G-ManBart Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 It's not like I really needed another anvil, but I saw this one, and it was too good of a deal to pass up. At the very least I thought some pictures might help someone down the road identify a similar anvil. The seller said it was his grandfather's anvil that the family believes he bought new when he went to work for the county doing blacksmithing and farrier work. According to AIA, it should be around a 1913 production, and the seller said that made sense because that was very shortly after his grandfather came to this country, and was the year one of his mother's siblings was born (an aunt or uncle...can't recall). Unfortunately, the seller doesn't have anyone to hand it down to, doesn't use it, and was short of cash. He also said he wanted to see it put to use again. He was given some bad advice on pricing, so I paid him more than what he was asking for it...only seemed fair. He was worried the chip out of the face near the table hurt the value but it didn't make me even think for a second. The right shoulder has some minor chips that should dress nicely and the left shoulder is nearly perfect. I guess that will make it more like what a lefty would like with the larger radius on the right side, but it doesn't bother me since it'll have a nice variety of radii to work with. I think the markings follow along pretty nicely with what AIA posts....the heat treat marks on the right side, the obvious weld at the waist where the solid steel top starts, inspector's number under the horn near the waist. It also has a single "2" under the horn, near the tip, which Mr. Postman mentions but has no explanation for. I've learned it's not easy to take pictures of anvils with glare and angles, but these aren't too bad. Sorry for the order of the pictures...I used my phone and redid a couple of them and the site uploads them chronologically....hence the shuffled order. Some more pics: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 Pretty sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 Photos are good with even cross lighting, overall photos, then photos of the details. The photos are well framed with a background that is not distracting or in competition with the subject. The details are legible as they are. I would like to see a second photo of each detail with a bit of flour, chalk, or baby powder in the depressions, and a strong low angle light from the side to make them pop out. Only thing you missed is the listing the marked weight and the scaled weight in the text. Nice anvil and a nice find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted August 13, 2017 Author Share Posted August 13, 2017 2 hours ago, Glenn said: Photos are good with even cross lighting, overall photos, then photos of the details. The photos are well framed with a background that is not distracting or in competition with the subject. The details are legible as they are. I would like to see a second photo of each detail with a bit of flour, chalk, or baby powder in the depressions, and a strong low angle light from the side to make them pop out. Only thing you missed is the listing the marked weight and the scaled weight in the text. Nice anvil and a nice find. Thanks Glenn...it was just too nice to pass up. I'll try pictures with chalk and side lighting to better highlight the details. It's marked as 130lbs and weighed just a touch over 125lbs on my bathroom scale. I don't know which is correct, but I've had pretty good luck using that scale to weigh packages for UPS and Fedex, so I'm going with the 125lb reading. I should add that it's 11 1/2" tall and 24" long overall. I'll try to remember to measure the face when I try the chalk pictures. I'm just tickled to have found it and can't wait to try it out! Experts feel free to chime in. Would it be smart to dress up the chip(s) near the table in the last picture so they don't get any worse? Slight correction on the sellers's family history. It was actually his great-grandfather's anvil. His name was Frank Peters and he was born in German in 1871, and later came to the U.S. It was his grandfather who was born in 1913, the same year this anvil was purchased. He even sent me a family photo that was taken in Beal City, Michigan in 1924 or 1925 when his grandfather was just a boy...very cool stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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