kustomizer Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Yesterday I was given a 200lb anvil with a 200 cast in the side and a W73 cast on the end and am wondering how old it is and who made it. Can someone here steer me in the right direction? Is it a "Fisher"? What does the "W73" mean thanks kustomizer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 i cant help you, but that anvil is very nice! it almost looks like it was never used. man those edges, everything looks very clean! Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exo313 Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Fisher? Any other marks on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kustomizer Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 Nope those are the only markings on it, and yes it is brand new, it has never seen a hammer. It appears to have a hard face on the top about 3/4 of an inch thick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Freee!? I need more friends like yours! Looks all FISHER to me. NJanvilman can say for certain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kustomizer Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 How old is it? For the price it came with about 30 hardies. Yes he is a good friend, I do have to let him use it if he should wish, but he has access to my shop whenever he wants anyhow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 My 200lb Fisher was made in 1941. It has a 20 cast on one leg and 1941 cast across the front, the Fisher logo in on the side. I'm sure the Fisher guy will know, but it's my guess that it was made in 1973, or at least is more contemporary than mine. I don't recall when Fisher went out of business, it may be one of their last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 You anvil is a FISHER/CROSSLEY. It was made in 1973. Crossley Manufacturing took over making Fisher anvils in 1962, when the Fisher plant closed and was demolished to make way for a highway and increased parking at the NJ state complex. They used all of the Fisher equipment and some of the personel at the Crossley plant, about a mile away. Crossley produced anvils until the end of 1979. They had to shut down their iron furnace due to Federal EPA regulations. For whatever reason, they had stopped putting the Fisher name on the anvils. Your anvil has factory paint, and appears to have never been used. The face plate is actually only about 3/8" thick, the pattern had an overhang to give the appearance of a thicker plate, and to provide for grinding if the edges got chipped. Mostly it was to give the appearance of a thicker plate. You have a special anvil. There are not many NOS Fisher anvils left in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 NOS Fisher for free! wow good friend indeed. Great score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kustomizer Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 these came with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Excellent!! That is a once in a lifetime acquisition. You cannot thank your donor enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozenforge Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Wow! What an extremely generous donor. There has been a CL ad running up here for 2 hardies for $150.00 and a 90 lb multi products anvil for $800.00! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossA Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 OK, help out a newbie with the idea of a faceplate. Does this mean that most of the anvil is mild steel while there is a harder top welded on? Just learning about these things. I always figured that an anvil was just one huge piece of steel poured at a foundry. I know I have a lot to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 27 minutes ago, RossA said: OK, help out a newbie with the idea of a faceplate. Does this mean that most of the anvil is mild steel while there is a harder top welded on? Just learning about these things. I always figured that an anvil was just one huge piece of steel poured at a foundry. I know I have a lot to learn. Something like that, yes. It wasn't till pretty recently steel was inexpensive enough to make large things entirely from steel. Even hammers were wrought iron with steel faces, same for anvils. Forged wrought iron body and horn with forge welded steel face was the norm for a long LONG time. Around the turn of the last century steel production had improved to the point wrought iron was more expensive than steel so you start seeing high quality cast anvils. Some are cast high carbon steel like you envisioned, some are off the top high quality. Then there are the top shelf cast iron with a foundry welded steel face like Fisher. These are good solid work horses and best of all quiet. Where my cast steel Soderfors will make your ears ring through muffs and plugs with a missed blow you can hit a Fisher with the hammer without wearing hearing protection and maybe be annoyed. Be careful though there are cast iron anvils without steel faces that are junk, barely better than nothing as anvils. Even worse are the cheap cast iron counterfeits high quality anvils coming out of our neighbor south of the border. These are nothing better than frauds. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossA Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 So i guess looking for a brand name is a key to getting something decent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 It's a good start but lean to do the rebound test, a high quality anvil can go through fire and lose the hardness of the face without showing visible signs so you have to test. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 And what do you do if a foundry used a brand name for their mold pattern and then cast a bunch of---well I can't say "ringers" now can I... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossA Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I guess I need to find a known "good" anvil with good bounce, try it out and learn to judge the bounce, then use that knowledge when I am buying an anvil. Only problem will be finding the right anvil to learn on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 No; take a ruler; drop the ball from 10 and gauge the rebound height then you can check it against the list of 20 at anvilfire and see how it compares with the top quarter. (Or for me 80% and up) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossA Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 <Rummaging through cluttered shop to find ball bearing> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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