Ricko13 Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Evening folks, Let me start off with saying that I've been snooping around this site for some time and found a great deal of good information on it. Really good for a new guy like myself. I have recently gotten my hands on two anvils, which I'm hoping you fine gentlemen can help me figure what they are exacly. First I started with a package deal which came with an anvil. I knew the anvil wouldn't be up to par.. but it was a good deal for the whole thing. I have access to a surface grinder which may get to re-work this puppy. Here's a picture of both the anvils. The one in the front is approx 144lbs. The one in the back is approx 245lbs, which I just bought yesterday to compensate for the smaller and damaged 144'er. Here's a single shot of the 245'er What do you folks think? Any clues as to what they are and their date? I haven't gotten my hands on the American Anvil book just yet... I may do so at a later date... but I'm neck deep in the Modern Blacksmith and Edge of Anvil books already :) Thanks and Cheers! -R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judson Yaggy Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 DON'T GRIND those anvils. They have been well used but not abused. What you see as damage is normal wear from the last 100 or 150 years of use. They both have the hallmarks of Peter Wright anvils, the smaller one is a farriers pattern and is somewhat more rare and desired by collectors as long as you don't damage it by heavy grinding. Both are perfectly functional smithing tools. The majority of anvils were made by forge welding a thin slab of steel onto a wrought iron body. Grinding or machining the face flat will probably cut thru the hard surface and ruin the functionality and collector's value of the anvil. If I were you I'd LIGHTLY sand the edges of the working surface with a flap wheel 4 1/2" grinder. If you spend more than 10 minuets grinding with a hand held angle grinder then you have gone too far. Forge hot steel on them for a year before you decide to do any further modifications, after that it's your tool, do with it what you will. From the pics they seem to be good anvils, happy hammering! Ps nice snow tires, it's that time of year again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricko13 Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 Thanks for the info Judson :) I am a bit on the zealous side when it comes to doing something, your comments pretty much made sure I won't touch these! On a side note... I gave both of them a 1" ball bearing test and the small one seems to be from 6-7", the bigger one is an easy 8". I was thinking of giving them some cleaning love.. but I may hold off on that too... Thanks. And yes.. snow's coming, mandatory snow tires up here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 If you want to clean them use a cupped twisted wire brush on a polisher. Don't press down hard just let the wires pick out the rust and crud. You can add some wd-40 or something similar but be prepared, it gets a little messy. They look very usable to me and I wouldn't hesitate to use either one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricko13 Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Well after doing a bit of cleanup using some brush wheel and wd40, I can confirm the small one is a PW. I was able to find "wrigh" on the side, and maybe a "1" where the weight would be. I can't find anything on the bigger fella. But the underside is flat and there's 5 squares hole around the base, and if I recall that a sign of a PW correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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