Help with anvil ID

[ArtWerkz]

Perhaps someone will know the maker of this anvil.
There are no makers marks that I can see. It has 3 square holes in the base. It is 32" from the tip of the horn to the heel and it weighs roughly 300 lbs. It seems to be mostly all cast steel. Any ideas folks ?
Thanks in advance.

[mat]

i am far from being any help on anvil id but this looks like some one has used an anvil as a pattern to cast from hence the roughness trying to move an anvil out a sand pattern it may only be cast iron.any other ideas?????

[Sask Mark]

Based on the sag of the face plate, I would guess it's a forged wrought iron anvil. Unless it was indeed cast from a pattern based on a forged anvil with the sag in the face plate.

[ThomasPowers]

The recent cast anvils from Mexico don't usually show the handling holes in the base.

Older anvils will generally have a much thicker heel if cast.

What does the bottom of the anvil look like?

ArtWerkz can you tell us what country this anvil was found in? Helps quite a lot!

[Bentiron1946]

I checked his profile and he is from Canada so it is most likely some Canadian no name brand from there. A little rough looking but that is more from banging on the side than manufacturing flaw I think, the face looks a little sway back but that could be camera angle distortion. How does it ring, "thud" like cast or bell like as in forged or "thawk" as in broke?

[ArtWerkz]

I found it in Canada. It rings loud like a bell everywhere, on the sides, on the horn, on the face. The damage if you will to the sides looks as if someone was cutting on it with an oxy/accet torch.
Thomas, I haven't turned it over to look at the bottom yet. Is there anything I should be looking for there ?
Also it has really good bounce from a light hammer blow. The colour you see is a grey/green primer paint.

[Dragons lair]

I found it in Canada. It rings loud like a bell everywhere, on the sides, on the horn, on the face. The damage if you will to the sides looks as if someone was cutting on it with an oxy/accet torch.
Thomas, I haven't turned it over to look at the bottom yet. Is there anything I should be looking for there ?
Also it has really good bounce from a light hammer blow. The colour you see is a grey/green primer paint.

Looks like O/A scars to me also. Face looks narrow in the pic. Cut to make it thinner?
Ken

[ArtWerkz]

Looks like O/A scars to me also. Face looks narrow in the pic. Cut to make it thinner?
Ken

The face is about 5.5" across.

[Dragons lair]

Angle of the pic I guess. Glad you have the yellow helper to move it around.
Ken

[ArtWerkz]

Angle of the pic I guess. Glad you have the yellow helper to move it around.
Ken

For sure Ken, the yellow helper is good. It does have a little depression in the top but not bad. I just wish I knew what the make was.

[Sask Mark]

If I were to guess, I would say it's a Peter Wright for the following reasons:
1. It has a similar overall shape to other Peter Wrights I have seen.
2. It has flat ledges on top of the feet. Peter Wrights were known for this feature while few other brands had this.
3. Peter Wright seems to be the most common brand of anvil in the larger sizes in Canada. I realize this is a purely empirical observation, but it seems to fit given my above 2 reasons.

It appears to me that a previous owner tried to get rid of a rough edge of the face plate by cutting it off, first with OA, then by machining/grinding to get a crisp, square edge.

[ArtWerkz]

If I were to guess, I would say it's a Peter Wright for the following reasons:
1. It has a similar overall shape to other Peter Wrights I have seen.
2. It has flat ledges on top of the feet. Peter Wrights were known for this feature while few other brands had this.
3. Peter Wright seems to be the most common brand of anvil in the larger sizes in Canada. I realize this is a purely empirical observation, but it seems to fit given my above 2 reasons.

It appears to me that a previous owner tried to get rid of a rough edge of the face plate by cutting it off, first with OA, then by machining/grinding to get a crisp, square edge.

I thought it may be a Peter Wright myself but it doesn't seem to have the top plate like Peter Wright's, the whole anvil seems to be cast steel. I cant see a seam anywhere, even on the heel where there is no damage.

[Sask Mark]

Peter Wright did do a very good job of blending in their face plate seams. It was an area the U.S. makers tended to take a shortcut on in order to be competitively priced with established anvil manufacturers (per Anvils in America).

I don't know if you feel like doing it, but you could try drilling a small hole just below where the face plate would be (maybe under the heel?). If it is all steel, I would think the drill would have a hard time cutting as one would expect this area to be harder than if it were a forged wrought steel body.

I might be totally off on my reasoning here, but it's a thought...

[ArtWerkz]

Peter Wright did do a very good job of blending in their face plate seams. It was an area the U.S. makers tended to take a shortcut on in order to be competitively priced with established anvil manufacturers (per Anvils in America).

I don't know if you feel like doing it, but you could try drilling a small hole just below where the face plate would be (maybe under the heel?). If it is all steel, I would think the drill would have a hard time cutting as one would expect this area to be harder than if it were a forged wrought steel body.

I might be totally off on my reasoning here, but it's a thought...

Mark if it was a PW wouldn't the ring be quite a bit different from sides to face ? The pitch of the ring is almost identical from face to sides.
I think I read somewhere that PW's have 5 porter holes in the base, but don't quote me on that, and this beast has three.
i just don't know....

[ThomasPowers]

I have a Trenton that has the odd narrower face then the angle out to a fatter waist. It's a 400+# anvil and looks a lot like that one. It was damaged too from it's former abusive life at a copper mine. (Finally fixed by the multitalented Pep Gomez!)

As they used cast bases at one time it might be a factor of not having the exact base needed and so they upsized by one to get it out the door.

What I would like to know about the bottom is the shape of any indentation in it and if it has handling holes. (Mine has a "caplet" indentation.)

[ArtWerkz]

I have a Trenton that has the odd narrower face then the angle out to a fatter waist. It's a 400+# anvil and looks a lot like that one. It was damaged too from it's former abusive life at a copper mine. (Finally fixed by the multitalented Pep Gomez!)

As they used cast bases at one time it might be a factor of not having the exact base needed and so they upsized by one to get it out the door.

What I would like to know about the bottom is the shape of any indentation in it and if it has handling holes. (Mine has a "caplet" indentation.)

There are 3 handling/porter holes in the base, I will flip it over tomorrow when I am back in the shop Thomas to inspect for anything.
If the base was indeed cast Thomas would it not sound different when tapped with a hammer. It has an almost identical pitch between the face and the sides, very high pitched ring.

[Sask Mark]

It seems that Peter Wrights usually had 4 handling holes according to AIA. Apparently Peter Wright started producing 2 piece anvils after 1930 where the entire top half is steel (like the post-1907 Hay Buddens).