JimDawdy Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 Picked up this anvil at a farm auction in Socorro, NM for $140. It had at least three layers of paint on it (talk about a painted lady!), but didn't appear to be cast iron (there were a couple of Mexican cast iron anvils for sale....pretty awful looking). I managed to get the majority of the paint off, but cannot find any makers marks. There appears to be a large defect on one side- maybe from a cutting torch? Any idea who made this anvil? Looks a bit like some Trentons, and I understand that defective anvils were sometimes sold unmarked. It weighs around 150lbs. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Not the right lines for a Trenton and they should be dished on the base. Kinda reminds me of a Vulcan but not exactly that either I think. It looks a little like some of the Russian ones too but seems old for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 definitely looks cast iron, the cast pasting line is a dead give away under the horn. also the pitting on the sides and bottom is pitting from the casting, not rust pitting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimDawdy Posted October 4, 2010 Author Share Posted October 4, 2010 definitely looks cast iron, the cast pasting line is a dead give away under the horn. also the pitting on the sides and bottom is pitting from the casting, not rust pitting I'm sure the bottom is cast iron. I meant that with the paint, it didn't seem to be a cast-iron ASO. It has a decent ring. Rebound is so-so. It does look similar to the Russian anvils. But, I do think it's much too old, and it also doesnt have the diamond hardy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragons lair Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 I'm sure the bottom is cast iron. I meant that with the paint, it didn't seem to be a cast-iron ASO. It has a decent ring. Rebound is so-so. It does look similar to the Russian anvils. But, I do think it's much too old, and it also doesnt have the diamond hardy. Jim, only the later HF russians had the diamond hardy. Shape isn't quite right for a HF either. Ken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 No handling holes and a thick heel---definitely cast something! What does the spark test say about the base and face? Casting looks too rough for most of the "name brand" cast steel anvils. Trenton's tend to have much thinner heels, handling holes and the pellet indent in the base I hope it was cheap! did you do the ball bearing test on if before you bought it or was the face painted too? (I live in Lemitar; but with taking off a week and a half to go to Quad-State I couldn't make it to the auction---anything good?) I also expect to see some of the mexican re-casts of "good" anvils to start showing up cleaned up and masquerading as the originals sometime... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimDawdy Posted October 4, 2010 Author Share Posted October 4, 2010 No handling holes and a thick heel---definitely cast something! What does the spark test say about the base and face? Casting looks too rough for most of the "name brand" cast steel anvils. Trenton's tend to have much thinner heels, handling holes and the pellet indent in the base I hope it was cheap! did you do the ball bearing test on if before you bought it or was the face painted too? (I live in Lemitar; but with taking off a week and a half to go to Quad-State I couldn't make it to the auction---anything good?) I also expect to see some of the mexican re-casts of "good" anvils to start showing up cleaned up and masquerading as the originals sometime... Thomas They had about 5 anvils. The two mexican ones, a small 50lb and a huge 250+ lbs were incredibly rusty and pitted...actually crumbling in places. They had not had any use that I could see. There were a couple of 75-100lb Peter Wrights that went for about $250 I think. Also a mousehole. I just wanted a larger anvil that I could bang on as a learning experience that wasnt too expensive, and the one I got seems to meet that criteria at $140. The one I got was painted over the face, everywhere. At least 3 layers. I'll have to check on the ball bearing and spark tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Prices were up at Quad-State; though I think s lot of "high" priced stuff went home with the original owners... I managed to find a 6" postvise for $50 and also a tiny 3" post vise for $20, (*old* hole for a tanged mounting plate, pivot bolt was held in with a wedge) Now I have to make fittings for both of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSmithBear Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 In the third pic, the rear foot seems to have a slight PW style "step", but the front foot does not show a step. There does appear to be a "parting" line on the front of the anvil(Horn end). Perhaps a casting made using a PW for the pattern, with poor quality pattern sand that causer a larger horn and no front step to the foot? Does the face seem harder than the body? That defect on the side could possibly also be from casting sand slumping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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