I got a chance to get a anvil for a "good" price. It was covered with
a lot of rust. After a lot of wire brushing I could read on the side that
it said Peter Wright Patent pend. In a circle it said Solid ?????? something.
Under this in large stamped numbers was a 108.The anvil looks in pretty
good shape. 1/16" off face would take care of all nicks. all edges are
pretty well rounded. horn a little nicked but looks good. Can anyone
tell me anything about quality of this? Would it be worth it to take
to machine shop to mill face? Friend who gave me the anvil thought
it could be at least 80 years old.
Thanks

Any idea of the weight of the anvil?

Did you see any numbers under the Peter Wright name between the middle of the waist and the foot of the anvil? There should be 3 separate numbers and the last number may be 2 digits.

If you can not get that anvil (for some reason), I know of another one in your area for sale.

peter wright is a good anvil i would clean the face a little with belt sander and use it!! dont bother to completely clean it till your doing really fancy work ( a little pitting ads carecter) if the price is right and you decide to get another you can sell it .

Your anvil is a Solid Wrought Iron anvil and the numbers are english stone weight which if I am not mistaken should weigh about 120 lbs.The number one is number of hundred weight which is actually 112lbs the second number is quarters of one hundred weight or 112lbs divided by 4 and the third is lbs.So by one you have 112lbs 0 no quarter weight and 8 actual lbs totaling 120lbs.Maybe some other fellow members can tell for sure because I think the hundred weight is actually 112lbs but might be wrong on that.As for taking it to a machine shop to have it milled I personally wouldnt bother since it doesnt sound as if it is to bad considering the anvil is 80 yrs old most of the nicks wont hurt anything and add character to it .To keep it perfect probably means you arent using it.The rounded edges are ok to me since I don't want them square and sharp. Most anvils I have seen go for $2 to $3 per pound so anything better is a bonus.Hope this helps you out and maybe other members can tell you on the 108 numbers since I'm not sure on the exact hundred weight.Good luck sounds like a good deal on a good anvil if the price is right.

112lbs is a hundred weight

A 1 0 8 anvil is 120 pounds. Yes a hundredweight (cwt) is 112 pounds or 1/20 of a ton. A 120 pound is a nice weight for a mid sized anvil.

Don't take it anywhere near a machine shop. Just clean her up with a belt sander and leave it at that. She will be great.

I missed the weight in his post.

Ron,
I have a Peter Wright and I like it. As others have said don't take it to a machine shop just clean it up and use it. You will more than likely add a ding or two to it before your done:)

John

Thank you for all your help. This is one of the few forums I have ever
used that really makes a newbie feel comfortable and want to become
more involved in blacksmithing.

I have a friend who took his anvil to a machine shop and had the face milled down flat and smooth---it was also then too thin to be able to do much smithing on; he recently spent 6 hours having it built back up by a professional welder using $10 a pound material.

Another fellow took his anvil to a machine shop and they fastened it down to the mill and then milled the face parallet to the bottom; unfortunately the anvil had been hand forged between open dies and the face had never been parallel to the bottom. So they took off irreplacable face material all the way to the wrought iron in places to make it parallel to the plain old wrought iron base.

Horror stories to be sure but *NEVER* assume a machinist knows squat about anvils. If you absolutely must have the face milled---a beltsander finish won't do, make sure they bolt it face down first and make the bottom parallel to the top and then flip it over and just kiss it lightly.

Note that most knife makers like a little sway in the anvil face---makes it a lot easier to straighten things as you have to go slightly to far so it will bounce back to straight. Also sharp edges can result in cold shuts in your work. If you have to have a sharp edge for a particular process, you can make a hardy tool with one!

What it boils down to is "First Do No Harm" to your anvil. I bought one that had fine pitting all over it from sitting in a damp location with condensing water on it during temp swings. I did nothing and using it is slowly polishing out the face.