Kendall P Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Hi folks, i picked up this anvil from a scrap dealer relatively cheap - The condition is poor - some weld marks - all the edges are rounded off from use - the surface is dipped from wear, It does however ring at a deafening pitch for such a tiny anvil - and throws a hammer back at me like its trying to start a fight. - So i can see why it was clearly used allot. When i purchased this i took a wire brush and grinder to the sides to disern if what i thought was pitting was just built up muck on the sides - there where no clear makers marks and ive given it a coat in some hammerite to keep the rust from takeing back residence. - ive cleaned up the surface some and taken some pics with some measurements. Diameter of the face - 3.5 inches Lenght horntip -butt - 20 inches Dia of base - 8Inchesx9inches Weight - between 50/75lbs So - can anyone help me identify this please? - after a little image comparrison i have a suspision that this might be allot older than i first assumed - and could be a William Foster wrought iron - as the pattern looks very simmilar indeed. Any advice would be welcome ! - im loath to do much more heavy duty cleaning or re-conditioning untill im sure im not going to butcher a collectable.Copyrighted images have been removed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Kendall, it looks like it could still be a very serviceable anvil. The edges do not have to be sharp. If I need a pretty sharp edge for a square corner i use the jaws of my leg vice. Not sure what you paid, exactly, but it seems that you were satisfied with the price. I would use it as is and don't forget hearing protection. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 A lot of the old english anvils look very much the same throughout the over 250 different manufacturers identified so far. The face looks quite good for an older anvil---that's a real user! (Small anvils tend to have a harder face than large ones so it shooting the hammer back at you is a good sign!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall P Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Im pleased knowledgable folks think its useable - ive only done some light forging on it - but with the bounce, ive been able to draw out fairly 'chunky' stock without much effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmHorus Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 grats kendall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Early Part of the 19th century English. Are you sure that is not a coating on the anvil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall P Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Early Part of the 19th century English. Are you sure that is not a coating on the anvil? I tried to gently take a small grinder to some of it to see if it was - its steel - just either very pitted - or roughly cast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 That anvil is forged from wrought iron not cast. it was actually built up by forge welding from several pieces iron then a steel face was applied also by forge welding. There is a book called the Mousehole forge by Richard Postman that describes how anvils of this kind were made. I suspect that it sat partially buried for some time to get that surface texture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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