Pat the Newbie Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 I've been looking for an anvil for quite some time, and due to a local studio closing down and selling off it's equipment, I was able to finally land one yesterday. Can any of you help me ID it, or let me know what I got for my money? I haven't done a ball bearing test yet, as I don't have one at hand, but the marking on the side says "Best Swedish Solid Cast Steel Made in Sweden", stamped around a maker's mark that I can't quite make out. It looks like a P and a T, with some type of bird on top of the logo... a rooster, perhaps? On the front of the bas, under the horn, it's marked either 199 lbs, or 192, I can't quite tell. Pictures attached. Any info on the brand, age, or quality of the anvil is much appreciated. I'm incredibly excited to get started with a new hobby I've been aching to get into for years. Thanks in advance for any assistance. *edit* I'm not sure why the pics all rotated 90 degrees when I uploaded... if anyone can advise on that I'll be happy to fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Frog Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Soderfors. Top notch anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Welcome aboard Pat, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many IFI members live within visiting distance. You'll learn more in a day with an experienced smith than maybe weeks figuring it out yourself. Ayup, it sure looks like a Soderfors. As good an anvil as ever made, anywhere any time. Wear ear defenders using it, a missed blow especially on heal or horn will make your ears ring anyway. Be careful not to miss and strike heavy blows on the edges, it will chip and the flying chips will hit you like jagged bullets. Eye protection is a must any time you're doing anything in the shop. I've been hit by flying debris sweeping the floor you only get two eyes. I've stopped mounting anvils on wood blocks, tripod steel stands have too many advantages over wood but most of all they really quiet an anvil down. My 125lb Soderfors, sorceress #5 used to make my ears ring through ear plugs and muffs after a day at the anvil. Now it just has a nice attractive anvil ring, spectators at Demos can associate with a "real LIVE!" blacksmith without it making them wince. SWEET SCORE! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat the Newbie Posted June 5, 2016 Author Share Posted June 5, 2016 2 hours ago, Black Frog said: Soderfors. Top notch anvil. Great to know, thanks for the reply! I'd love to find out more about it... I'm going to contact the seller to see if she has any info, but my hunch from talking with her yesterday is that she doesn't know a great deal about its origins. I paid $500 for it, and another $200 for some tongs, hammers, and a quench tank. The dimensions are: 4.5" wide x 16.5" long flat face. 1.75" step, and 9.25" horn. I feel like the price was reasonable, especially since it's not something I can go buy at the corner store. Do you have any idea what it might be worth? 4 minutes ago, Frosty said: Welcome aboard Pat, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many IFI members live within visiting distance. You'll learn more in a day with an experienced smith than maybe weeks figuring it out yourself. Ayup, it sure looks like a Soderfors. As good an anvil as ever made, anywhere any time. Wear ear defenders using it, a missed blow especially on heal or horn will make your ears ring anyway. Be careful not to miss and strike heavy blows on the edges, it will chip and the flying chips will hit you like jagged bullets. Eye protection is a must any time you're doing anything in the shop. I've been hit by flying debris sweeping the floor you only get two eyes. I've stopped mounting anvils on wood blocks, tripod steel stands have too many advantages over wood but most of all they really quiet an anvil down. My 125lb Soderfors, sorceress #5 used to make my ears ring through ear plugs and muffs after a day at the anvil. Now it just has a nice attractive anvil ring, spectators at Demos can associate with a "real LIVE!" blacksmith without it making them wince. SWEET SCORE! Frosty The Lucky. Thanks, Frosty! Great to be here... I've been lurking for a little while, and this place is definitely an invaluable resource. I'm in Philadelphia, PA, and will be working in my yard, so I'm definitely going to look into a tripod stand if it will help with noise reduction like you say. I don't need the whole neighborhood hating me if it isn't necessary lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Pat; you are asking the world that question: Do you want the answer in pesos, pounds, euros, rupiah, rand, yen,...? For example Anvil prices can vary by 50% just depending on where in the USA you are much less the over 100 different countries that participate in this WORLD WIDE WEB forum. So for in the USA $2-$6 a pound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 If you've been lurking a while you've seen me say this before. Put your general location in the header, just telling us in one post isn't going to stick in our minds once we open another one. $500 is a lot less than what I spent for mine. You need to post pics of the tongs, hammers and ancillary loot for us to opine about that part of the deal. Almost nobody knows the story behind anvils, we kind of obsess sometimes but that's us. Usually when a school or studio closes down the people you're talking to are bean counters or mid management types and they have no use for people to do things with tools. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat the Newbie Posted June 5, 2016 Author Share Posted June 5, 2016 3 minutes ago, Frosty said: If you've been lurking a while you've seen me say this before. Put your general location in the header, just telling is in one post isn't going to stick in our minds once we open another one. $500 is a lot less than what I spent for mine. You need to post pics of the tongs, hammers and ancillary loot for us to opine about that part of the deal. Frosty The Lucky. I can read... I'm only seeing an option to edit my most recent post. It isn't giving me an edit option on my initial post, so I'm not sure how to edit the header at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 edit function times out quickly on this site. I suggest putting a "general" location in your profile so everytime you post it's taken care of automatically. See mine or Frosty's for example; BF's not so much as you need to be aware of US trivia to know where cheeseheads hide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat the Newbie Posted June 6, 2016 Author Share Posted June 6, 2016 Gotcha, I updated my profile with location info. Here are pics of the tongs, hammers, and quench tank I picked up. I feel like I paid a bit much for them... $200, but I'm not too worried about it since it seems like I did well on the anvil itself. The tank is roughly 22" tall and 12" diameter. The tongs are 17"-20" long, in 1/2", and 1" sizes, marked "OCP Made in USA", and the unmarked pair has a flat grip. The large hammer is a 4 pounder I already owned. Just picked up the ball peen, which I'd put at 2#, and the other is 2.5 or 3#. All in all thought I think it's a decent starter kit. Next up is building a forge, which I'm reading up on now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 all in all you got a very good deal, now get to work and show us what you can make! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 Good Morning, OCP Tongs, Off-Center Products. Made in Tacoma Washington by Grant Sarver. Grant used 1045 Steel for his Tongs. DO NOT QUENCH them when they get hot. Put them down and let them Air Cool. Grant had a Life-Time warranty on his Tools. He died of an Anurism in 2012. Blacksmith Depot (Kayne and Sons) have all his Tooling and are making his product line. They are Excellent Quality. Put the keyboard down and get to making something with your Forge and Tooling. Start with simple S-Hooks. Draw out a taper, Square-Octagonal-Round, SOR. Wear your Ear Muffins, the Swedish Anvils sing loud. Enjoy the Journey. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 You did good. Grant made good stuff I miss the heck out of him. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I started out forging in my back yard in Society Hill. Coal smoke was more an issue than noise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.