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It took twenty-six years to find. Furniture refinisher removed the 1/8" of rock-hard grime; steel wool and oil (no abrasives!) revealed a gorgeous patina still blue in some areas. Guess these are a good brand but I think daddy let the kids go nuts with the number dies on "bring a kid to work day". We've got 8, 99, 3, 2, and 85 stamped. Dad must have done the 189132. Is there a "World's Noisiest Anvil Contest"? My cast-iron ASO with missing horn is much quieter.

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It took twenty-six years to find. Furniture refinisher removed the 1/8" of rock-hard grime; steel wool and oil (no abrasives!) revealed a gorgeous patina still blue in some areas. Guess these are a good brand but I think daddy let the kids go nuts with the number dies on "bring a kid to work day". We've got 8, 99, 3, 2, and 85 stamped. Dad must have done the 189132. Is there a "World's Noisiest Anvil Contest"? My cast-iron ASO with missing horn is much quieter.

 

Your anvil is a Hay Budden, made in 1911, according to the serial number.  The 99 or 85 is probably the weight in lbs.  That number would be below the name.

 

HB are considered one of the best wrought anvils ever made.  Yours looks to be in very good shape.  The other numbers might be inspectors marks.

 

Use is properly, and it will last many generations.

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Welcome aboard Grey, randy Bill, good to have you. That's a beauty of a Fisher Grey, she'll last generations if you can keep clowns with cutting torches away from it. It looks to have a torch cut on the heel and one on a edge. I'll try to find forgiveness for whoever the, blankety blank . . . BLANK was. <sigh> Happily the torch cuts aren't serious enough to worry about trying to repair them, just don't use heavy hammers/blows on the heal.

 

That's another beauty to admire Bill Hay Buddens are top tier anvils and your new lady looks to be in fine shape, something to last generations. You'll love her but will want to check around here about quieting her down. There are a number of methods some better than others but most will take the edge of the ring. Sound does nothing for performance outside of public demonstrations where the theater requires sound effects. Just getting projects done doesn't need loud noise, neither does your ears.

 

You may be wondering why I'm not talking about quieting Grey's Fisher down. Fishers are some of the quietest top tier anvils anywhere, they have a high carbon steel face and a steel clad horn with cast iron body. The difference in resonance between high carbon steel and cast iron is self damping so they're very quiet by comparison to a Hay Budden or heavens protect your ears my Soderfors.

 

Anyway, gentlemen welcome to the craft, it's addictive as all gitout but rewarding like few other things. Enjoy the ride.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Good afternoon again!
Thanks for all the feed back.
And its nice to know that my first anvil also happens to have a stealth mode! (Quiet)

Here are the pictures of my anvil a but better.
the last one is how I got it home!
(16hour drive home from Oregon to south California)

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The old seat belt trick for an anvil in the car.  Been there, done that.

 

Your Fisher anvil was probably made in the 1950's.  That seems to be the era when then did very little to mark their anvils with their name, date, etc.  This was the time they were using a paper label on the side.  They usually did not hold up too well and disappeared a long time ago.

 

The anvil is in great shape, with only minor edge chipping.  Do not concern yourself with them.  You can work around the chips.  Use it properly, keep the trolls away, and it will last for many generations.

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Thank you Joshua and Mr. Frosty for your kind words and helpful advice. What an odd but good feeling to actually have a real anvil here. A big piece of the puzzle. To think I'd walked by this anvil many times and always thought it cast junk due to the thick crud layer. Admittedly, I didn't even know what a Hay-Budden anvil was until I started reading IFI. I've looked at a lot of anvils around here (mostly farm auctions) and they are just plain worn out and way overpriced or simply not for sale. Peter Wright is the most seen quality make and these can often be traced back to some kind of shop; true farm anvils here are usually cast with no ID. 

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