May 3, 201610 yr I have a mouse hole anvil 112lbs how do i know when it was made? The third pic there is some numbers but i cant read them the 4 pic is where the numbers are located and how would i price this? Any help will be greatly appreciated
May 3, 201610 yr Price will depend a lot on what country you are in and can vary by more than a dollar a pound just on where in the USA it's at for example---I don't know how the prices range in Australia if that's where you are at. (WORLD WIDE WEB) Does it have a pritchel hole? they generally became standard in the 1820's; but some older ones had them retrofitted. Without more details I would say 19th century and probably second half as the feet are not real small and sharp. Anvils generally don't get a plus on age until before 1800; I still use one from 1828 in my shop on a regular basis. Should be weight stamped in the CWT system: leftmost number x 112 plus middle number x 28 (and can only be 0,1,2,3) plus rightmost number (and it can only be 0-27) Is that 112 a weighed number or just what you were told? I can't get 112 out of the numbers I can see. "guessed weights" are often wrong for anvils which is why we suggest weighing them. Lastly there is no picture of the face of the anvil---that's like trying to sell a car without telling us if the engine runs! Forgot to mention the ball bearing test to check if the anvil has been annealed in a structure fire---drops the price hugely!
May 3, 201610 yr That looks like the older brother of my 75lb anvil; If you're in the DC/MD/VA area, PM me, if you're looking to sell... Regards, RF
May 15, 201610 yr On 5/3/2016 at 0:01 PM, ThomasPowers said: Forgot to mention the ball bearing test to check if the anvil has been annealed in a structure fire---drops the price hugely! Have you ever tried to harden & temper an anvil surface? I read about it I believe in Forge-Practice and Heat Treatment of Steel by John Lord Bacon. Looking for the chapter now. I was thinking about trying it with a piece of rail to practice.
May 15, 201610 yr Alexander Weygers gives instructions for hardening and annealing a rail anvil on pages 177-8 of The Complete Modern Blacksmith.
May 16, 201610 yr Thanks I'll check it out, I have that book too. Been saving ash for a while, mostly from the charcoal grill.
April 25, 20179 yr You can determine the age by the order of the words I have one similar and it was made in 1820-1835 it is orderd like this. M&H Armatige mouse hole ....... The numbers on the bottom is British stone weight -Jonathan
June 30, 20178 yr Anvils don't usually get much of a plus for age until they get before 1800. Lots of "old" ones out there.
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