freeman Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 My father-in-law just showed up with his grandfather's anvil in tow. Apparently it had been trapped for a decade under an outbuilding that had collapsed and then spent another two sinking into the dirt after the remnants of said building where cleared away. According to Dave he found the thing with a metal detector and had to dig it out with a trenching tool. Given the exposure to the elements this anvil has suffered it's in amazingly good shape. The only real problem I see with it is there is deep (1/8 inch) pitting along the horn. Otherwise it appears to be totally serviceable and a better anvil in general than what I'm using currently. I speculate that it's 25# heavier than my other anvil and the stump it's attached to combined, it rings like a bell at the slightest tap and the rebound off the thing is amazing. Needless to say I can't wait to get this bad boy cleaned up and in use. Any suggestions on how best to deal with the pitting on the horn would be greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 It is your anvil, you can do as you wish. I would suggest cleaning it up with a wire brush, derusting, and then protect the metal. After 3 decades in the ground there should be no reason to hurry. Put the anvil to use for a year and then decide what you want to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Ritter Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 If it were mine I would give it a good wire brushing as Glenn had suggested, then put it to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Depending on the construction method---which you didn't share with us----you should be able to grind on the horn with an angle grinder. Horns were often un-hardened Wrought iron. Or were part of the top half of the anvil cast from steel, or were a partial steel top and cast iron rest---unlikely as you mentioned the ring. Only the last type would cause trouble if ground. OTOH do you use the horn much in your smithing?. I do not preferring other tools for the jobs most folks use the horn for. If so what mess with an item with family background! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 I would go with grinding too , but not with an aggressive stone type wheel or cup wheel ....A soft pad or flap disc, say 80 grit would do it proud.............mb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 When I got a Vulcan anvil from a friend, it also had deep pitting on the horn. I took my Lincoln stick welder and filled in the big pits. Then used a flap wheel to smooth it all out. I used that anvil for several years as my demo anvil and never had any problem with the welds cracking and falling out. My 2 cents. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Post some pics of the anvil and any numbers and markings on it. We may be able to give you some history of the anvil. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 Thanks for the responses! I've taken some pictures that may (or may not) provide more info to go on: I couldn't even speculate on how this anvil was constructed. Some interesting points are the 0 and I I found stamped in the side and the two holes in the front side of the anvil, one of which appears to have a chunk of square rod rusting out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Ok you got some pitting on the UNDERSIDE of the horn. How many blacksmiths do you know or have you heard about that beat hot iron on the underside of the horn? This would mean that you would have the anvil in an upside-down configuration, resting the face of the anvil against the anvil stand, feet in the air.. Go over the anvil with a wire brush (hand brush is fine). Caution: is you use a powered wire brush wear all the personal protection you can find, including leather apron, leather sleeves, leather chaps, leather spats, leather steel toes shoes, leather gloves, eye and ear protection and a full face shield. Hard hat is optional but a head covering is suggested. Put the dog and kids in the house, and the car in the garage. Use plenty of ventilation, work outside if possible, and use a fan to blow across your body shoulder to shoulder. (it gets rid of the dust) Take more photos of the TOP of the HORN, TOP of the FACE, then all 4 sides and the bottom and attach them to your next post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 Take more photos of the TOP of the HORN, TOP of the FACE, then all 4 sides and the bottom and attach them to your next post. Roger that. Gave it a once over with my hand brush as directed, knocked some of the loose stuff off but otherwise didn't change much (no real surprise there). Top: Closeup of hardy and pritchart holes: Top of the horn and deck: Side: Front (two holes shown, one has what appears to be a section of ancient wrought square bar rusting out of it): Side view showing 1 0 1 stamped on side of anvil: Back: Bottom: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Nice anvil Freeman. I love the story behind this anvil, a story with a good ending because it wasn't lost. You mentioned a broken off bar in the handling hole in the bottom of this anvil. My mousehole that I posted pics of yesterday in the "Show Me Your Anvil" thread has the same oddity. Definitely some broken iron stuck in there. I don't know why or what or how odd it is but I thought it was noteworthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Freeman, Thanks for the additional photos. One more request, This is Friday, so over the weekend put in about 10 hours (or more) hammer time pounding hot iron on that anvil. When you finish for the day, wipe just the top of the horn, face, and heel with a rag dampened in ATF (automatic transmission Fluid) to prevent rust. AND YES take the anvil inside of a night so it does not go walk-about..The thin coating (wipe) of ATF will not interfere with the next forge session, Just wipe again with a dry cloth and apply hot iron. Sunday evening take another set of photos and tell us both how your weekend went. Tell us what you were NOT able to accomplish because of the imperfections on the anvil. Show us all the projects you built.Show us in photos how the imperfections transferred to your work or kept you from making a certain item. Finally, wipe the top surface of the anvil face and horn with ATF and bring it inside. Yes, I AM trying to get you to use the anvil. Give ti a fair chance to preform and reports back to us. Take photos along the way as I would like to turn it into a blueprint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Anyone recognise this anvil? It has the ledges on the feet like a Peter Wright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 Roger that. I'll build a stand for it this evening and will report my findings (including a huge raft of pictures) next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Vulcan anvils are a lower grade steel face/cast iron anvil and many of them have not pitting on the horn but gas bubbles in the casting that often intersect the surface right where the steel face on the horn meets the cast iron body of the horn. This can be really really bad and in fact I was given a vulcan that had the horn broken off which was easy to understand as 80% if the break was through gas channels and only 20% was metal holding it together. (The above pictured anvil looks like a PW to me too with the handling holes and the ledges on the feet.