November 25, 20178 yr Hi All, The main reason I ask the question is because I picked up an anvil to add to the collection and as you can see it doesn't have a pritchel hole. I'm mainly trying to work out the age/period it was made more than the maker. It was buried amongst the floor stock in a second hand/antiques shop and was shown to me by one of the assistants after I did a small blacksmithing job for her (TPAAT at work). It is well used and the edge of the deck has been mushroomed so I may have to grind that off to stop any more damage to the deck. Otherwise it is in good condition for its age. A good work over with a cup brush has failed to make any makers marks or weight stamps distinguishable but it does weight in at 340#. It looks more like a Wilkinson or Attwood shape than the other english makers bit it could have been made by an one of over a hundred makers. Anyone want to take a guess? Andrew
November 26, 20178 yr I believe it was 1820 though I may be off. sometime around there, wait for others to chime in until you take my word for it though. littleblacksmith
November 26, 20178 yr ah yes, I think you are right JHCC. Thank you for the correction. I have an 1837 mouse hole and it has a pritchel. Littleblacksmith
November 28, 20178 yr Author Thankyou both for your replies, that makes it near 200 years old, and its still going strong. I'm planning to get stuck into it with the cup brush again and see if I can find some makers marks to try and identify it. There are some dings that could be stamped letters amongst the chisel marks but a couple of coats of paint are in the way. I'll post if I find anything. Andrew
November 28, 20178 yr Always remember that you could order an anvil without them even 100 years later as a custom job; so configuration plays a part too: robust body, small sharp feet, small horn are all features you are looking for in an *old* anvil
December 1, 20178 yr In my earlier post I said I have a mousehole, I forgot, it is actually a William Foster. Littleblacksmith
December 1, 20178 yr 26 minutes ago, littleblacksmith said: In my earlier post I said I have a mousehole, I forgot, it is actually a William Foster. Horrors!
December 1, 20178 yr On 11/30/2017 at 8:43 PM, JHCC said: Horrors! I know! I guess you know, 'cause mouseholes are king, I must have just wanted it to be a mousehole so much that I thought I had one. Littleblacksmith
December 1, 20178 yr I commend you both for your burgeoning self-knowledge and for your deepening understanding of the hierarchy of anvil qualities.
December 2, 20178 yr Author Got it mounted on a stand, gave it a good going over with a cup brush and still no sign of any stamps and I think it ticks all the boxes for "robust body, small sharp feet, small horn are all features you are looking for in an *old* anvil". I carefully took the mushroomed edge back until I hit supported metal so that should help stop the edge beaking any further and then got some metal hot and gave it a workout. Lots of rust puffing off with each blow and then the face started to come clean. Nice to get an old tool working again and thankyou to all the gentlement who have contributed to this thread. Andrew PS: I have a mousehole as well, 250# SOHO pattern with only one hardy hole in the heel end
December 4, 20178 yr On 11/30/2017 at 9:39 PM, ThomasPowers said: what's the date on your WF again? 1837. Why? Littleblacksmith
December 4, 20178 yr On 12/2/2017 at 4:06 PM, Farmweld said: Andrew PS: I have a mousehole as well, 250# SOHO pattern with only one hardy hole in the heel end Well stop teasing us we need pictures!
December 9, 20178 yr Author Whatever age it is it still worked well yesterday when a few people came overforan afternoon play. Pictures of the mousehole
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