Thanks for the excellent suggestions folks.

Taking another glance I can see that the picture isn't obvious that the round middle is the same width as the top, so adding plates to the side would probably not work very well. But I am planning to fill there both along the top and base plates. I have a couple hundred pounds of old stick welding rod that has been sitting for 20 years so was going to use up some of that, but for efficiency I'll probably weld in some appropriately sized bar stock that will help fill it in as I go too. It should end up either just slightly scalloped or approaching flush with the top when I'm done.

I was planning to do this anyway, but from your comments & explanations, I understand now how that is more a "have to do" than just a somewhat helpful and aesthetic improvement. I understand better now why I felt the RR track piece I was beating on felt inadequate. It wasn't all due to the mass I guess.

Though it doesn't look like much in the photo, there are about 6 passes on each side between the top and middle already, so I will opt not to cut the top off but will instead add a layer of a better material someday. Other than the filling, I'm going to simply use it for a while first though. One thing about it being mild steel is if I dork the dickens out of the top (which should take me a fair bit of time to do anyway) I can just easily mill it flat again for another round of abuse.

BTW, I'm in Kansas City

Nice anvil can’t wait to see your work! 

I love to show off my anvils - here's my John Brooks anvil. It's my second anvil - wanted another because my brothers are involved too, and having one anvil sucks!

It was a shot in the dark - 350GBP for 50kg but they did me a deal on a post vice. The face was quite course with rust, but that went with some use. I found even running my hammer over the face would leave a reddish trace of the rust, so I did it over an evening and noticed a massive improvement. Simples!

I did a rebound test when it got here, and was a bit disappointed - after putting in the offer I read the warnings about shop fires.. but sure look. It might be 30% or so. I keep meaning to test my new peddinghaus, thinking maybe I can blame the ball bearing! All that said, it works well enough for us.

The chips are pretty bad on one side, but no one has ground radii into it before. I've heard cast steel JB anvils are notorious for it.. I'll make the cracks large radii.

All this said, I'm still chuffed! I use the JB anvil at home as it's 25kg lighter, and it gets moved around a lot

I would suspect the ball first. It needs to be a hardened steel ball bearing. 

My ball bearing gets about 50% or more on my mild steel improvised anvil. 

It looks to me that it sat out in the weather hence the face pitting.  That might lower the rebound as well

Either way, nice anvil - have fun!

Any layer or anything between the face of the anvil and the ball bearing will skew the results. 

It needs to be clean shiny metal to get decent results.  

this means no rust or oil or wood dust or even regular dust.. 

the paint looks original as does the face..  I think once it is cleaned you wil find the results to be very good. 

Brooks makes a very good anvil. 

On 10/27/2021 at 9:26 AM, Rojo Pedro said:

I would suspect the ball first. It needs to be a hardened steel ball bearing. 

My ball bearing gets about 50% or more on my mild steel improvised anvil. 

Oh great! I'll look for something that mentions hardened steel. That's a great result - I'll stay positive

The pitting was much worse at the start, almost felt lumpy.. but with use it's getting better and better.

Thanks Rojo!

 

On 10/27/2021 at 9:31 AM, jlpservicesinc said:

Any layer or anything between the face of the anvil and the ball bearing will skew the results. 

It needs to be clean shiny metal to get decent results.  this means no rust or oil or wood dust or even regular dust.. 

Thanks for this information - I didn't quite appreciate how clean it needs to be!

The light blue looks spot on, after seeing one recently! There's tinges of red and dark blue I'm less sure about

Hello,

I'd like to add to the anvil parade, although I only have a few suitable pictures at the moment. Anyway, here are some of my anvils:

My first one - on the evening I got it and had not yet discovered the wonders of a wire brush for the angle grinder - estimated around 150kg (scale goes up to 130):

 

And its slightly lighter but horned relative:

 

Around the same weight: A french pattern forged anvil, no idea about the maker, it only has a "5" stamped into the side. I suspect it to be of German manufacture though, as the french models usually carry such a load of serial numbers, brand names etc.

 

A little smaller, a 97kg Söding&Halbach anvil, with a south-german pattern horn, but middle-german pattern breast and upsetting block:

 

And for now we're moving way down on the weight scale, with a bick iron, marked "CS # 10,5":

 

And for today we'll finish with a small model, around 15kg, no idea how old it is, has some hollows for rivet making and some kind of markings on the side:

There are some more, but I don't have pictures that are worth showing. I'm planning on documenting every anvil in much more detailed pictures and share them here, once I got to it. Probably will take a while... Right now I just hope I got it right with the gallery function.

