February 4, 201115 yr When I was first starting out in blacksmithing and beating on a anvil shaped chunk of RR track, I had the fortune of meeting Jr Strasil aka Irnsrgn. Not only did he teach me some valuable skills of basic forging, but allowed me the use of an anvil, a 151# Trenton, until I could find a suitable replacement for my RR track anvil. I used the Trenton for a couple years before I made the cnc flame cut plate anvil (posted earlier in this thread) all the while asking if I could just buy it from Jr. The answer was always "no". Well to make a long story short, he finally offered me the privilege of owning the anvil, but only if I put it on its original (for Jr) stand. He made the stand from, IIRC, a milking machine and a piece of pipe with a base plate weled to the top. There is a piece of plywood between the anvil base and mounting plate that does a very good job of eliminating a lot of its ring. The base of this stand is cast and and has bee well use over its long life. One might think that the legs would be fragile but they apear to be holding up well (no pun intended). One more for closer review:
February 4, 201115 yr heres the latest addition to the stable dont think shes a spring chicken, but has lovely rebound and character!
February 6, 201115 yr Boy Howdy! Now I don't know a thing about anvils to speak of, but I think I can say without being to far wrong that this anvil is really old.
February 6, 201115 yr yeah gotta be a couple or three hundred years old! (doesnt stop her getting used though _
February 6, 201115 yr OHH boy where did you dig that up from John its soo lovely how big is it? does it have a steel face ?
February 7, 201115 yr Hey Dan, I got the lil old dear off ebay, about £30 directly on my route home from work so had to buy her! guessing about 3/4 cwt or so. I had to strip about 15 layers of paint off, she lives in the corner of my coke forge now (away from the fire a bit though), for the occasions when you have got to be really fast for a forge weld (consolodating medieval horse shoe scrap into workable iron etc) The face is steel, sparked up pretty high carbon with an angle grinder ( I took a couple of mm off as the poor little thing had been used as a cutting table ) Hope the workshop is getting a bit closer to completion!
February 7, 201115 yr The First one we think is a Trenton, not sure of the weight though it has several cosmetic issues but still works well, the second is my Saw Filers anvil it is roughly 355 lbs.
February 7, 201115 yr I'd call that a saw tuner's anvil as they were not used for filing but to get the proper "dish" to the saw blade to have it run true when up to full speed. BTAIM they make a lovely early style anvil very close to what Japanese Swordmakers use to this day for traditional work.
February 9, 201115 yr Ok, I've been dreading the "posing" and uploading but I finally did it. In order of size, my 3 anvils are a 70# NC farrier's anvil. The next largest is a 112# Fisher from 1914. It's my favorite and my "Go To" anvil. Last but not least is an unknown make anvil. Some say it's an early English anvil and others think it's a Mousehole. It's been repaired in the past and there was a chunk missing off the face of the heel when I bought it. I since then have hardfaced it with hardalloy 118 on the face after repairing the missing piece. I don't think it originally had a pritchel hole but there was a hole already there. It was either the pritchel hole or a previous repair attempt. The reason I think this is because there are studs on the bottom of the heel going into the anvil. Previous repair attempt ??? IDK The unique thing about this anvil though is it doesn't have a table. Just a large 5"x12-1/2" face. Oh, almost forgot, it's got the hundredweight markings on it. 1-2-10 = 178# I think since the repair it may be 180# now. Joe
February 12, 201115 yr This is my anvil for now, its home-made and it works. 3" thick AR400 top plate over mild steel. Saving for an new(er) one or just a real one.
February 13, 201115 yr Still Learnin, your old one looks a lot like mine which I think to be a Mousehole also. Particularly the weight numbers, no logo. Mine also has what looks like some repair work at the end of the table, and a very thin table to boot and it does what it's supposed to do just fine!
February 13, 201115 yr Heres mine, I have no idea what kind it is, but its big and sings like a bell. I love it. It took a lot of work to get it looking like it does, but it was worth every effort.
February 14, 201115 yr Bmazingo : I think its cool as heck, umm the way you photographed it makes it look HUGE
February 14, 201115 yr Here are mine, took quite a while to find them but well worth the time as I use all 3 on a regular basis, 404 lb Peter Wright, 179 lb Peter Wright & 128 lb Hay Budden.
March 6, 201115 yr Here is a pic of my "main" anvil, a 129kg Kohlswa. Also a pic of my other anvil sitting out by my coal forge. It is a 109kg(don't know the make)I got from one of my customers. After some face work, it is very good.
March 6, 201115 yr hej where do you buy the big steel wire brushes like the one laying on the anvil stand in your first pic? i have been looking every where but cant find them any where here in Denmark nice looking anvils as well the Kohlswa's are good anvils just mind the edges they are a bit chippy if not dressed IMO cheers.
March 6, 201115 yr Jessen's i Kolding,også Bergers smedie på Fyn: http://www.bergers-smedie.dk/ Snakke med Søren. I found the second anvil i Brørup, was sitting in the corner, paid 2,000 dkr for it. Yes I have dressed the edges of the Kohlswa, so not too much problems.
March 7, 201115 yr 1st pic. 237lb. unidentified English anvil,triangle on front left foot, next to 150 lb. Trenton (sold to pay for other). 2nd 89 lb. Peter Wright used for demos. 30 lb. I.I.B. Co. (Illinois Iron and Bolt co., also made Vulcans) 90 lb. Vulcan
March 7, 201115 yr That kohlswa is a beauty, i like your stands as well. Thanks. I made it myself. The second avnil has the first stand I made. I later improved on it when I bought the Kohlswa and built the one it sets on. It doesn't move. It is set up for a lefty as is the rest of my shop. So rightys have to adjust to me!!
March 27, 201115 yr MacBruce posted this anvil on the Anvil Stand thread, As it does not need a stand I am copying it to here.
March 28, 201115 yr Here’s a 300 lb 1915 Fisher with some use wear but in overall pretty nice condition. I’ve had a 150 Peter Wright for years and prefer the idea of a forged anvil but for the sake of my neighbors I was intrigued by the reports that Fishers are quieter and indeed it is though I’d be reluctant to really wail on it with a large sledge because I’m skeptical that it can take it. The previous owner had a large piece of rough sawn 5 x 20 oak which he’d never got around to making a base with. I used a hand held power planer to smooth and true it , sawed it into four pieces and drilled it for through bolts. Next step is to mount tool holders.
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