Otterbank Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Hi all Was given this anvil a good few years ago from a guy that said my father had loaned it to him many years earlier. This was a few years after my father had died so it was nice the guy looked me up to return it. My father was born in 1909 and was a self taught engineer/ mechanic and ran a small workshop on one of the islands up here doing repairs and fabrication etc, so no real idea how he came by it. Any ideas or thoughts on it would be very interesting to me because of the connection to my father. Only mark I can see is the '8' Hopefully here are some pics with the baby Brooks. Thanks for looking Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewayforge Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Looks like an abused mousehole, or a bad forging, or some smaller company's anvil. Nice Brooks anvil on top, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 That anvil is at least 200 hundred years old judging from the pattern and is in very good condition. I see no signs of abuse and it's appearance is exactly as should be for an anvil of that period and style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Awful nice of someone to remember you and your Dad. That's pretty special in itself. With a little history connected to you dad, that's PRICELESS. Someone may comment on it's beauty marks, it is still functional. We will probably look a little rough around the edges when we have as much time under our belt as your DAD'S ANVIL!! If the Anvil could tell a story, you would have to write a thick book!! :) Enjoy it!! Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluidsteel Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Ooh. That is a beautiful anvil. I love all the big hammer marks from when it was forged. It has a nice squat robust shape. No pritchel hole so, Colonial era anvil? What's it weigh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan P. Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I've seen one of those in the flesh before, and they come up on ebay (UK) from time to time. They are usually smaller anvils, yours is bigger, but always with those strange chopped off looking shoulders by the bick. I think the one I saw was a JB, maybe a Peter Wright? Not necessarily very old, looks like a good anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 That is a beauty, and a perfect example of the time. That size was meant to be a rough trade shop anvil in its day, and was not finished to the standards of a jewelers or even tinsmiths shop. The fact that the sides are left rough with the water powered tilt hammer marks intact tells you that it was made long before power grinding of every surface became the norm. We have since come to expect a smooth finish on every side of every tool not just the working surfaces. (The modern phrase would be "putting lipstick on a pig".) As long as the face and base were finish ground flat, not necessarily parallel to each other, mind you, it was ready for shipment. Everything old was not crude, and everything crude was not old. Modern replica 'Colonial' anvils made from new castings look too perfect, and are jarring to the trained eye. They are as out of touch with period reality as is the recent trend to furnish rough forge-finished knives and swords for 'period' cosplay. (I will not honor them to call them re-enactors, even if they think they are.) At the same time this anvil was made, even the cheapest mass produced blades traded to savages on the frontiers were fully ground, if not polished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomhw Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Hi all Was given this anvil a good few years ago from a guy that said my father had loaned it to him many years earlier. This was a few years after my father had died so it was nice the guy looked me up to return it. My father was born in 1909 and was a self taught engineer/ mechanic and ran a small workshop on one of the islands up here doing repairs and fabrication etc, so no real idea how he came by it. Any ideas or thoughts on it would be very interesting to me because of the connection to my father. Only mark I can see is the '8' Hopefully here are some pics with the baby Brooks. Thanks for looking Michael Anvil 004.JPGAnvil 012.JPGAnvil 017.JPG It is a good anvil. I admire thick waisted English anvils. My Hay Budden is so narrow at the waist that the sweet spot is limited to about one third of the face. More importantly, my father never owned it. Enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otterbank Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Thanks for the input guys. I will get the old guy set up when I get round to setting up the workshop in the next few months. The face dosn't seem to be in that bad order and I'm sure it will put up with the work I have planned. Guess it weighs 70lbs or so compared with the small Brooks at 56lbs. I also have a 1.5CWT Brooks in the line up so they can all take turns. No doubt there will be more calls for help as I get started, in the mean time I will continue to read as much as I can on here, loads of info to digest. Thanks again great site. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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