Cheers!
Julian

JulianB, That is an awesome anvil family.

Beautiful collection of anvils and associated hammer ware.. 

JulianB that's impressive. That stake anvil is great.  Here are mine. 

I’m really lucky to be living in such an anvil rich area, otherwise such a collection would be impossible for me. It is glorious in comparison with the availability and pricing of such anvils in the US.
 

M3F, those are some nice anvils, too! The London pattern isn‘t as abundant around here, but I‘m getting ever more intrigued, the longer I‘m looking around on this forums!

And folks around here go wild over the european anvils.  Humans; what can you say about them!

Well, the European ones are nicer, so that's justified!

De gustibus non est disputandum;  I rather like the Italian style anvils reproduced over here by NIMBA.

Hi Everyone,

While on a business trip to the North East, I purchased the attached Anvil at the Elephant Flea Market in New Milford Connecticut.  I got it to my East Tennessee home with some help from my friends.

I don't know much about it.  My dad is 85 and when it looked at it he said that it was really old. 

There are a few markings on it. On the foot, I see four marks together with two marks to the side of them.  One side of the anvil appears to have a couple of horizonal lines and some marks which I read on the internet might be test marks

Measurements are 25 1/2" tip to tip of which the top flat section is 15 1/2" and horn is 10".  The base is 11" X 9 1/2".  It is 10"  tall.

I did the one inch ball bearing drop and it averaged between 75% to 85% bounce from twelve inches.  My measurements were not quite technically so the numbers could be skewed.

Any idea who manufactured it and what the weight might be.  I am guessing that the weight might be around 125 to 150.

Long term I would like to learn to learn to make knives.

Any help would be appreciated.

Richie B.

If you take a wire wheel to remove the many layers of paint, some marks may show up. Please don't do any grinding, milling or welding on the hardened face, hammering hot steel on it will shine it up. It looks to be in very good condition.

We won't remember your location once leaving this post, hence the suggestion to put it in your profile.

Are those flats on the top of the feet?  If so I'd go with Peter Wright and not that old---anvils don't get to be "old" until around 200 years and that one is probably 100 to 150 years old.

Instead of guessing why don't you put it on a bathroom scale?

If it is a PW then the weight stamp will be in the CWT system and the numbers spaced at the waist under the logo.  They are often stamped in more and so last longer.  Check them out and see if they are CWT (Compare to the weighed weight.)

Should be fine for bladesmithing.

Thanks for the feedback.  

Not sure about the flats on the top of the feet.

Will put it on the bathroom scale and verify the weigh.

This is my 1st anvil so i am still learning.

My uncle has the old family anvil.  It has the horn broken off of it.  My high school history teacher said that during the civil war the horns were broken off by union troops.  This kept the locals from shoeing horses and mules.  

Thanks again.

A good story, no less so for not being true. 

My anvil, as received:

After electrolysis:

Shagbark Hickory stump, on left:

Mounted:

Hammer rack:

And tong rack plus misc. tools basket on the front:

Thanks for looking!

Ive got an old 200 year old, about 115lb Peter Wright made in England. Its in decent shape. I bought it from the man who turned me from a knifemaker into a bladesmith.

Alaskan bladesmith..   I love the way you phrased it..  Funny how that works. 

We know the history of the "troops broke the horn off" urban myth.  As you don't need a horn to make horse shoes it would be a waste of time and energy breaking them off. Taking them out in a boat and dropping them in a lake or river would have been a more effective method of removing them from use!

The reality was that during reconstruction; folks often were so poor in the south that if your anvil's horn broke off---as they are sometimes known to do as they were forge welded on in those times---a smith may not have been able to pay for a new anvil or a major repair and re-heatreat and continued to use the old one hornless.

I have an anvil I was given when the horn was broken off in a Fine Arts Metals' class in the last 10 years.  I found a free replacement and the instructor gave me the broken one for my small collection of abused anvils.

Peter Wright, 95 pound, and my first “real” anvil. 

Repurposed my old rail anvil stand. Routed out and set in black silicone. Wiped everything down with ATF. 

Someone got carried away with a torch at some point, but from what I have gathered here, it’s probably not the end of the world if I use my brain. 

I’ll give it a go in a day or two and decide if any additional strapping/gorilla glue/chains/alien tape/snake oil, etc. is required for stability.