Wesley Chambers Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 Found this on CL Tn never seen such a fisher My link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 Not bad looking, I wish they wouldn't paint them though. B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaBlacksmith33 Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 HAHAHAHAHAHAAH OMG! this is to funny.... I just purchased this exact anvil! lol it weighs 80 lbs and i think it is an absolute beauty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 Looks almost like it was a casting made from a Fisher. All the fishers I have seen have a higher level of finish than that does and the defects look like those you get casting a cast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaBlacksmith33 Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 Looks almost like it was a casting made from a Fisher. All the fishers I have seen have a higher level of finish than that does and the defects look like those you get casting a cast. sooooo...thats no good then if it is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddog Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 sooooo...thats no good then if it is? Weeell, I assume you checked the plate before you bought it? If its a cast knockoff, I doubt it will have a tool steel plate. If it does, its an anvil. If it doesnt its an ASO. Which ever, the blue paint is embarrassing unless its going to be used by a Smurf There are some 2nds from the big anvil mfrs out there. I have an unmarked 355# Hay Budden that leans over to one side like a drunken sailor. The plate is still horizontal and sound. It has a rough finish and numerous small defects that I dont see on other HBs. It's a great anvil but it wouldnt have fetched full retail price in its day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 Like he said you would have to check for the presence of a tool steel plate. If it has the plate you can run the ball bearing test to make sure it hadn't been through a fire and if good then Fishers are a great anvil. My main shop anvil is a Fisher---515# which is why I was a bit surprised by the quality of the casting on that one. (I also live in NM where we see re-casts of old anvils coming in from Mexico on a regular basis) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaBlacksmith33 Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 well i did a hammer test on it, and it was a deaf type sound, just like i read in some reviews, i did hit it a few times, just not major beating, it looked good to me and sounded good so i thought it was a good buy, how do i do the steel plate check? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 To check for rebound a ball bearing is dropped, and you watch to see how close the bearing bounces up to the starting point. The higher the better. Cast iron will sound dull, with ,or with out a plate. I didn't see how big it is, but most Fishers have a couple of bolt/spike holes between the feet for mounting. It looked kind of rough to me to, and my first thought was a copy, but it could just be how it is. My Fisher is 260# Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fosterob Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 Hold your tape measure vertically up from your anvil face and drop a good size ball bearing from 10" up and carefully watch how high it rebounds. Just make sure to watch the same place on the ball you set at 10" If you get 7" of rebound that is 70% Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 Fishers have a thick tool steel plate that the body of the anvil is cast onto. Sometimes you can see the transition on the sides of the anvil; but as many ASOs were cast to appear as if they have a steel plate you have to be careful. The ball bearing test is explained in detail over at anvilfire on their 21st century page under Anvils, Testing Rebound with examples of previous tests. My main shop anvil is a 515#'r from a blacker hammer and I wouldn't sell it even for 10 times what I paid for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddog Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 COULD YOU please post a pic of that lopsided hay buddens??????? I love hay buddens Stewart, Ill try and get to it shortly. I owe Todd some pix too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaBlacksmith33 Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 ok, im gonnna do a bearing test asap. so if it bounces high its suppose to be good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 Did you read the test instructions over at Anvilfire? If using a controlled test you don't get a proper rebound then that anvil is *not* suitable for smithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaBlacksmith33 Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 well after some good cleaning i got all the paint BS off of the anvil. it looks completely different now, built an amazing anvil stand today,and did a bearing test. Once i cleaned it up i could clearly see a 1 and a half inch steel plate that was cast on top. I will post photos soon of the anvil and the stand.Also I purchased a Diamondback Bladesmith forge. (Helps when your brother is starting too, $$$$$ much easier to come up with between 2 people) Thanks for all the tips, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 Once i cleaned it up i could clearly see a 1 and a half inch steel plate that was cast on top. The actual steel top plate on an eighty pound Fisher will be about 3/8" thick. It might appear to be thicker, but that is from the post-casting grinding at the factory. Fisher's never had an 1 1/2" thick top plate. Even on my 800 lber, the top plate is only about 5/8" thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaBlacksmith33 Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 ahhh thats an interesting fact, it is an optical illusion, it does seem like its an inch or so but im sure u are right i believe ya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conrad Hodson Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 The actual steel top plate on an eighty pound Fisher will be about 3/8" thick. It might appear to be thicker, but that is from the post-casting grinding at the factory. Fisher's never had an 1 1/2" thick top plate. Even on my 800 lber, the top plate is only about 5/8" thick. My 350 has the same thickness it seems, though the grinding scar you mentioned makes it hard to tell in places. Like a lot of Fisher owners, I love the quiet. IMHO a church bell anvil is like running a chain saw without a muffler--the work is quite noisy enough without adding to it! Smiths back then could agree at least sometimes; a selling point in some of the old Fisher ads was: "The Quiet Anvil". Conrad Hodson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 ok, im gonnna do a bearing test asap. so if it bounces high its suppose to be good? Anything over 50% is happy! Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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