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Baby Fisher Question


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I have a baby Fisher anvil (about 20 lbs) which has holes in the feet. I always thought that someone may have drilled them in but I thought I'd ask if Fisher ever

offered pre-drilled anvils for sale,  that is, prior to the lugs cast on the base? Its dated 1896 and has obviously been used so I just assumed someone drilled the holes. The holes are very precise and straight, and also don't really show any cut marks.

 

 Perhaps NJanvilman can help?

 

Here's some pics.

Thanks

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No, Fisher did not produce the small anvils with holes.  However, Fisher always advertised and prided themselves on offering whatever size, shape or custom style of anvil that the customer wanted.  So, it is possible that the anvil was ordered specially with the holes done by the factory.  This is only conjecture on my part.  More than likely the holes were done by a competent machinist with a good solid vise and drill.

 

As the the markings on Fisher anvils, there is no pattern of marking the anvils.  I have many anvils that have an Eagle, Fisher, weight, date, and founders marks and patent dates.  And many that have some of the above, and some that have none of the above.  I will do an inventory of my Fisher anvils as I do my book on the company.  There are definate styles of the Eagles by era, and style of the "FISHER" name.  As soon as a think I have seen all of the variations, another one turns up.

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Sorry I didn't describe it completely, It has the name Fisher on the front base and 1896 above the base on the back under the tail. Its very clearly a Fisher.

I just added the mention of the "A" because I hadn't run across that on any of the many Fisher anvils I've seen before.

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The notion that the holes were, " drilled as locator holes and set on pins so it would not slide off rather than hold down" makes a lot of sense. If a machinist had drilled the holes for bolts, there would be flats on the top of the feet for the bolt heads. I always appreciate the wisdom that can be gleaned from IFI! I guess we can never answer the question as to whether they are factory provided holes,but its a pretty cool little anvil. I'm impressed with the thickness of the tool steel top plate on this little dude. Its about 5/8" thick and has an incredible rebound for such a squirt. 

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Sorry I didn't describe it completely, It has the name Fisher on the front base and 1896 above the base on the back under the tail. Its very clearly a Fisher.

I just added the mention of the "A" because I hadn't run across that on any of the many Fisher anvils I've seen before.

 

My pre-1860 Fisher is marked with an "A", it stands at about 100 pounds. I've seen 20 pounders with an "A" as well, one just sold on ebay last week... So the "A" is one of those things that remains a mystery, like the hash marks and numbers on some Fisher feet... could be the mold pattern, could be the time of year, material origin, could be some guy 170 years ago playing a joke on us... 

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