London pattern design evolution?

[JHCC]

Curious to see if anyone here has insight on the evolution of London pattern anvils. If I read this right, the earliest were very square, like the 1830s Mousehole in my profile pic. Later, as you move through the Peter Wright era into the Trentons and Hay Buddens, the waist gets more slender and the overhang of the heel and the horn becomes more pronounced.

Now, given the increased risk of breaking of the heel or the horn with a more slender design, why the change? Pure aesthetics, or is this an attempt to maximize the surface area of the face relative to the weight?

[David Einhorn]

The book titled:

“Anvils in America” by Richard Postman

Discusses that at length.

http://www.amazon.com/Anvils-America-Richard-A-Postman/dp/0966325605

[JHCC]

Aaaaand it's ILL time!

[Broadus]

I think the slendering of london pattern anvils was due to advancements in the material they used to make them. Earlier ones like mousehole were made so sturdy because that's how it had to made for the soft wrought iron to hold up to the work, you'll notice often the very end of the horn on these older anvils has started to tip down like a teapot because that's where it's least supported. I've also noticed often on colonial anvils which have quite small heels the whole heel has begun to sag. Even over the very thickest part of the anvil it can start to sag over time. Then they started making anvils out of an entire steel top like with Hay Budden, they could get away with making the horn and heel so long since it was so much stronger, so they did... Though it doesn't make sense why it would be better to have them longer.

[SReynolds]

Maybe I didn't read this correctly but in light of that, the obvious reason the overhang/ heel is to place your work under it such as a shoe. That is where the shoe is made. Heel and horn. 

I have an old farrier anvil and the heel is very very worn. The new store bought farrier anvils will have a very odd shape heel. Specific for the farrier.

[Frosty]

I believe you've got it, the heal works as a bridge so you can split the work. Work one tine of a "fork" and preserve the other under the heal. I also use mine to form square clips or . . . staple shapes, it lets me square up the corners. Among many other things I haven't thought of.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

ReReading this form the beginning: my Arm&Hammer anvil has a very thin heel that is definitely a steel face on a wrought iron body the welding is quite visible so here is an example of a very thin heel NOT made from a single piece steel upper like the suggestion a ways above.

[Broadus]

hmm... Thank you Thomas, you are correct, I seem to have had a lapse in anvil knowledge when I wrote that... oops....

 

Now that I'm thinking about it again I have another possibly wrong theory. One major difference between anvils like Arm&Hammer's and older the "stockier" ones like Mousehole's is the built up method. The later slimmer/longer anvils were made of three pieces, the base, the top, and the faceplate. So the grain of the wrought iron in these long heeled anvils runs from horn to heel uninterrupted. Where the older built up anvils have the heel and horn jump welded on, interrupting the grain and creating a weak point, you'll almost always see these broken at that weld... I don't know if i've ever seen a horn/heel broken off an Arm&Hammer, but to have the grain oriented lengthwise is obviously considerably stronger.

Did the technology to produce quality wrought iron change at all? I recall a trenton ad that showcased the quality wrought iron they used, showing a wrought iron bar that was bent back on itself twice cold without breaking,  I'm honestly curious, I don't intend to argue. 

I'm also curious about why they'd put the hardy so far out on the heel, does anyone have any idea why this would have any advantage? 

[VaughnT]

Aside from the material and making aspect, the general shape is also designed to maximize the usefulness of the anvil to any type of smith.

In olden days, you couldn't just run down to the corner store to get another widget and most tools iron tools were quite pricey to buy and transport.  Having a curved horn meant that the average smith could true up a ring without much trouble, and without having to buy a mandrel.  When you're traveling by horseback or pulling your own cart, every pound counts.

The pritchel hole evolved in much the same way because it was just a great way of supporting the work while you punched a hole through it.  Maybe not a big thing, but still pretty snazzy to have.

[JHCC]

I just got word that my ILL copy of AIA is waiting for me at the college library. Looking forward to an interesting read.

[ThomasPowers]

The major methods of making wrought iron that I know of were the bloomery AKA the direct method, puddling AKA the indirect method and finally the Byers method AKA ?????

Bloomery the metal never melted in the smelter as it was refined from ore but sludged down into a bloom that was worked.

Puddling you made cast iron first and then melted it into a puddle in a separate furnace and burnt off the excess carbon.  (there were several other techniques used in the indirect method; but puddling was the biggie)

The Byers method you started with molten bessemer steel and added slag back into it and worked it with hydraulic tools to mix it. (I have a friend who is more of a machinist who finds this method very very disturbing---"you take nice clean steel and crud into it!!!"

Of course with any of the methods as the technology matured larger amounts were worked with on a regular basis.  I am wondering if the nature of work changed where the heavy squat anvils were not as needed as heavy industry started taking over leaving the specialized smiths using more elongate anvils?   We need to read the old anvil ads to see if they were touting their proprietary shapes as being "better" in some way and perhaps the patents as well. 

[JHCC]

Well, I'm working my way through the ILL copy of Postman's Anvils in America.

It's pretty heavy reading.

Joking aside, it looks like a significant element in the design change came from Peter Wright's innovation in forging the anvil's body -- horn to heel -- and the base as separate pieces, which were then joined with a single horizontal weld at the waist. In addition to the practical advantages for of a larger heel overhang for forge work (as noted above), a smaller waist is easier to weld. 

[ThomasPowers]

If you think AiA is heavy reading ILL a copy of "The Knight and the Blast Furnace" Alan Williams  foremost book on the metallurgy of renaissance armour in 900+ pages.

[JHCC]

Well, I have read all 27 volumes (4,256 pages) of Jules Romain's Men of Good Will, but that has a plot and characters.

[ThomasPowers]

Ah reading for "fun"; lets just say   I have a large number of books to hand and am negotiating for a 5th book case right now in the living room though it may have to join the others in the bedroom.  I can look at one of the paperback shelves and count 34 books on it and say yes I have read them all and several of them many times.  I used to real Lord of the Rings every year for about 20 years until I had memorized too much of it.  Bored of the Rings too; but it's much shorter... Great to meet another reader---and Men of Good Will in it's entirety is something to be proud of.  I remember one summer in high school when I attempted to read every book my father had mentioned as reading at the same age.  An interesting viewpoint of what the world was like back then and how much it has changed.

[JHCC]

On 3/14/2016 at 0:46 AM, Broadus said:

I recall a trenton ad that showcased the quality wrought iron they used, showing a wrought iron bar that was bent back on itself twice cold without breaking

AiA shows such an ad on page 262, but from Arm & Hammer.