seen any makers marks and I am too unfamiliar with the nuances of the early 20th century anvil designs to be able to figure out any more info about it. Any help to ID manufacturer would be incredibly appreciated. (it’s in Germany, I’m American but living in Europe)

I’m not really looking to have it appraised, more just find out what maker it came from. It has a series of markings denoting weight and year of manufacture and what appears to maybe be a serial number? I’m hoping somebody recognizes the shape and the marks and can ID it for me.

I’m looking to buy this anvil but I’d like to know a little more about it. Any chance you guys could help me ID it and tell me a little about the maker?