Peter Wright Anvil Construction? How was it done?

[DC712001]

Though construction practices may have evolved over time, I read that Peter Wright Anvils were constructed of (several) pieces of New Iron (no scrap was used.) The Iron pieces were Wrought or Forged into a single base-and-body, then a piece of Sheffield Steel was Forge-Welded to the body.

Is this correct or if not, how was a typical anvil constructed?

One reason for my asking, I recently purchased a PW Anvil and noticed an Odd seam between the base and body.

As I examined the seam in question, I though this anvil must have been broken at some point in the past and was Weld-Repaired. Upon closer inspection, it doesn't look like a Weld. There are no "puddle" marks and no sign of grinding-marks either. It looks more like Forging Marks.

Also, there "seems" to be a crack?/Seam? on the bottom edge of the join-point between the base and body.

Looks more like it was Forge-Welded together, but I'm not entirely sure how to interpret what I am seeing. Is this "Normal" or more likely some form of repair? The odd-seam is in the area between the "Solid Wrought" stamping and the Weight is Hundredweight stampings.

[Timothy Miller]

These anvils were forge welded at the waist everything you said is correct as far as I have read and seen.

[DC712001]

Thanks for the reply. I thought it was likely "Normal" construction, but someone else that looked at it, said that the "waist" looked like a repair job.

Compared to other anvils I've seen, the "Join" looked sort of ugly, so it got me paranoid about the seam. Still, in examining it, it didn't look quite like a "Weld-repair" either.

Thanks Again.