I'm in PA this weekend visiting family and decided to take a look on the local Craigslist...this PW was only 10 miles away, so I contacted the seller and picked it up.  The pictures aren't great because it was raining, but I'll take some when I get it home.  It's marked 2-2-25 and has a 9 on the left side of the front foot, but I can't see any other marks aside from Peter Wright Patent.  It has great rebound and ring, essentially no sway, and really just a bit of edge deformation that should be easy to clean up.

The seller said he got it years ago when he bought the entire contents of an auto repair shop nearby that had been in business for decades....pretty cool.

 

Nice one, good score

George

I don't see anything on the edge that needs cleaning up.  What do you intend to do to "clean it up"?

It has rested long enough. Take it home and put it to work. Congratulations. 

Remember the deal included free shipping. Tie that thing down against the headboard of the truck bed real well before you get out on the road.

Excellent just the way she is. I wouldn't do anything to her except hit hot metal to keep her happy. Good score by the way. Just to be nosy, how much did you get set back for her?

Aw look it's crying happy tears to be rescued and put back to work!

Sweet score!

Frosty The Lucky.

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

I don't see anything on the edge that needs cleaning up.  What do you intend to do to "clean it up"?

The pictures don't show it well, but there's some mushrooming on the edge that caused a couple of jagged, sharp edges.  I was just thinking of getting rid of the sharp edges so I don't slice myself open.

Yeah buddy! Great haul!  I'm with you on cleaning up the mushrooming. As I'm sure you know, just be sure to go slow and don't take too much off. At most just take off enough to bring that deformed area back to square with the body, if possible and if not round off the sharp edges that are liable to chip off. I use a rather worn out flap disk when I've got to do it. 

3 hours ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

Excellent just the way she is. I wouldn't do anything to her except hit hot metal to keep her happy. Good score by the way. Just to be nosy, how much did you get set back for her?

I don't plan to do anything other than the slightest touchup where the mushrooming left a jagged edge.  I'll post a picture of the area when I get it home in good light.

I paid $900...pretty happy with that!  

You should be. 

OK but remember that sharp edges tend to leave cold shuts in the work pieces and rounded edges to work better.

I have a 125 year old smithing book that basically says: is anyone stupid enough to think an anvil should have sharp edges?

Of course they were using real wrought iron which suffers even more from this problem...

Here's a pic of the area I'm talking about...from the original CL post.  It wasn't taken to show the edge, but you'll get the idea.

 

That should clean off with a worn flap disk. No point leaving it as it is.

Good score! polish the top with some hot steel and some elbow grease ...

yup removal is indicated but not to a sharp edge, rounded is preferable 

It looks in great shape.

If its anything like the one in my brother in law's garage, the mechanics only use it for clonking cold metal and rounding/flaring exhaust pipes by pushing them onto the end of the bick and tapping around. Great work for mushrooming and bruising.

Ranchmanben and Marc1, I don't understand your "worn" flap disk description. Unless you mean "broken in"? Either way I don't see the advantage over a new one, they are designed to have a consistent cutting rate until worn out... please explain.

Alan

I attended the shutting down auction of an Auto Repair company that had been in business in the same shop since 1918.  They had a  blacksmithing setup and woodworking tools from back in the day when there were needed for car repairs, (and pushed to the side with junk piled on top of them afterwards)  The Shaper had a 1" spindle shaft! I bought the postvise, 6 inches and it had been in use the whole time as it has a beautiful "hammered" patina all over the top of it.

I think a lot of tool abuse occurs when they are no longer used for their original functions but get reused for other things just because they are there---like the welding/air arcing/cutting damage seen on so many anvils.

15 hours ago, Alan Evans said:

Ranchmanben and Marc1, I don't understand your "worn" flap disk description. Unless you mean "broken in"? Either way I don't see the advantage over a new one, they are designed to have a consistent cutting rate until worn out... please explain.

I guess broken it would be a better description. I mean one that the edge is rounded and isn't going to take off too much material at a time. It's pretty easy to take off more than you want or grind in a groove with a brand new 80 grit flap disk. 

"Less aggressive"   ?

Really, it's not about the disk. It's more about being careful and not going overboard. As often is done here, this information is not necessarily directed at Bart but to anyone else reading this who might be new to smithing and think they need to do a lot of clean up/grinding on their newly purchased, previously owned anvil. As you all know, not all grinding is bad but it could be easy for someone who's never had an anvil before to get carried away trying to "bring this anvil back to life". I've often read the suggestion that people should spend a year getting to know their anvil before doing any sort of modification and I agree with this. But a little bit of work on an anvil like this is more of a safety issue and any grinding on an anvil should be done with care lest more damage be done than good. That's why I suggested a worn out, broken in or less aggressive disk. 

I think its a good idea to remove the rag forming on the side. I have found that it will eventually lead to spalling, taking a chunk with it. So as with the struck end of tools, keep it dressed and avoid those issues. 

 

I 100% agree with the note of caution about tidying up an anvil...and yes it took me many years to get to know some of the uses for the blemishes on mine. And hopefully I will find more in the future.

What I 100% disagree with is the premise of using worn cutting tools as some form of safety measure. Especially for beginners. Old hands can make allowances and get away with it but it is not something I would ever advise beginners to do.

If your flap disc is too aggressive...use one with a finer grit. 

A soft edge / broken in flap disc can help blend the ends of the ground area but an overly worn/bevelled/rounded one is very difficult to sense where it is contacting and cutting, again especially for a beginner.

I think you have far less control with a worn or dull tool and much more control if you are using a sharp tool/fresh disc because you are not having to push hard to make it work. You can concentrate fully on what effect the tool is doing rather than putting energy into the process. The tool is not under stress nor is the wielder.

You are far more likely to make a mistake through over pressure with a worn disc, than a fresh disc used lightly.

Alan

Got home and took a couple of better pics.  All I was considering doing was to remove the jagged parts to leave a rounded edge that wouldn't be likely to chip.

I tested the rebound again after unloading it and it's got to be at least 85%....barely have to move your hand to catch the ball bearing.  

 

8 hours ago, Ranchmanben said:

I guess broken it would be a better description. I mean one that the edge is rounded and isn't going to take off too much material at a time. It's pretty easy to take off more than you want or grind in a groove with a brand new 80 grit flap disk. 

I spend a lot of time running a grinder with various grit flap discs, so I know exactly what you're talking about.  When I clean up the "anvil" portion of a bench vise I run through a series of flap discs, and the exact order depends on how bad the marks are.  Typically it's something like newer 80 grit, then a worn 80 grit, then a new 120 grit, then a worn 120 grit and then a unitized wheel which is really like compressed scotch-brite on a wheel.  I'm planning to do a write-up for the process here sooner or later.  Here's a quick before and after of a typical project....not the greatest pics, but gives an idea when looking at the sides of the jaw towers and the "anvil" area.

That's a beauty of a bullet vise. Have I seen that on Instagram?

I once traded a Wilton Cadet bullet vise for a 165 pound HB---great trade as both sides though they got the best of the deal!  (I had US$ 15 in the vise. and so threw in $100 as boot and still felt guilty!)