I grew up in closter nj 10 miles from the nys border way north of Holmdel 

Hello, just bought mine recently and had no chance to set it up properly. Anyone living nearby who sells oak stumps?

 Anyways, back to the anvil itself. It's a northern german one built by Söding & Halbach in 1909 and weighs 153kg (about 337 lbs). I paid 350€ for it. 

Wow, what a find!  Beautiful anvil.  Heck if you lived near me, I'd give you a stump base for that beauty.  I just recently cut down a 60' tall Oak tree and the resultant cuts from the main trunk were 20" in diameter.  I've given one away already, as well as kept one for myself, but can't find any other "takers".  Wish you were here, you could have one.  I'd be proud to see one of my bases under that anvil.

X-measure,

Oak makes a good anvil stand but other wood species work as well or better. For example, elm, sycamore,  honey and, also, black locust, mulberry, sugar maple.  etc. etc.  Pine and cotton wood are not very good.  Yes,  I know that some of these wood species are not to be found in continental Europe.  I suggest that you have a look at, www.blksmith.com/Anvl_base_preparation.htm

And also, How do you prepare a stump for an Anvil? - I Forge Iron https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/26496-how-do-you-prepare-a-stump-for-an-anvil/ And, https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/32610-anvil-stands-wood-vs-metal/ The answers to most of the questions,  that are posted, here, have already been answered elsewhere on this site. Use your favorite search engine,  (like google or whatever), and add  "I forge iron",  into the search string. That should turn up all manner of information.

The search feature,  on this site,  is not worth bothering with.

Hope that helps,

SLAG.

Wow, thank you! So I'm lucky to have made such a catch as my first anvil. I gathered that the previous owner got it 16 years ago from a bankrupt company and used it only once or twice. Taking the date and place into account, it might have been used during german metal industry that took place in the rhineland before the 1st world war.

 

But buying it was a awesome trip as well. We used an old car and but it in the rear (guess what effect that extra weight had on the suspension). Before driving home, we went on a survival trip in the Teutoburger forest, marched through the Senne Military Grounds, it was a blast! 

 

Is there anything you can tell me about the function of the depression on left of the roundhorn? And what measures should I take to restore the original colour of the anvil? I intend to use a simple wire brush to get rid of the rust.

Thanks for the great advice, SLAG. I'm going to take a look at the threads you provided. 

The reason I chose Oak is because it's quite abundant where i live. 

 

See ya! 

Teuteberg Forest.  Isn't that where Armentius and his Teutonic  crowd wiped out three Roman legions,  in 0010  A. D. ? (I.I.R.C.,  the 17'th., 18th.,  and 19'th.).

It effectively stopped Roman  extension east of the Rhine river.

You guys are soaked in thousands of years of history.

Drool,

SLAG.

That is correct. Germanic tribes under Arminius annihilatesld one eighth of the entire roman army and pushed them back over the Rhine. It marked the decline of the Roman Empire.

I'm very proud of my past

The slot in your anvil's face is a dovetail to receive specialty bottom tools typically for a trade requiring repeated operations. Suppose you were making wood gouges in different sizes and needed different sized half round swages Or do a lot of additional forging and grinding to get them right. With this anvil you could have all your swages exactly the right size and change them with a tap of a hammer for the next size. Make sense?

IIRC there's a video showing a knife maker using an anvil with dovetail bottom tools. Maybe someone here has it bookmarked and can link us.

Don't do any forging on the dovetail, it's not intended to be hammered on directly and damaging the dovetail could make it unusable. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Hello all. New around here, but have been diligently reading through a lot of great material.

Here's my first real anvil, bought from my Dad's cousin, before and after clean up with a wire brush. Seen a lot of use to this point in its life, I think. I may end up doing something to the chipped area in the future, but per the "mistakes to avoid" guide, I'll let it be for the recommended year before making any decisions. It's worked well for a few projects so far.  Any opinions on some light grinding to get rid of the dings on the face, or same deal there?

