bstogsdill Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Hi. My dad just gave me his old anvil. I used it as a kid. It looked old then. It is sort of a crude or rough looking casting like what you would expect from chinese, does not apear high quality but I reckon the only surface finish that is important is the face. It has had some weld repairs on the face and the face has been remachined and is really nice but the horn looks like some one wacked on it with hard material like a hatchet (could have been me when I was 8 or 10 years old... ) a lot of small grooves and nicks. I plan to take a sanding disk to the horn and knock of the knicks. It is cast or stamped with "WILKINSON'S" Then a logo that looks like two crossed bars Then "PATENT" Then "L10" ( or "L1D" ?) "ANVIL" Backside says "038" (meaning 92 pounds? form what I gather.. it is not a serial number, as I 1st thought...) I am trying to find out when and where made and what it is made of, if any body knows or can tell me where to look. It does not appear Wilkinson's is still in business.... I am interested in using it to help with metal working and always wanted to fabricate a knife ... as well as any tools I may need to make to help with garage hobbies. I have always sort of hung on to old lawnmower blades and saw blades etc, with this in the back of my mind.. Also will probably fabricate some kind of furnace that will fit nicely with knife or blade type tools. Or a brake drum type furnace... I do have a small alloy smelter that will melt aluminum - I can make steel pretty cherry red so I think it may be hot enough 1750F or so? I am guessing it will reach high enough temp to work steel? Thanks for any help. This looks like a great website. Also- Anyone near Little Rock Arkansas, or any groups near LIttle Rock that use anvils? I am curious to see what accessories are used in the square and round holes in the top and try to make them. Regards Bradley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Lodge Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I had one for a while, but it was in rough shape so I sold it off and picked up a nice Hay Budden. Here's a link to the tread I started a couple years back.http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/18336-wilkinson-anvils/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Wilkinson was a decent old English anvil brand with a wrought iron body and a steel face forge welded to it. Taking material off the face is not generally a good thing. Once you thin it out too far it's basically non-usable and it's a tricky expensive thing to get it built back up to usability---usually cheaper to buy another anvil in better shape. If you are really interested go to your local public library and ask at the desk to ILL "Anvils in America" by Richard Postman. You will then know everything we do and more about them. The round hole is a "Pritchel Hole" and is mainly used for punching; so few tools are built for it. (I have seen a nifty bolster plate that revolved around a pin dropped into the pritchel hole) The square hole is the hardy hole and a vast variety of tools are built for it. However you generally make them as you need them and so only own the subset that *YOU* find needed. A good start though is to make a hardy for it as everyone needs a hardy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I had one for a while. I thought it was pretty decent. As I remember it went to a youngster on here from the Southern part of the state. As I had a slighter heavier and in slightly better shape PW I had no reason to keep it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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