Hi

I just bought an old anvil. An I. Hill Birmingham (Isaac Hill?). Its without a horn. Anyone knows why? Its 0 3 27 st./ 111lb / 50kg. Gonna take off rest of paint and maybe fix the edges. But it seems in fairly good condition. Was lucky to get it for 50£. Height is 28cm , 32cm long and 10cm wide.

Cheers

 

Welcome to the forum!

That's a beautiful anvil and you got it at a great price, congrats! That could be a saw doctors anvil but some anvils were just made without horns if the client requested one. You can't fix those edges, they're not broken. Put the anvil to work before making any modifications and then only change things that have a direct impact on the quality of the work you produce.

 

Hey....

Thank you and thanks Its very good advise. Ill get right at it

more anvils have been ruined by people fixing them than anything else, there is nothing wrong with those edges and one thing you dont want is sharp edges.

and you dont want to take any metal off the top

if you are local call in sometime or see me at an event, this weekend im at stratford on avon racecourse doing some demos

It's a beautiful anvil.  I've done quite a bit of research on Isaac Hill anvils as I own one myself.  Yours appears to be very similar to mine in the shape of the body and base (mine has a bick though).  For some reason the edges on those seem to hold up.  I really like yours without the bick...it seems so utilitarian.  I wish I owned it to go with mine.  The maker's marks are identical.  Enjoy it!  It needs nothing but a solid base to start working.

 

On 22/09/2016 at 9:17 PM, the iron dwarf said:

if you are local call in sometime or see me at an event, this weekend im at stratford on avon racecourse doing some demos

Would love to, but I live in Denmark. Spending the weekend building a forge. But thanks for the advise!
 

 

On 23/09/2016 at 4:39 AM, Lou L said:

It's a beautiful anvil.  I've done quite a bit of research on Isaac Hill anvils as I own one myself.  Yours appears to be very similar to mine in the shape of the body and base (mine has a bick though).  For some reason the edges on those seem to hold up.  I really like yours without the bick...it seems so utilitarian.  I wish I owned it to go with mine.  The maker's marks are identical.  Enjoy it!  It needs nothing but a solid base to start working.
 

I love anvils! They are so manly Yours is beautyful as well. Just got a solid base, so today ill work it for first time

As stated before that is a great looking anvil and the edges are in great shape.  Don't do any thing to them.  If there is a spot with a sharp chip you can hit it with a 80 or 120 flap disc but use it just enough to soften the chip area.  That is it.  If you need a sharp edge make a hardy block.  

On 23/09/2016 at 5:17 AM, the iron dwarf said:

more anvils have been ruined by people fixing them than anything else, there is nothing wrong with those edges and one thing you dont want is sharp edges.

and you dont want to take any metal off the top

if you are local call in sometime or see me at an event, this weekend im at stratford on avon racecourse doing some demos

I was thinking of fixing up the face on my anvil because there's dents and cracks in the face.

I've been talked out of it because if I'm unlucky I might "crack" the anvil.

 

you are unlikely to crack it but you would almost certainly make it a lot softer where you want it hard.

tap lightly round any suspect areas on the face and mark with chalk where it sounds different, then in future avoid hammering near those areas.

post a picture when you have marked it

You have what is often called a "Double Arch" anvil.  It is not a saw anvil.  Many early anvils were made without a horn.

Do not "fix" anything on the anvil.  It has survived over 150 years as is.  You will ruin it.  Use it gently, or just take the rest of the paint off and admire it.  And join the ranks of anvil collectors, those of us preserving our industrial past.  

It is a wonderful piece.