Yet another Anvil ID, if you please...

[DocsMachine]

Fresh purchase, I'd like to know the maker and/or brand if at all possible.

It has no markings save for the raised number "15" on the front foot.

The face is pretty hard, but the whole thing doesn't "ring" much, if at all. It appears to be cast steel- at least it very much appears to be cast, as there's some slight voids under the horn and on the opposite side at the waist, towards the heel. There doesn't appear to be a seam where a "face" joins the rest of the body, although there's some... something where the face steps down to the horn that either suggests a weld/braze, or possibly where somebody spilled a dab of solder or something. I haven't taken a brush or pick to it yet.

The body is probably all steel- it's quite hard in most places. Clearly harder than cast or wrought iron- it blunted a centerpunch, but the punch did leave a small mark.

1" hardy, roughly 1/2" pritchel. No obvious marks where a logo or brand was ground away or otherwise covered up. 150 pounds, almost exactly.

Doc.

[Brian C.]

Doc, it looks to me like a Vulcan or one very similar. Shape is the same, lack of ring, marking on front base (15 should equal a 150 lb. anvil), etc.

Kind of puzzled over the lack of logo, although I had a 200 lb. one at one time that was unmarked with the same features.

[ThomasPowers]

I'll say vulcan too. Cast iron body relatively thin steel plate for face and top of horn.

Most I have used were rather soft faced. Commonly used in Schools.

Good anvil for use in cities and suburbia where noise is a problem; but not as good as a Fisher in general.

Should sell at a lower rate than for a PW or HB or other top of the lone anvil.

Thomas

[DocsMachine]

Thank you!

From what few photos I can find online, it does indeed look Vulcanish. Mine's a little "taller" at the waist than the 100-lb one in the photo, but apart from that, the foot, horn and heel all look pretty much identical.

But I also see that Vulcan had a cast-in, raised "arm and hammer" logo, whereas mine is unmarked. And both faces of the waist are as-cast, there's not the least trace of anyone having ground a logo off or anything.

However, I did see a brief note on one of the bits Google dredged up, about Vulcan, among others, having cheap versions to sell through catalogs and whatnot. The reference suggested that the catalog versions were essentially factory rejects- ones that weren't quite up to standards.

Which follows- as I said, there's some mild voiding of the casting, under the horn and on the opposite side shown, toward the heel. And considering the location where I picked this one up- a very small and semiremote community- and a rough idea of it's age (seller had had it for about ten years, previous owner had it for "quite awhile" before that) then it stands to reason it may well have been mail-ordered out of a Sears & Roebuck or somesuch.

Doesn't explain how the logo, if there was one, got removed without leaving grinding or even chisel marks, but then again, it may just be that the foundry specifically cast unbranded anvils, as opposed to "unbranding" the rejects.

That's all, of course, only slightly-educated supposition.

Anyone else have any info to add to the fire?

Doc.

[KevinD]

Looks a lot like my Southern Crescent 100#er.

[forgeman]

hello, you anvil is what is refered to as a no name cast. it is made out of cast iron not steel . Vulcans are also cast iron with a steel plate welded to the top just like a fisher .forgeman

[DocsMachine]

Are you sure it's cast iron? I tried a centerpunch on a few spots on the body, and while I could mark it, I also badly blunted the punch. (And yes, it's a reasonably hard punch.)

Any easy way to tell the difference between cast iron and cast steel?

Doc.

[forgeman]

hey doc , one way to tell the difference between cast steel and cast iron is the ring when the anvil is struck . cast steel anvils will ring when struck, not like a hay budden usually but still a noticeable ring . a cast iron anvil will be more of a thunk . that is why cast iron anvils are called dead anvils .hope this helps .Forgeman

[forgeman]

hey doc , me again , cast iron is noticeably harder than wrought iron . wrought is soft and easily marked with punch or chisel forgeman

[DocsMachine]

Yes, but I thought cast would still be considerably softer than the centerpunch. I mean, it certainly is on engine blocks and cylinder heads. Is this anvil's cast iron "chilled", or whatever they call it?

As far as the ring, well, they ain't much a'tall. I wouldn't call it a "dull thud", but it's certainly nothing you could call a 'ring' even if you squinted your ears a bit. So I guess it's cast iron all right...

How durable can I expect it to be? I don't expect to forge much of anything larger than a knife (or perhaps a cleaver) and some small ornamental stuff, so I doubt I'd really stress even a really crappy anvil, but still, nice to know how good this thing is (or isn't.)

The face is indeed quite hard- light taps with a ball peen don't show much bounce, but also don't mark it in the slightest. It shows some use and very minor nicks and dings, but is, all in all, very flat, very smooth, and all the corners are square and straight.

Doc.

[ThomasPowers]

I have a vulcan that had massive voiding under the horn at the horn body transition---very easy to see after the horn broke off...it was a student anvil at the local U's fine arts metalworking class and so endured student abuse. The instructor gave it to me when I located a swedish cast steel anvil for their class as a donation from a retired Rancher.

What I would suggest it to touch it to a grinder and look at the sparks. Cast iron has very different sparks from steel so you can judge the face (I said *touch*!) as well as the body.

I seem to recall a very late vulcan that had a sticker on it rather than the cast logo; but as I don't keep vulcans I can't check again.
Thomas

[forgeman]

hey doc , by all means use the anvil. if it is indeed a (CRAPPY)anvil time will tell . use it until it is no longer useable then retire it and get another one