Well my anvil stash has increasesd by one.
Just got back from picking up a 300lb anvil from a Kijiji hit in Welland.
I can't make out any maker's name - the anvil has been painted black - but the feet profile is reminescent of a Peter Wright. There seems to be a small chip in a corner of the top face, but the edges seem pretty good. Even through the paint, the anvil sounded good and solid.

This deal was too good to pass up - I bought it for $200.00.

Now I just have to figure out how to get it out of my van ...???

Sam

And why did I not find that one?? You paid less then I payed for my 113lbs peter wright.
I believe I speak for many when I say we need some pictures.

I saw that one on Kijiji yesterday. I couldn't see a pritchel hole on it. Does it have one? And yes, pics please.

How can you tease us like this? You gotta post pics of the new find!

I saw that one on Kijiji yesterday. I couldn't see a pritchel hole on it. Does it have one? And yes, pics please.

Yup it has a pritchel hole - it's just full of paint
Pics will be coming as soon as I can get them off my phone.
Cheers.

Here are the pictures.

It's still in the back of my van - I gotta figure out how to get it out.

The guy I bought it from had it on an engine hoist so putting it in the van was easy.

Oh well - time to call in some favours. ;)

Well done Sam!

I'm curious as to who the maker was. You are right about the feet looking like a Peter Wright's feet. I also have a Buckworth with the same ledges on the feet, as does my Soderfors (but your doesn't look cast like Soderfors are).

Oh well - time to call in some favours.

Yep - The best lifting tool I know is a half rack o' beer and the telephone.


Nice looking anvil for 200 bucks Sam. Congrats!

Now I just have to figure out how to get it out of my van ...???

Sam

If I was near enough the beer would do it for me hahah I managed to grunt my 341# trent solo a few feet, then up onto the stump so 300 would be doable!

If I was near enough the beer would do it for me hahah I managed to grunt my 341# trent solo a few feet, then up onto the stump so 300 would be doable!

The joys of youth and a healthy back. :)

Move van as close to final resting place for anvil as you can. If *real close* run 2x12 from van to stump and use rollers. if not too close dump anvil on ground---sticking a piece of pipe through the hardy hole can help lever one over, a piece of sacrificial plywood can help protect the bumper, etc, of the van from damage though the really fussy will place a piece of carpet upside down over the area before the plywood.

WARNING when the anvil tumbles off you do NOT want a piece of pipe in the hardy hole! It will swing through an arc with great authority, far greater than puny human flesh!

One on the ground place some 2x pieces on the ground and use rollers to move the anvil to it's wanted location right next to the stump then raise it by lifting one end and cribbing under it then lift the other end and crib under it until you get to the correct height and then walk it over to the stump.

(I use a come-along to lift it using a roof truss HOWEVER I first put up a re-enforced bar and two lolly columns to help the truss out---we don't need no stinking structural failures!)

Largest anvil I have moved this way is 515#; but I have also moved/loaded triphammers using the same techniques---by myself. Every shop should have a bucket of pipe pieces for rollers and a large stack of cribbing---I like 2x6 and 2x8 pieces from construction sites where they have to trim a bunch of them to size---a cold 6 pack will generally get you permission to fill a pickup bed with them!

Or the BFMI method---hold a forge meeting at your place and after the demo get a bunch of burly blokes to lift the anvil using a pole/pipe chained to it securely and carry it in. My big anvil had a hardy hole at each end so we used a pipe through each one and then 8 folks to lift and carry it---I sure wished they had waited till I had the shop door unlocked and open before they lifted it though---I guess that was the MI part...(Brute Force and Massive Ignorance)

It turned out to be even easier than that.
I happened to mention to the head caretaker at my school that I had to figure out how to get the anvil out of my truck and he and another caretaker just moved it out of my truck for me onto a cart so I could wheel it into my shopclass. I'm planning on storing it in my classroom for the winter.
I also got a chance to wire-brush off all the paint and clean her up.
Big surprise to me was that the pritchel hole wasn't full of paint as i thought ... some bozo had filled it with brazing rod, so now I have to drill it out. I have it drilled out to 3/8" so far, but that's the biggest my hand drill chuck will take.
Low and behold, another surprise, I found a maker's name under all that paint (at least 3 layers) but I can't fully make it out. I started a separate post asking for ID help, so if you think you can help, please check it out.
I'll post pictures of the cleaned up anvil tonight.
Sam

The joys of youth and a healthy back.

But at the rate he's going it won't last long....

.
Big surprise to me was that the pritchel hole wasn't full of paint as i thought ... some bozo had filled it with brazing rod, so now I have to drill it out. I have it drilled out to 3/8" so far, but that's the biggest my hand drill chuck will take.

Sam

With the amount of heat he had to get that anvil hot enough to run brass he might have taken a lot of the temper out of the face...sorta like one being in a barn fire and losing temper.

But most likely only near the pritchel hole, the sweet spot probably never got overheated what with all that mass to help keep it cool.

With any luck the perpetrator was smart enough to hammer a brass rod into the hole and just lightly braze the top.Wouldn`t have caused too much damage that way.
A file will tell the tale either way though.

With any luck the perpetrator was smart enough to hammer a brass rod into the hole and just lightly braze the top.Wouldn`t have caused too much damage that way.
A file will tell the tale either way though.

Good thought but WHY would we think he did something this smart...after all he did fill the hole with brass.

Thomas you are probably correct but I think it would go farther because you have to get that mass hot in order to get the brass to melt.

Here are some pictures of the cleaned anvil.
From the ID post, I've learned that this is an H BOKER anvil, probably made by the Peter Wright foundry (according to the flats on the feet).
In the first picture, the can of WD50 is for scale.
Sorry if the quality is a bit poor, but all I had to take photos with was my phone today.
Sam

Congrats Sam, nice anvil.

Looks just like mine which I think is a PW but I'm not sure, mine has no maker's marks anywhere just 2-1-17 in the waist. Mine has a 1 1/4" hardy hole. I found it at a barn sale back in 2001, asked the pair of old ladies what they wanted and they had to make a call to old lady #3 as it was hers but she was at home and not at the sale. The phone was so loud I could hear every word. "Not a penny less than $65"!!! She put her hand over the mouth piece and said to me "would $65 be alright"? I tried to give the impression that it was a hard decision... ;)

i too like the flop and dolly method. flop it of the truck, wrestle it onto a dolly, and to the stump we go! you just need another person to help lift it on to the log. with 2 people it is "only" 150lbs each. what was bad about my anvil is that is is a vulcan arm and hammer, so the heel slopes at like 45degrees and is as hard to grab as the horn!

on a different note, still on heavy lifting though, my grandfather bought a caboose (yes a real caboose) for a dollar after it was retired from use. once they had it put on its spot(rail, ties, and everything), it sat ther for decades, we would like to move it since it is now my fathers' and we live up the road a mile or so. but how much rail do we need? 30 feet. and how much does main line rail weigh? about 3 pounds PER INCH! long story short my dad found out he had high blood pressure because we thought we could lift an end. we know now just how crazy that thought was!

my dad asked me when i was starting out in smithing "you had to pick the hobby that has the heaviest tools! you couldn't have done crocheting or painting or something like that?"

Ed Steinkirchner