TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 That’s really interesting jlpserviceinc! I asked the guy I bought it from what the history was and he told me he had it gave to him somewhere down in Texas in the early 90s and he never used it, and that the guy that gave it to him was moving and didn’t want to fool with it. But that guy had never used it either and had inherited it from a older family member. So I didn’t really get much of a background story other than he’s used it as a porch decoration for a couple decades. And the guy before him used it as a decoration for a couple of decades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 Oil field use? Mine shaft use.. Old fashioned flat drills for stone were all the rage before star bits came out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 Thank you agin jlp, that gives me an idea of what it was used for. I’m just glad they left most of it In good condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 By 1910 star drills were industry standard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 Thomas, do you think it was used for another purpose then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 Yes; since we don't really know how it was used or even where it could be a large number of things as well as just "general smithing". The wear on that front corner of the face might be the best clue; but I've not seen similar wear before. I recently sold a 248# (stamped) PW that had bad edge damage on the "off side". It came from the Colorado mining area and I assumed it was due to sledge hammer use by strikers that were perhaps not recovered from their weekends... Small anvils, (100# minus) with double sided edge wear may have been used as shoeing anvils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 I wish I had more info to share with y’all, but I guess it doesn’t change the function, it’s just fun to know a little history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 7 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: Yes; since we don't really know how it was used or even where it could be a large number of things as well as just "general smithing". The wear on that front corner of the face might be the best clue; but I've not seen similar wear before. I have seen this type of wear as pointed out before.. Exactly in those spots.. but, hey.. what ever.. Thomas they were still using flat drill bit here way past your date.. In fact I still know some rock jockeys who still use flat drills for certain work.. But, hey, what ever.. could have been a knife makers.. LOL.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 I don’t know as much as y’all do about the history of the wear marks, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to find more info for y’all on its last owner that actually used it. but what I can say is when I used it last night to make a hot dog fork it worked awesome! It’s got a louder ring than my other anvils and it’s rebound is perfect! It’s just a little ugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 It's all good. I was just being a stinker.. Those spots will come in mighty handy.. New sharp edges are not all they are cut out to be. Having some tapers and radius built in comes in plenty handy.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Thanks jlpservicesinc, I would like if it had at least one section of a sharp edge, but I figured I could make a hardy that would give me that option when I need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Could be the type of rocks being drilled and drilling vs "quarrying". (I don't see much granite locally, but limestone, sandstone, basalt, rhyolite and perlite abound. They also were drilling for ore mining, so explosives rather than for quarrying for building stone.) Oklahoma tends toward "soft rock" as I recall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 It depends on we’re your at, right by me it’s mostly churt and sharp flint rocks but up the road 5 minutes north of me it’s some kind of sentiment rock full of fossilized sea critters, but down south of me there’s lots of sandstone, and there’s a little town south west of me about 30 minutes called marble city and it’s of course a massive deposit of marble that’s been mined outta there since 1895 and the quarry is still in operation today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Yup all soft except for the flint/chert. Any chance that anvil was involved with the marble quarries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 I don’t believe so because the guy got it in Texas back in the early 90s, here’s a picture of some small rock from baron fork Creek up the road from me, I don’t know what kinda rock it is but there’s tons of this stuff up there, sometimes you can find a big one that’s got a complete coral in it. Well I guess it’s coral anyways you can find all kinds of different fossils there. There’s a cliff that’s named button bluff that’s made up entirely of this stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Crinoidal Limestone; I had a bad episode on a campout in Indiana where someone used it for a fire ring and it exploded. A piece punctured my brand new air mattress and I ended up sleeping on the ground. The rounds are pieces of crinoid stems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Thanks for the info, now I can get funny looks when I tell everyone here locally that button bluff is actually crinoid bluff lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 Twisted...this is what crinoids looked like (there are actually still some living species). They were anchored to the seafloor with appendages like roots. The disks you see in the rocks are "columnals", that are similar to vertebrae in humans, which broke apart when the critter died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 Thanks arkie! That’s kinda what the big ones in the rocks look like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 Although fossil crinoids look a lot like plants, they are actually animals. They are echinoderms which are related to starfish and sea urchins. They all have a 5-fold symmetry. Some of the modern crinoids are not fixed ("sessile") but can swim around. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Presson Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 Here is my anvil. 123lb. Armitage Mouse Hole, I think around 1820-1835 from what research I have done. I'm happy with the little guy. I am just really starting out so still don't know what I dont know. JP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 That’s A Very nice anvil Justin! How is the rebound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeJustice Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 That's a nice job you did on the stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 Can you tell if the pritchel hole was originally punched or drilled as a retrofit? Is your dating done by comparing the logo and the dates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shivarat Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 First post here, not sure if this is the correct place. Can you help me identify what year/make/manufacturer my anvil is? Got it from my Grandfather's barn in the 80's and am finally getting set to use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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