jdawgnc Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 So I just picked up this anvil to upgrade the old shop a little and was wondering if any of you anvil identifying geniuses could give me any ideas about this beast? The guy I got it from says he calculated the weight to between 280-330 lbs, which from handling it seems about right. I don't have a scale that goes that high... not that it really matters all that much anyway. It sings beautifully and aside from a few dings and a decent gouge on one corner of the top plate it's in amazing shape. It did have some paint and years of grease on it as well, but once I wire brushed all that off the only marking I could find was a Y stamped near the base on one side. It's been pretty abused on the sides though, as you can see, so it's very possible there were more markings that were beaten off. If you can't read the tape, it measures 12" tall, was probably 30" long originally before it got dropped and smooshed a bit on the tip there, and is 5" wide. If there are any other pics or measurements that could help let me know and I'll be happy to post them. Thanks again for any help, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beech Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 What is that o shaped thing in the right of the third picture? Is it an or part of a number or a different letter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubalcain2 Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 I'm pretty sure it's a Peter Wright. Just my two cents, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawgnc Posted January 3, 2017 Author Share Posted January 3, 2017 I'm pretty sure the O shaped thing is just a gouge. There may have been a letter there though, but if so it's been obscured Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcusb Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 I vote early hay budden with top plate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 So how many handling holes and where are they located?---The one on the front foot is a good point of distinction. What does the bottom look like? (Funny that the bottoms of anvils are a major indicator of some brands but nobody posts a picture of them when asking for ID). You do know that if you take a board and measure it and place the anvil in the middle with a block under one end (the same height of the...) and a bathroom scale under the other end the scale reading will be 1/2 the weight.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawgnc Posted January 3, 2017 Author Share Posted January 3, 2017 I'd say a total of 4 handling holes? There are the two under the horn, one on the bottom and one under the back end. The bottom is pretty flat, not concave like some I've seen I looked a little closer under a light and you can definitely see where the face is a welded plate that looks to be around 1/2" thick. Nowhere have I been able to find anything resembling a serial # or anything other than the one nice and fairly neat "Y" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Anybody near their copy of AinA to match the handling holes? The base seems to have a trace of an hourglass which would be possibly an early HB as they were often quite shallow and often worn flat---I have one that way. (But I can't check the handling holes on it as it's 200 miles away at the moment) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawgnc Posted January 3, 2017 Author Share Posted January 3, 2017 Thanks for all your help! Looking at pictures it does seem to have more in common with the HB style, and with the total lack of other distinguishing marks it would make sense that it's pretty early. The sides are pretty beat up and worn, but I think SOME trace of a serial number would remain if there ever was one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubalcain2 Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 hmm. HBs don't usually have handling holes in the feet. not that i've seen at least. C-1toolsteel, you're the HB guy, what do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Is there a number under the horn? It sort of looks like I can see one in your pictures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 The hour glass on the base does look Hay Buddeny, but I can't say more than that. The earlier HBs are harder to recognize than the later solid steel top half ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawgnc Posted January 4, 2017 Author Share Posted January 4, 2017 32 minutes ago, Fatfudd said: Is there a number under the horn? It sort of looks like I can see one in your pictures? Not that I've been able to find. I know that's a typical place they might have put one, but after a lot of cleaning nothing has popped up. I'd be really surprised if there was a string of numbers anywhere there as at least one or two should have survived. It's seen a rough bit of side hammering, clearly whoever owned it before was a firm believer in using every spot on an anvil, not just the face... but still, unless it was deliberately removed I don't think it has a serial #. Could it just be so old as to not have one? Anyone seen that Y before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 I'm not talking about the serial numbers which would be found on the front foot. I'm asking if there is a number or remnants of one right under the horn next to the handling hole just under the