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Does that make this better than a Trenton?? If the ring determines the quality of an anvil, then RR track must be the best anvils around!! :P

"an anvil doesn't have to look like a "London Pattern" to be a serviceable anvil";I know about the frustration of not finding it.. Persevere, improvise adapt and overcome. Your anvil will find you! :)


Your right the ring has nothing to do with it being a servicable anvil, as youmight already be aware my anvil is a RR coupler. it works great! while I know full well a "london pattern" anvil is not a requirement to have a servicable anvil, I want one. until I get one I have a great anvil in my RR coupler.

as for the ring, I was just curious how well it rings, being a good size chuck of steel. of course the ring has nothing to do with the quality of an anvil, atleast not by itself, there are many other factors involved, like composition, damage, chains, ect ect.

nice anvil, and I could still use one of those. :D
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Dodge

I saw your first postings for that anvil - great that you have finally finished it. Mild steel or not you should be very proud of what you have accomplished. Few of us could replicate an anvil that has the lines your build up has. Your work reflects your imagination, patience and skill. Thanks for the update! It makes me eager to get to welding on my fork lift tine anvil.

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I have learned something though; a good ring does not make the anvil. My Trenton doesn't ring as much as this anvil. Does that make this better than a Trenton?? If the ring determines the quality of an anvil, then RR track must be the best anvils around!! :P



That must be a LOUD anvil because I call my Trenton a churchbell! I have it strapped down, wrapped in chain, and I still wear earplugs because it is too loud!

I am looking for some magnets to put under the heel and horn...

Phil
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Ringing: the "american" variation of the london pattern anvil seemed to go for the ring elongating the horn and heel and getting the "tuning fork effect". This was not as good a design for heavy forging as say the old mousehole design where most of the face was backed by metal all the way to the base of the anvil.

I love my massive Fisher; so quiet and well behaved; but I will admit that for demo's a "ringing" anvil draws the people in from afar!

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Found this one the other day, billed as between 120-140 lb Fisher for $250. I bargained him down to $200 based on the chipped edges I was planning on doctoring.

Just this morning I noticed a 161 faintly etched into the side toward the top so hauled out my scale. Indeed... it rings in at 162 on my balance scales. A little damaged, but not a bad deal I think.

anvil_side.jpg

anvil_top.jpg

anvil_horn.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

In the spirit of blacksmithing, 'er, leastwise just being a tinker w/ lots of junk laying around to entertain myself with...


...my anvill :blink:
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Made from a elevator counterweight, a chunk of red iron I beam, and an old splitting maul head


The jumper cable clamp helps with the ring

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It's a Great Sunday ... about 9:30 AM BIGGUNDOCTOR stopped by to "drop something off". He had let me know he was going to be in town and wanted to know if I was going to be home ... once he got here he took me out to his car and there laying under a blanket was an anvil still attached to a rotting stand. He said,"until you find an anvil, I've got six and thought I'd loan this to you."... :D

The photos will tell about the anvil, 150#, no markings, some scratching and denting on the face/horn/cutting plate, small chips at some edges, clean hardy hole and a filled pritchell. Oh, and some green paint residue and like I said, the base is rotting away. Walt says his Dad bought it from a school in Cali a long time ago. It has a school department tag attached between the rear feet. He believes it may be a Vulcan, but no logos are visible on it. It has a really thin plate on the face ... does have a "15" cast on the front between the feet.

When I started to be interested in blacksmithing I, like many of you, looked around on the internet for a while and found IFI. Held my breath and ventured in and asked questions,took some kidding at some of them too and found many friends. Publicly and privately I have had wonderful support. And I have been the recipient of several acts of kindness this being one of them. No words can express what I feel, but I am sure many of you too have been treated well ... so I'll make another stand and clean the face and top of the horn just a bit and find someway to pay it forward. Enjoy the photos of BIGGUNDOCTOR's loaner anvil ... Thanks Walt!! :D

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Thomas - since it is a loaner I will be gentle with all of the anvil ... as you said casting holes in horn ... both of'em about 1/8" in diameter ... not too deep. I looked at entry 110 on this thread and the anvil there looks like the sister of this one. It's a Southern Crescent ... if looks mean anything they are the same.

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As I mentioned earlier BIGGUNDOCTOR loaned me an anvil. Photos here of some clean up I did to it: replaced stand using 5/8" plywood, reused existing straps, lightly polished face and horn, broke sharp edges on face, radiused two two edges about 2.5" long, and redrilled the pritchel where students (it's a former school anvil)had filled it with aluminum. And one photo of it in my little smithy. Tried to keep it as unchanged as possible - talked with Walt the day he dropped this off before starting any work. It has great rebound with virtually no ring ... the steel face is about 3/16" thick. It may be a Vulcan - whatever had been any markings are long gone.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just picked up this roadrunner smasher today. It's a 450 pound Peter Wright.

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For size perspective, here it is with a 100 pound Peter Wright, 128 pound Peter Wright, and 68 pound Norrisez.
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It has a few torch nicks and dings. I am considering touching up the torch marks using the advise in the recent thread regarding that repair. Since it has a fairly thick face plate, I might hit it with a flap disc to smooth out some of the minor marks.

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lol@"roadrunner smasher". That is a nice anvil, my friend. Enjoy! Some of the best anvils I have ever had were peter wrights. Those "dinks" aren't too severe.


Thanks Stewart. I only paid $1/pound + shipping (halfway across Canada) which works out to about $1.75/pound. It used to be in a back line rail line repair shop in rural Ontario. When they shut the shop down, it got sent to the station, intended for 'salvage' (I would imagine it would have been scrapped). The fellow I bought it from was working for the rail company at the time, and he took it home instead of having it scrapped. He is a carpenter, so it sat unused on his patio for about 30 years. He recently decided to downsize and so he sold it.

Arranging for a freight company to do a residential pickup for an item over 150 pounds is challenging. They need trucks that are capable of navigating tight streets and need hydraulic lift gates. It took a LOT of calling to find a company that would do this for me as the seller did not have any equipment to move it himself. It was a lot of trouble, but I have not seen any other anvils this large available where I live, especially for the cost.
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  • 10 months later...

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