I'm a blacksmithing noob. I lucked across an anvil and a gas forge and I can't wait to try them out. I think the anvil is about an 1830 model and is definitely well-seasoned. It still has a nice ring, though. The face dips a little in the middle and is beaten up.

The condition of the face doesn't matter much to me at this point as it's much better than what I've been using. However, I'm guessing the face will leave impressions in the steel. At some point, I'll consider resurfacing the face, but I don't want to ruin the anvil.

Any opinions?

At some point, I'll consider resurfacing the face, but I don't want to ruin the anvil. Any opinions?

Nice anvil. A pic of the face would be good....In any case I wouldn't get too heavy handed with that one. It looks like it could be a collectable anvil to me and may be worth more than a new(er) anvil. Leave it as is till the experts chime in.

That is a nice anvil, looks like it has generally decent edges (not perfect though, but hey, you won't be perfect when you are 182 years old) Use it, treat it right and work hot iron on it, or annealed softer metals and it will look just as nice when you are ready to part with it.

Make a bolster plate to match the hardy and then make an edge tool for the hardy when you need clean sharp edges. You probably do not want to do heavy upsetting into the hardy hole.

Phil

I'm a blacksmithing noob. I lucked across an anvil and a gas forge and I can't wait to try them out. I think the anvil is about an 1830 model and is definitely well-seasoned. It still has a nice ring, though. The face dips a little in the middle and is beaten up. The condition of the face doesn't matter much to me at this point as it's much better than what I've been using. However, I'm guessing the face will leave impressions in the steel. At some point, I'll consider resurfacing the face, but I don't want to ruin the anvil. Any opinions?

I'm a noob like you & picked up my first anvil last weekend. It was rusted pretty badly where you couldn't make out the makers name on it. But I thought overall it was in decent shape & the price seemed fair, so I brought it home. Besides, I thought it would be fun to take a wire brush to it & find out what I had. It took a couple hours, but I finally found Armitage Mouse hole & some numbers on it. I knew this anvil was old, but had no idea how old till I did the research. What a nice surprise that was & really made me glad I bought it. It definitely has that used but not abused look, especially being over 150 years old. It weighs in at 120 lbs. Not huge by any means, but a nice size none-the-less.
If I figure out how to post pics, I'll put a few up.

Thanks for the comments, guys. I'll probably not try to resurface it. My initial interests are knives, primitive tools, and other small stuff. If my interests change as I'm exposed to more, then I'll buy another anvil.

I just wish this thing could talk. It was sitting in front of a barn not being used. The previous owner has several others and hasn't used it in years. I'm going to try to find out some history on it. This came from an area in Mississippi that saw lots of action in the Civil War, so who knows? It might be interesting.

This anvil is painted black. While I was admiring it last night, I wondered if I could see better detail if I sanded the paint off.

Montana7- I'd like to see those pics.

I wouldn't sand it. Wire brush in a grinder, but not sand..

Carl,
I have some taken when I was half way through cleaning it. Now that it's cleaned up better & the full name can be seen, I want to take a few more.
When I do that (if not today, than tomorrow for sure) I'll send them on to you.

If you are interested in learning more on the origins of your anvils, Richard Postman published a book on the history of the Mousehole Forge.

Good score.

Does it have a pritchel hole (round) or just the hardy (square)?

I've got one very similar.

Good score.

Does it have a pritchel hole (round) or just the hardy (square)?

I've got one very similar.

It has both a pritchel hole and a hardy hole. You live in a wonderful part of the world, by the way. I lived in Knoxville 10 years and I miss it.

Here are a few more pics to see the face...

Trying to correct the sway would be a mistake. It can be used to straiten bars to good effect and doesn't matter overall.......
If it were mine I would carefully sand the face with a flap disc on a small angle grinder, keeping it very flat, till the gouges weren't deep enough to bugger the work and leave it at that.

Trying to correct the sway would be a mistake. It can be used to straiten bars to good effect and doesn't matter overall.......
If it were mine I would carefully sand the face with a flap disc on a small angle grinder, keeping it very flat, till the gouges weren't deep enough to bugger the work and leave it at that.

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense. I'm going to start using it today and then touch up the gouges in the near future.

Try it before you grind it. It looks pretty clean already. I would wire wheel it to get the paint off because that can smell funny/bad when hit by hot metal.

Phil

carlp,
Sent you a pm.
Bruce