September 2, 201312 yr Hi friends, Got a big cast-steel (tool grade) anvil. It is of 306 kg weight. Here are some pictures.
September 2, 201312 yr Sure cleaned up nice! Looks like she's never been used at all. Love the swastika on the side. I bet the history of that piece would amaze. How's the rebound? Ring much? Any maker's mark?
September 2, 201312 yr Author Yes, it is an unused anvil. Actually it was manufactured for the railways forge shops of the steam engine era to build/repair loco parts, but the forge-shop for which it was procured never took off, and was kept closed. Finally the whole shop was auctioned off. My local scrap dealer got it along with lots of other scrap materials. Regarding the make issue....what I know is that all of the railways forging tools etc used to be manufactured by Germany as per the specs provided by the railways. About rebound....its fantastic. Ring is of the typical high grade steel type and very musical, I mean the high frequency notes are plentiful. Actually as the anvil is not yet mounted (I am waiting for the wood block to arrive), every once in a while I just go to my work-room to hear the ring.... :D It rings almost the same at all the places. It seems to be really very good quality steel. The little bit of sparking that it gave while wire brushing the base were very indicative of the steel quality. I just forgot to add that, I am writing from India. I have also updated the same in my profile. Thanks to all.
September 2, 201312 yr Is that a swastika on the side in the first image?? Interesting. I would like to know more about the history. Really cool find!!
September 2, 201312 yr Wow, how cool! What a fantastic piece of history, thanks for sharing the pictures.
September 2, 201312 yr As Aditya indicated, it was made most likely in Germany and because of the Swastika, I assume it was made during the Hitler era. Helmut Hillenkamp from New Mexico wrote an article for ABANA on a German Blacksmith that worked during this time. Helmut may know something about the anvils of this period or at least may know. Good luck and enjoy the anvil.
September 2, 201312 yr Great find, congradulations! The swastika is also an ancient Indian symbol used in both Hinduism and Buddism. Being found in India, it may have Nazi era connections or not. Perhaps someone has direct historical information about the foundry origin. There are right handed and left handed versions, as well as the 45 degree position adopted by the Nazi party. Additional information is available online and here: http://www.religionfacts.com/hinduism/symbols/swastika.htm
September 2, 201312 yr Great find, congradulations! The swastika is also an ancient Indian symbol used in both Hinduism and Buddism. Being found in India, it may have Nazi era connections or not. Perhaps someone has direct historical information about the foundry origin. There are right handed and left handed versions, as well as the 45 degree position adopted by the Nazi party. Additional information is available online and here: http://www.religionfacts.com/hinduism/symbols/swastika.htm Yeah I knew of the Indian use of the symbol but seeing as how its a German anvil... :D That's a geat link on the subject, 101. Thank you for sharing :)
September 3, 201312 yr What a brute! Be careful not to use too big of a hammer on that, you might hurt it. ;)
September 3, 201312 yr Author Lots of thanks for all those replies. About the swastika symbol.....its a very common thing here in India, and it is used as a lucky charm for prosperity. This practice has been there since the Vedic days, meaning more than 8/9 thousand years earlier (unfortunately all the records are missing somehow). So please don't link it up with the anvil as being a historical piece. Here the swastika symbol means that it was an Indian manufacturer who got the work order from the railways to supply them. But railways steel specs are special and is not available openly for others to use without special permission. Thus this supplier got the permission to use the special grade steel, imported from Germany. Now either it was cast in India, or in Germany, and then supplied to the railways. This part I am still not sure. However I am really happy to have got this piece of real beauty. Just to see it parked there is so reassuring.
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