Glad to be part of the forum and looking forward to learning as much as possible.

Don't bother messing with the dings.  Hammering hot steel on it will shine that table up just fine.  Just refrain from doing anything to your anvil.  If it has damage, it has damage.  Work around it...............it's not the end of the world.  Just remember, there are people around the world who hammer their steel on rocks!

Looks good to me. I've hammered on a lot worse, and the work came out pretty decent despite the flaws. I wouldn't touch it personally. Use it and I bet you'll be just fine.

No plans to touch it as yet. My one worry is a couple of deep gouges in the face that might mar work in the future, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'm pretty happy with the acquisition thus far.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Pretty good looking 119 pound Peter? Wright in the pictures. The edge damage is common and the sway can work to your advantage when straightening stock. I don't see any deep gouges in the fact to worry about.

BTW Welcome to IFI...

Thanks very much for the welcome.

Its very difficult to see in the pictures I have, but yes, it's a Peter, not a Henry.  From what my dad's cousin (my second cousin?) was saying, it's been on the family farm since his great grandfather's time at least. I'm glad to have given it a new home and some work. Just wish he would have sold me the 16 x 16 swage block he has as well.

My old anvil didn't have any clean edges except one spot about an inch wide! Needless to say that little place was very shiny. I got so used to it, that I keep having to remind myself I'm not limited like that anymore. You'll learn where the best spots for what operation are as you go. Happy hammering

Last month I picked up a colonial anvil I’d stepped over for three years at an Amish Junk-tique shop.

after ordering the Anvils in America book and reading his section on colonial anvils , especially the Alsop anvil ftom Sheffield England I realized I’d been stepping over a very old anvil.

Having an anvil circa 1790 is something I didn’t want to pass up.

It turned out to be a 145lbs Alsop.

The Amish guy had $475 on it , I left an offer of $390 with the shop owner and after 5 days I received a call that the Anvils owner had accepted my offer.

I have no need of another anvil so it kinda freed me up to buy this Old Man & bring him home.

 

 

 

Very nice Grumpy. Good find.  It needed a good home. Interestingly, I have a friend who's a biker and his name is Grumpy also. Everytime I see you post, I think of him. He's wanting to learn smithing too. He's looking to get one of those church window anvils

I certainly didn’t ask for that name but in a club, you’re given your name.

No longer a patch holder but the name has stuck. So I just go with it. But yeah it’s a fairly common name.

My friend is a BACA patch holder, but I don't think he's affiliated with any other club anymore. Heckuva good guy. More a brother than just a friend. 

Have you worked on your new anvil yet? I'd be proud to own it 

Hello folks

I'd appreciate any feedback you might share, please. I've found this British anvil some hours drive away which is available for USD $360-00 from a private seller.

He's only provided me with these two photos and says it's 3/4 ton stamped, but weighs 75 kilograms????

Is it worth it ? My limited knowledge say Yes.

Thanks in advance.

Pete

As long as the ring & rebound are good, I would say it's worth it at $2.18 U.S. per pound.

Looks like the edges might have been repaired, which could be a problem if it wasn’t done well. Otherwise, it looks nice; probably a John Brooks cast steel. 

I can’t read the number, but “CWT” stands for hundredweight, which is 112 lbs. Brooks anvils usually have hundredweight on one side and kilograms on the other. 

Thank you IF&C and JHCC.

I was wondering how an old anvil could be so 'crisp' along the edges. Hmmm...somewhat cautious now.

Let's see what transpires.

 

I have this small anvil that I got when I was working at a scrapjard (second one is on its way) I had to pay them in cookies. I don't know anything about the brand but I love it.

 

Sorry about the English it's not my first language so there are probably a lot of mistakes 

 

Bas

You have a German anvil. The SH stands for Soding Halbach. They made high quality forged anvils. . I like how clear the markings are . Nice anvil

David