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumpynubs Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 Is that a "1" to to the left of the "0", and do I see an outline of another number to it's right? Those are standard weight markings for anvils, as I am sure you know. The 1 would mean 112 lbs, the zero would mean zero more, and if you add the number on the right you'll have your weight. Your story makes me wonder, just how many priceless, historic anvils are out there right below the surface of the ground where old buildings once stood and burned or rotted away? Makes you think... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce wilcock Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 if your anvil is wrought iron with a steel face you should be able to go over the soft pike with a hammer and planish out most of those pits cold,its a nice anvil shape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 Is the pic of the underside of the horn showing a V-taper near the body? And the numbers on the side look like 1 0 7, not 1 0 1. Note what appears to be a curved stalk on the number on the right and how it's distinctly different from the number on the left. Of course, I'm looking at the shadows cast by the light, not the impressions, and could be wrong. But, the far right number looks very different from the 1 on the left and it stands to reason that they would be two different stamps used on an anvil that size. it's not large enough to warrant a 2 for the first digit, but it is large enough to warrant a 2, or 7, for the third number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshua.M Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 it is a peter wright made after 1910, the ledges on the feet means peteer wright, and the holes in the ledges means after 1910. josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 Yes, I AM trying to get you to use the anvil. Give ti a fair chance to preform and reports back to us. Take photos along the way as I would like to turn it into a blueprint. I had an uncle that would almost never come out and just explain a thing. Instead he'd supply a series of seemingly unrelated tasks at the conclusion of which his point became crystal clear without need for explanation. After reading your posts I kinda got that "I'm being told something, just follow instructions and it'll be plain later." feeling, and after 10 hours of work on my new anvil I realized I was right. Or, you where right as it where. Over the weekend I walked through most of my current repertoire. I made a RR knife. I made a bunch of bottle openers. I made a few hooks and started making cabinet pulls to replace the cheesy brass tone ones that came with the house. When I first fired up on Saturday morning I figured the surface damage on the anvil would make a mess out of anything I worked on and this would be a short experiment. Instead I found that at the absolute worst the anvil left a texture similar to what I'd get if I wasn't meticulous about keeping scale swept off my other anvil. Even when I worked stuff on the tip of the horn, where the damage is at it's worst I didn't see major defects* in any of the work. The only thing I found I couldn't do with the anvil is neck stuff down (like leaves) using an edge since it doesn't have any sharp edges to speak of. No big deal there, I can make a hardy tool that'll sort that in short order. In short this anvil, without any surface reconditioning of any kind, performed like a champ and has replaced my existing anvil as the "shop" anvil. I think the best part (besides having a new awesome anvil) is my father-in-law is tickled pink that the anvil is back in use. Thank you! Oh yeah, I didn't get any pictures taken, I'll try to post up tomorrow. * That I didn't put there with a misplaced hammer blow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 Is the pic of the underside of the horn showing a V-taper near the body? And the numbers on the side look like 1 0 7, not 1 0 1. Note what appears to be a curved stalk on the number on the right and how it's distinctly different from the number on the left. Of course, I'm looking at the shadows cast by the light, not the impressions, and could be wrong. But, the far right number looks very different from the 1 on the left and it stands to reason that they would be two different stamps used on an anvil that size. it's not large enough to warrant a 2 for the first digit, but it is large enough to warrant a 2, or 7, for the third number. Good eyes. My bathroom scale thinks it weighs 122#. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 Alright, pics as promised: As stated above I encountered no major difficulties due to the surface texture of my anvil, even pitted as it is. It is leaving a light texture on flat items but nothing to write home about and definitely not wrecking work like I thought it would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Usually it's only bladesmithing where you worry about having a polished anvil face and even that's it's usually more important for folks working all by hand as a 10 second zip on the belt grinder will surface a blade back to pristine. Having an anvil seems to attract others and someday you may get that mint condition anvil and find that you *miss* the textured face one for some projects! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiapan Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Hey even with just a little work you are seeing more and more shine it seems. Awesome find on the anvil and I am always glad when something old and functional gets to be put back to work. Its why i like shooting older military rifles. Its just fun shooting a rifle made 50-60-or even 70 years old and feeling that huge kick.(until the next day and your shoulder doesnt like you) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiapan Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Also your work looks great, I especially like the L bracket and the twists you put in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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