Robert Mayo Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Can anyone enlighten me on the maker of this post anvil. I can make out DARW and Shefield but the rest of the first word is just to corroded to see. It is 40 pounds. Thanks for the help and any info you can come up with. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Mayo Posted January 10, 2010 Author Share Posted January 10, 2010 Well for those interested i found out it was made by the Thomas Darwin foundry listed in Sheffield England in 1787 but i am still searching to try and find out when they went out of business to try and pinpoint an age. It just goes to show that things may look older or newer but i did not think this anvil was that old. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad J Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Hey Bob, just out of curiosity where did you find your info? I was half looking also and turned up nothing. Chad J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Mayo Posted January 10, 2010 Author Share Posted January 10, 2010 Hey Bob, just out of curiosity where did you find your info? I was half looking also and turned up nothing. Chad J Chad it was identified by a fellow on British Blades forum and he gave me this link http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t7011.html If you look on the top listing you will find Thomas Darwin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I don't think it's that old. First clue would be "cast steel", I don't think they were marking material in 1787 and the second clue would be the letter type of the name of the comapany, it's entirely too modern in my opinion but then again I often been wrong. However it looks more like a metal forming stake than an anvil, perhaps for forming a crease either that or really big hardy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Mayo Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 I don't think it's that old. First clue would be "cast steel", I don't think they were marking material in 1787 and the second clue would be the letter type of the name of the comapany, it's entirely too modern in my opinion but then again I often been wrong. However it looks more like a metal forming stake than an anvil, perhaps for forming a crease either that or really big hardy. So in other words you do not know and are just guessing Benjamin Huntsman invented the cast-steel process in 1770. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Which sets an earlier date; but does not address when they started using that stamp. If I get a chance I'll look into "Steelmaking before Bessemer, Vol II Crucible Steel" to see if they mention when they started stamping cast steel. (after all England goes way back but Anvils stamped England date much more recently...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Mayo Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 Which sets an earlier date; but does not address when they started using that stamp. If I get a chance I'll look into "Steelmaking before Bessemer, Vol II Crucible Steel" to see if they mention when they started stamping cast steel. (after all England goes way back but Anvils stamped England date much more recently...) Thanks Thomas i look forward to seeing what your book has in it about stamping. I think any thing after 1891 had to be stamped England. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 If you are really interested, may I commend the archeological metallurgy mailing list to you. Several industrial revolution focus folks on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Mayo Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 If you are really interested, may I commend the archeological metallurgy mailing list to you. Several industrial revolution focus folks on it. Thanks Thomas i will check it out. Cheers Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irontwister Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 just because they had cast steel dont mean that they used it. it was probably too expensive to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Mayo Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 just because they had cast steel dont mean that they used it. it was probably too expensive to use. Before you post you should look at the pictures. They did indeed use it for this post anvil. Cheers Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Yup, I was guessing based on my big round stake about the same size that has "cast steel" and "Birmingham" in a similar looking style of letters around the top. It also has a date of "1879" and the initial of "P.H." pecked into the side with a center punch. It may be older than that but has pretty much the same shape of base and pin. No manufacturers name appears on mine that I have found. It's pretty much pitted to death on the one side like it layed in dirt for a long while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Mayo Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Yup, I was guessing based on my big round stake about the same size that has "cast steel" and "Birmingham" in a similar looking style of letters around the top. It also has a date of "1879" and the initial of "P.H." pecked into the side with a center punch. It may be older than that but has pretty much the same shape of base and pin. No manufacturers name appears on mine that I have found. It's pretty much pitted to death on the one side like it layed in dirt for a long while. Thanks for your input i am still searching trying to find out when they started to stamp but there seems to be very little info. The last entry i could find in the Sheffield directories for Thomas Darwin was 1822 but again that does not mean a thing. Bob Edted to add this link with a post in this thread about cast steel. http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?96327-Help-with-old-post-anvil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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