Hey this is the first anvil I have ever bought I found it in a scrap yard I've been using a small section of railroad track and have been waiting for the right anvil to come around I think I got an okay price it's a bit beat up though I got it for $275.00 I think it's around 300 pounds I estimate, is there any way to tell roughly what it weighs by dimensions? I don't have a scale capable of weighing it. I don't know too much about them but it has good rebound though. the face is about 18.5 inches long, the horn is about 10 inches long and the cutting table about 3 inches and the anvil is 13 inches in height. I believe whoever owned it before I rescued it may have welded a new top onto it you can see what looks to be a weld line (I believe) in the photo showing the height, would that effect it at all? Thank you to anyone that helps (: 

Also it's about 5inches wide forget to add that.

few more photos maybe you can help me identify who's made this 

Noticed paint was covering up a lot of it.. better picture 

On the left side of the anvil there is also the number 38 not sure what it means but maybe it will help out, looked for markings around the feet but didn't have any luck

That should say Hay Budden above whats there. Good anvil.  And whats up with the bottom. Looks like a mold thay has not been filled completely. The bottom of mine is kinda like that but only on one end. Hope some here has an answer. 

At a guess I would say it was owned by a farmer who had no forge. there are dents from cold steel, oxy torch cuts and a chisel mark. It looks like it has not been used much.

picture of the 38 and took a second look around the feet found more numbers 

Yup, Hay Budden.  Face around 5"wide should be 300+ pounds.  For that price you stole it!  Ignore the chips and gouges, it's more than big enough and nice enough to have plenty of workable area.  

okay aweosme  thank you so much guys i really appreciate it 

Lucky dog! 

that's less than $1 a pound. it's hard to find Really rough anvils at that price let alone a 300+ lbs Hay Budden. 

You got yourself a bargain there! I think the first thing you should forge on it would be a small thank you to the scrap dealer. Just good PR ... and you never know what else may turn up in that scrap yard.

Yeah true, that's a good idea I didn't really think about it but I might make him a key chain or something

You did good

Here is a little info on your anvil from Anvils in America- The serial numbers 170001-180000 were manufactured in 1910. The # 38 stamped toward the heel is a steel heat number used for quality control.

The base is forged wrought iron what you see are lumps of wrought that were forged together not cast. The weight should be stamped under the logo often hard to make out. I have a Haybudden that has no visable logo left lots of chisel marks.

I see a 2 and what looks to be an 8 or a 9 after that the last number is completely gone so that means I have a 280 or a 290 pound anvil?  that's awesome

Not sure if this means anything but I believe it's an upside down 5? Just noticed that lol.

after a win like this I'd be buying some lottery tickets tonight you are LUCKY this week.

Also curious, I'm thinking about maybe fixing all the torch marks and fixing the edges, I know this has to be done with tool steel welding rod and pre-heating the metal before welding, would this destroy the hardening of the steel? would I have to re quench it because if so that's a job a bit larger then what I can handle. Thank you.

Honestly,  the edges are a long way from any need to be fixed.  More harm than good.  My Peter Wright has far worse edges but it still works great for most things.  Use it for a year or two and then see if those torch cuts are still a problem.

Edited September 5, 201510 yr by Dogsoldat
missed my pics

DO NOT DO ANYTHING TO YOUR H-B BUT USE IT!!!  It's in great shape and any grinding, heating, welding will only be negatives for your anvil.  Hay Buddens are a very high quality anvil and you got a great deal on yours.  Welding is probably the worst possible thing you could do to it.  The edges are in great shape; they don't need anything done to them.  The most I would recommend is a light wire brushing and some linseed oil to stave off future rusting, but that's all.  Have fun with it!

Don't worry about the torch marks, just work around them. That anvil is perfectly fine to work on in the condition it is now. 

Hey first of all i would like to thank everyone for their help I have learned a lot about my anvil in the last day, I appreciate it so much I'm so happy and lucky to know what I do. And I won't do any grinding or welding or "fixing" to it with my limited experience I just wasn't sure if the edges were okay or not, now I know they're fine so I'll just do my best to work around the torching marks, I'm more then happy to listen because after doing a bit of research I really am lucky to get a H-B anvil this size for the price I did and I don't want to do anything to damage or ruin the anvil because I hope to keep it and not replace it. Also I'm curious if a wire brush cup attachment for an angle grinder is fine to use to clean it up? I've used them to clean steel before I just wanted to double check, and thank you for the recommendation of linseed oil I'm going to do that as soon as possible I wasn't really sure what to use to prevent it from rusting now I know  
If anyone know of an easier way to clean it up I'm open to suggestions, thank you very much

A medium wire wheel will be fine, just don't linger on the markings long. I never cleaned mine up, just used them, and they sit outside all year. Surface rust isn't an issue for me.

Just about any kind of wire brushing would be OK, just don't get carried away.  The face (top) is heat treated steel and is harder than the body.  The body is wrought iron and softer, so just brush it enough to get the heavy rust off.  Lots of guys don't even brush it much, just rub some linseed on it and be done with it.  Forging will remove the rust on the face.

Biggundoctor, looks like we posted the same ideas at the same time...you know what they say about great minds.......

Okay thank you guys I'll just hand brush it and remove what I can paint wise, I suppose it being a 115 years old I would remove a lot of the character with just something as simple as a brush, thinking about it I want to keep it how it is I like the look of it lol, I have it set on a stand now  and that was not easy, I played around a little bit with a small piece of steel (don't worry it wasn't cold) today to see the difference between that and the piece of railroad track I was using... Literally worlds apart it's so much easier to use and with the weight of it I don't really need anything to anchor it to the stand which rocks because that track bounced around quite a bit even though I drove it into a stump with railroad ties. also did a bit of looking around because the ring was quite loud, my shop is about 100 yards from my house and they could hear it still, I put a large U bolt in the pritchel hole it seems to help with the ring

A big chain wrapped around the waist or a large magnet under the heel will help a lot with the ring.  My H-B (170#) has a chain wrap and the heel still rings, but since I don't forge a lot there it doesn't bother me.  I think you are taking the right approach and will get many pleasurable hours working on your "new" anvil.

This is what I'm putting it on for now (:

Yeah I saw somewhere that a chain would work ideally how long should it be? Again thank you for the suggestions