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Show me your anvil


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Thanks guys, I got it home today and I could take some closer pictures

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Was it painted red some time in it's life or just got splashed with some paint I wonder.

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Lengthwise it's not flat

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Crowned across the side here

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But in others it's dished.

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Difficult to read the year or anything else really but I don't think it's from the 19th century. I think it reads 191? instead.

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It was pretty rusty so I rubbed it down with some boiled linseed oil. I am not sure if I should put it in the electrolysis bath or not, or just leave it as is.

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Wow, look how narrow that is..  Awesome..   That is a true Swedish anvil.    I'd love to find one like this myself in the 400lbs range.. 

I never see Swedish anvils come up for sale.    The narrow face is what I am into and with hardware is a huge advantage. 
congrats for sure. 

 

how big is the hardie hole? 

 

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JLP; you would have loved the 198# Hay Budden swell horn farrier's anvil I once owned.  The face was 2.5" wide as I recall; great for ornamental work with the swell horn and long heel; but not what I was into back then; so I traded it off at a loss for a different anvil. (That I still have.)

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On 7/30/2020 at 11:03 AM, jlpservicesinc said:

how big is the hardie hole? 

The hardie hole seems to be almost exactly 1 inch, a little bit bigger but not a lot, like 25.5mm

On 7/30/2020 at 11:00 AM, ThomasPowers said:

Relatively narrow face and edge damage on both edges in places---was it used for horse shoeing at some time?   Swales/dips don't usually bother me especially if there is still part of the face that isn't.

Guy I bought it from had a home shop and did smithing but he didn't know what it had been used for before. He had a very similar replacement anvil, same size but finnish make called lokomo and perhaps a little larger, but same narrow design with two horns.

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I was wondering if the experts on this forum could tell me if my anvil is a cast steel anvil or a wrought iron one with laminated top? I am not sure if an anvil with a laminated steel top would have a visible seam, this one doesn't. The markings are depressed rather than raised, on the bottom of the anvil there is a seam in the middle, I wonder if this indicates it's been drop forged.

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Sodefers were cast anvils.

(Note that some makers dressed the weld seams very well making it difficult to tell; others didn't bother.  I have an Arm and Hammer that I use to show people how thin the faceplate can be as it shows the welding seam quite clearly compared to some of my other brand anvils.)

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Really, all cast? I mean i can see this one being a cast anvil as I cannot see a weld seam at all for the top steel layer at all, it looks single piece. 

But I thought Söderfors starting making anvils back in the 18th century and I thought the teconology for making a cast steel anvil wasn't available until some time in the 20th century, I figured my anvil was probably made around when that became feasible. But anyway I figured there would be all kinds of Söderfors anvils about made with different techniques through the centuries of production. 

 

I knocked off the burrs on the horns last night with a flap disc,  I put a file on the top surface and drawfiled it, since its hard it did not cut, but it cut the black grime surface and gave me a visual impression of the surface, definitely dished most of it's surface. I am not sure if the anvil needs any work despite that, I hope not, but most of the working area is concave, there is a little area near the hardy hole, as long as the anvil is wide that is still flat or a little convex. 

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Soderfors has been casting steel at least since the 18th century it's what they do. Anvils were just a sideline I wish they'd take up again. I have a 125lb. Sorceress #5 and it's the best anvil I've ever used. Just very VERY loud.

Great score, you're going to love that beauty. 

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thank you sir. I will say the anvil is way awesome - around 95% rebound. I mostly make axes and whittling knives right now.  Got back on the site to see the best way to build a stand for the new anvil. There is so much excellent insight around here. 

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It's a beauty all right!   

When they get to that size the stand makes a lesser contribution to the inertia of the system; but it perhaps more important to the "don't let it fall over during heavy sledging" part of the equation.

I remember that my 469# Fisher originally wasn't fastened down until one day we were doing some heavy work on it and I noticed that it started to creep.  I installed some fence staples to corral it  "U"  shaped along the sides and that's worked fine.

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16 hours ago, BsnNFrnt said:

My first post, been lurking on and off since 2008. I Was able to procure my dream anvil, 320 kilo Krageloh~1935. 

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you might discover how many  members live within visiting distance. Is there something less awkward than BsnNFrnt we may address you by?

That's a beautiful anvil, 95% puts it in the same category with Soderfors and that's a beast. I've never heard of the maker so in my searching I didn't find out anything about that make but discovered the Anvils Planet, pages and pages of anvil envy eye candy. 

I can't see your stand from the pic, how do you have it mounted?

Frosty The Lucky.

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Thank you guys. Western fringes of  the Permian Basin Is the home base. Tyler. - BsnNFrnt is the homage to the haircut. 
The stand is stacked oak 4x6 crib boards cases on 4 sides with plywood. I have 12” spikes hammered in with chain over the feet. I will get the makers mark pic on the post at some time. As far as Krageloh goes I did not find anything either - it’s definitely hand forged. Near as I can tell the top plate is over an inch thick in places. 
The current stand has already handled  some pretty serious 16 lb. strikes making a 15lb. hardie anvil, but the steel stand will be way better. 

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Given a name like BsnNFrnt various Acronyms and abbreviations tend to pop up in my mind---especially on a Friday.  Unfortunately  the Mods would be most immoderate if I were to post any of them.   

Lovely anvil; do you know anything about how it got out to this neck of the desert?

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I purchased the anvil from a blacksmith tooling specialist who gets them shipped over from Europe. I need to contact him before (and read the advertising guidelines) I give his name out. I can only imagine the full journey this thing has had considering the state of Europe in 1935. 

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The general rule is:

1. Vendors’ names are okay.

2. Vendors’ contact information is not okay, but you can offer to give it to anyone who sends you a private message.

3. Direct links to vendors’ websites are NOT okay. 

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It was Terry Estes. I have known him three or four years Super dude for those who have not met him.  Feel free to shoot me some pics Of the anvil or stand, it is arduous at best to peel through all the old pages if you had it on here.  I have all the steel just waiting on cooler weather to tackle an all day welding project. 
JHCC thank you for the guidance I make enough new guy mistakes people don’t see. 
 

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C6EF232C-D9C0-4243-923C-C06653526928.jpeg.aee4537333bd36342c1f0a6ba853908d.jpeg40C13AD9-2872-453B-BAF4-00C1018017CD.jpeg.c87f051b38708ae2089612081429d9e8.jpegHere's my anvil. I Think it had a hard life. I paid 75 dollars for it, which may be the only nice thing about it. I think it will work.  But I don't believe it has any steel on the face. It seems to be solid cast iron (i gather that's bad news). A file makes lots of black powder in short order.  So maybe a Fisher copy, if ever a thing like that existed.  100 pounds

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I'd say go ahead and use it as best you can and keep looking for something that would suit you better.  From the weld seam around the waist, I wonder if it's all cast iron.....maybe someone here on the forum will chime in if they know more about it.

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