Santa, earlier this year

[matei campan]

I've just made myself an early Christmas present, by the help of a friend, a "new" american anvil!

 

the mystery of the anvil posted earlier before (can't copy-paste the link to the previous thread..., don't know how) solved  by itself at the arrival of the anvil - there is a remnant of an eagle which could be "clearly" seen on the side. there's a "Y 76" mark and a "100" mark. it's almost identical to other 2-3 ones I found on the net. so that confirmed what I was told by NJanvilman.

the condition is almost perfect (as it was worked on it once), the price was ~160$, ~200 shipped to my door.

 

the interesting think is that the face doesn't seem to have an uniform hardness, the first third of the face, from the heel just past the hardy hole is softer than the rest 2/3, which is very hard. also the horn seems unhardened (or tempered soft). is that normal?

[Frosty]

I'd only be guessing about the variances in hardness of the face so I'm not going to. The horn on the other hand isn't high carbon steel so won't be hard.

 

She's a beauty and would make a FINE addition to my shop. I love Fishers for their quiet nature and good forging characteristics. Great anvils.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Jim Coke]

Greetings Matei,

 

You got yourself a fine looking Fisher 100 pounder... I have one just like it , I think mine is new old stock , never used....   Sometimes people use the anvil face to heat things up with a torch and damage the hardness... Are you sure the face is softer in spots?  How did you test it?    It will serve you well for many years...

 

Jim

[njanvilman]

Hi Matei

 

Sweet Fisher/Crossley anvil.  It looks almost new.

 

The horn does have a high carbon steel plate.  This was cast into the anvil when it was poured.  However, when Fisher/Crossley hardened the face, they did not heat the horn steel.  It only got some heat, but not enough to harden it.  The horns on all Fishers are "soft".

 

I would not worry about the end of the anvil being a bit softer than the sweet spot over the main mass.  Fisher anvils were made in a low tech fashion.  In this era, 1976, Crossley was making the anvils.  Their heat treating hardening process was to heat the anvil upside down in a large coal forge until the  face plate was a critical temperature.  The anvil was then hoisted out with a gantry and swung into a large old iron bathtub with a hose running into it.  The quench hardened the anvil.  The anvil was then cleaned, painted and tested for hardness.   If your anvil is a bit softer on one end, that end might have not cooled as fast as the rest, or cooled differently.  Controlled hammering on that part of the anvil will eventually work harden it anyway.

 

Take care of your anvil, use it wisely, and it will last for many generations.

[matei campan]

I was thinking that the softening (tempering?) of that 1/3 part of the face was made on purpose to prevent the breakage of the heel - full hard steel plate+cast iron+hardy hole is maybe more fragile than full hard steel plate+wrought iron body combination on other anvils. the hardness is enough to mark a medium hard hammer face when I hit the anvil's edge and it's clearly harder than the unhardened horn.

[njanvilman]

I was thinking that the softening (tempering?) of that 1/3 part of the face was made on purpose to prevent the breakage of the heel - full hard steel plate+cast iron+hardy hole is maybe more fragile than full hard steel plate+wrought iron body combination on other anvils. the hardness is enough to mark a medium hard hammer face when I hit the anvil's edge and it's clearly harder than the unhardened horn.

 

I think you are giving Crossley too much credit for advance engineering.  If it is a bit softer, so be it.  Not much hammering happens on that end.

 

Be careful when hammering on the edges.  They are HARD.  That is probably the only flaw in the Fisher anvil design.  The edges can be super hard.  They did no tempering after the hardening process.  The edges can chip.  Do not let unfamiliar people hammer on the anvil.  That is the easiest way to disfigure it.  With care, your anvil will last several lifetimes of hammering.  However, someone bent on destruction or ignorance can easily damage your pristeen anvil.

[Bentiron1946]

So true about the edges being hard and therefore chipping easily, I put a radius on mine which seems to have stopped some of that from happening. Some folks put a radius on the edges and some don't so I guess it's up to you as whether you do or not but I think it helped stop the chipping.

[matei campan]

no one touches my anvils, and if I let someone  to work on one, I give him a soft hammer and a less sensible anvil. I keep the Fisher for light and detail work, as I have other anvils for heavy use.