OUjeffscar Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 I have been haunting the forum for a while, but haven't had a need to post until now. My sone is a college freshman and has decided to pursue forging. We have been looking for an anvil for the past month or so, but I didn't want to spend too much until Iknow if this is a passing fad or not. Well today I took a chance and stopped in a likely looking machine shop out in the country and the owner had a few anvils and was willing to sell one. I think it cast as it has a raised 7 and 0 on the base under the horn, but it had a thick plate and seemed to have decent rebound and the price was right so I bought it. Any help with ID would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EJRailRoadTrack Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 I would say it's a PW BUT there's no handling holes so I think it's cast and does not have a face plate. Are you SURE there's a face plate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozenforge Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Looks like a Vulcan to me. Need a better picture of the side when horn is pointing to the right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Looks like a vulcan or badger. better pictures would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUjeffscar Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 I plan to clean it up with a wire wheel brush when I get off work this afternoon. After I have cleaned it up, I will post new pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUjeffscar Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 So I cleaned up the anvil with a wire brush and took new pictures. The only markings I could see are raised. It looks like a 70 and maybe a 56. For sure a 6, but not sure on the 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUjeffscar Posted May 12, 2016 Author Share Posted May 12, 2016 In addition to determining the ID, I would appreciate any input as to whether or not this anvil would be sufficient for my son to learn on. After getting it cleaned up, it seems like the face and edges are pretty rough. I know I have read on here, that almost always the reply to, "should I have this anvil repaired" is use if for a year and then decide, but this anvil is a little rougher than the majority of anvils I have seen asked about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 The face of that anvil is pretty trashed. Whenever someone counsels using the anvil for a year, it's because the anvil has a pretty smooth surface and you can work around the defects. Your anvil is altogether different because there isn't any smooth-ish area over the waist of the anvil. If it is just an abused Vulcan, it'll have a tool steel face on it and you would probably be better served by having the grooves filled in by a good welder. Some of those grooves look entirely too deep to grind through. The Gunter Method of anvil repair is tried and true, but is it worth the cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUjeffscar Posted May 12, 2016 Author Share Posted May 12, 2016 I work with a very good welder. Is it feasible to have him fill the grooves and then take it to a local machine shop and have them mill the face flat and re-bevel the edges? The welding would be free and I think the machine shop would cut me a good deal as we do a lot of business with them. At least then it would be usable until we determine if my son is going to stick with it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John in Oly, WA Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 If that color differentiation is any indicator, it looks like the tool steel face is plenty thick to do a little milling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUjeffscar Posted May 12, 2016 Author Share Posted May 12, 2016 That's exactly what I was thinking, but I'm a woodworker and really don't know anything about anvils. On the plus side of this, I just talked to the owner of the machine shop my company does a lot of business with (the place where I was planning on taking the anvil to have it milled) and he has what he thinks is a 150 to 200 lb anvil that he never uses and is willing to sell. His son knows where it is and is out today, so I won't be able to go see it until tomorrow. This anvil hunting business is very interesting, I can hardly wait to go see what he has! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John in Oly, WA Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Lucky you! I'd have trouble sleeping in anticipation. But I'm not addicted to this blacksmithing thing AT ALL...really! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaylee Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 I'm really glad you're fairly hesitant to attempt repairs. Also just because the guy you know is a good welder, that doesn't mean he knows how to handle welding on an anvil without trashing the rebound. I don't know how to do it properly, but I at least know that I don't know. With as much agreeing that repairs may be in order for this anvil from others, I'd still recommend waiting for a few more of the curmudgeons to chime in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John in Oly, WA Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 What Kaylee said! Very good advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 The difference in colors is not an indication of the thickness of the top plate. That anvil looks like either a vulcan or a badger, That being the case then the top plate is probably less thick than the chipping of the edges. If you just want something to pound on then go ahead and have it welded but realize that you won't have any more rebound than a piece of mild steel. The top plates on most anvils even very large anvils rarely exceeded 5/8" . On vulcans it was usually only 1/4" or less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 Looking at the new photos more closely---Has someone re-welded along the sides of what would have been the top plate and then ground those flat? The chipping doesn't always seem to follow over the edge and the top of the chipping when looking from the side seems to be weld bead. Is this already a bad repair job? Might just be my eyes at the end of a long week.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUjeffscar Posted May 14, 2016 Author Share Posted May 14, 2016 Thanks for all the input! Friday the 13th turned out to be a really good day. Before I tell you about that, I want to post a little about the cast iron anvil. The top plate is about 1 1/8" thick. The anvil only has about 50% rebound. I didn't know what good rebound was until I went and looked at the anvil the machine shop had, which I mentioned in my previous post. I decided to go ahead and have the cast iron anvil top plate machined flat. Probably will take off less than 1/8". Then my son can use it as a spare. Now for what made a really good day. I went to the machine shop and after discussing the plan for the cast iron anvil, the owner took me back to see the anvil he had. It was about 4 times the size of the cast iron anvil and and it was steel. The anvil face was in decent shape. When I asked how much he wanted for it, he said since my son was just getting started he would take $100 for it. He knew that anvils go for upwards of $2.00 per pound, but he is a really good guy and I think he liked the idea that my 18 year old son had an interest in metal working. Needless to say I bought it. One more thing about the owner, when I asked him how much the machining would be for the cast iron anvil. He said not to worry about it, that he was glad to help my son out. Again I need help as to the anvil ID. The only marking I could find on the anvil is a H on the left foot under the horn. The anvil's face is 5 1/2" X 24". The overall length is 37". The height is 14 3/4". Just guessing I would think the anvil weighs between 250 and 350 lbs. The guys at my shop decided to run an angle grinder over the face without consulting me, which I was really bummed about. So now my son is going to sand out the angle grinder marks with a random orbital sander. Sorry for for such a long post, but there was a lot to cover. Any help as to the ID and weight would again be much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 Edges of cast anvils can be deceiving. Talking to Josh about Fisher anvils at one of the PABA meetings he mentioned that Fisher used to deliberately cast a "step" under the tool steel plate that makes the top look like it's thicker than it actually is. Like so many things it's all about perception and marketing... People think bigger is better, but why waste money when it's not needed if you can make them think it's better than it is? What most people see as a thick plate is mostly just a sightly wider cast iron section just under the steel plate. He was showing this on Fisher in the shop where the plate had slightly shifted in the pour and you could easily see the true plate line above the area that looked like a thick "plate" cast in the iron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUjeffscar Posted May 14, 2016 Author Share Posted May 14, 2016 I hope this okay, but I am going to start a new post in regard to the large anvil. Hopefulluy I will get some more input as to it's ID and it's weight. I think it may be a PW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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