horn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Peter Wrights usually have flats across the top of the feet, so. I wouldn't say a PW. There is a Facebook page dedicated just to anvils, and they get some real oddballs showing up from time to time. Some of the guys are collectors and have literal tons of anvils, so you may want to pop on over there if it doesn't get figured out here. When looking at markings you can try a few things to flush them out of hiding. Chalk rubbed on then wiped off, different intensities of light and at different angles, pencil rubbings on paper, a light hand sanding/dusting with a fine grit. With all of that just looking at pictures on Google for various brands of similar weight may do it too. I would lean towards Hay Budden because they were so prolific, and had Y's in the markings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Frog Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 HB's wouldn't have a hole in the front foot. Earlier American or Dunn/Murcott, possibly. Early A&H's as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawgnc Posted January 4, 2017 Author Share Posted January 4, 2017 12 hours ago, Fatfudd said: I'm not talking about the serial numbers which would be found on the front foot. I'm asking if there is a number or remnants of one right under the horn next to the handling hole just under the horn? I just brushed it some more and couldn't find anything that resembled a number. There are a couple nice dings that theoretically could have obscured a number, but I don't think so. It's beat up, but not THAT beat up if you get my meaning. Although in a hundred plus years of hammering you never know... I did manage to find this though on the right foot as you look under the horn. It may have been an 8, or something similar, but nothing on either side, and there are no big dings that look like they may have hidden anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawgnc Posted January 4, 2017 Author Share Posted January 4, 2017 3 hours ago, Black Frog said: HB's wouldn't have a hole in the front foot. Earlier American or Dunn/Murcott, possibly. Early A&H's as well. Thanks Black Frog! After looking at other pics those handling holes do look AWFUL similar to other American's. With as much abuse as the sides have taken I could totally see that emblem being slowly ground away, even the pics of nicer ones I've been able to find tend to have a pretty faint "American" mark. Anyone with more knowledge on them maybe? Not a lot on the net I've been able to dig up so far, but I'm at work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawgnc Posted January 4, 2017 Author Share Posted January 4, 2017 Found a couple more marks! They are totally spread out and still make no sense... although the 2 could signify 200 some odd pounds. The "I" and the "Y" still baffle me though, same style of lettering on punches though, so at least there's that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 The 2 and 1 are definitely part of the weight. Even besides the stone weight system, it is very common for the numbers to be spread apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernsmith Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 With the flats on the feet visible in the first few photos, the extra handling hole between the front feet (a PW feature they used for grinding if I remember correctly) and the hundredweight numbers still visible, I would say this is a Peter Wright anvil. One that saw a lot of wear on the far side however, enough to wear off most of the markings except for the two outside hundredweight numbers. They must have had to make a lot of 90s or other work on the side to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawgnc Posted January 6, 2017 Author Share Posted January 6, 2017 Yeah, there are literally no surfaces on this anvil that don't have hammer marks. I swear they must have had it on a swivel or something and laid it over on the side at times to use it. Given that though, it's still in remarkably good shape. Only one bad gouge on the side of the face near the horn, not even much sway. Maybe all that side work kept the sides from compressing... Anyway, it looks like its a pre-1850 Peter Wright from what I've been able to mine from the interwebs. Around 1850 they started marking them as "Solid Wrought" and there is no lettering at all on this bad boy. I'm sure SOME of it would have survived if it ever existed. Anyone know much about pre-1850 PW's? I appreciate all the help so far, this has been a fun little adventure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 In your last photo, it looks to me like there are the remnants of another "1", right in the middle of the bright spot from your flash, centered between the "2" and the "1". If so, that would be "2 - 1 - 1", which would be hundredweight system markings for 253 pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Good catch JHCC. I think you're right. It's hard to tell though. I see about fifty potential 1s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Only fifty? Seriously, I would have ignored that mark entirely, if it weren't so closely centered between the "2" and the "1". If we can get jdawgnc to weigh this beastie, we'll know if we're right. (And if the weight comes in at 281 or 309, we'll know it's the remains of a "2" or a "3".) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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