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I Forge Iron

Need an educated opinion on this anvil


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I have been looking for an anvil and I found this one. I have attached pictures of the anvil but something doesn't seem right. There is no name or marking on the anvil and the owner doesn't know much about it. I hope someone here might have an idea if this should be my first anvil. Thanks for your help.

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post-25228-0-13182200-1342086716_thumb.j
post-25228-0-63200600-1342086742_thumb.j

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Looks like an ACME anvil sold by Sears in the early 1900s with a hardened steel top recently added.
Should be okay provided the top weld is good. Testing the weld by tapping a hammer on the surface and listening for any changes in sound as you tap at different spots on the surface. Uniform sound would indicate an acceptable weld.

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Definitely cast iron body, but the only way to be sure if the face is more of the same cast iron or a steel plate is to check with a hammer and a file.

Even a soft ball peen hammer will easily dent cast iron if you use the edge of the face or the peen. A dull file should skate on a hardened steel face.

BTW, in the last 15 years that I have been seriously looking at anvils, every other no-name anvil with that 1" thick band at the top has been a cast iron ASO. "Real" cast iron or wrought iron anvils only had 1/4" to 1/2" thick steel plates originally.

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