Ugotit22 Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Hi Everyone Im new to the forum thank you in advance for any information you all can provide me with. I have been searching for the better part of a month for an anvil for my little brother as an xmas present. He recently got a house with a very nice barn and wanted to start blacksmithing. He has a small make shift anvil from a RR track but wanted something better. The only thing I new going into my search was to make sure the anvil had a nice ring and was steel. I picked one up for him today that I think will suffice, however I wanted some input from knowledgeable people. It weighs 283lbs including the wooden base. The dimensions are 25L, 25W, 11L Only marking on it are the numbers 1 3 13 There looks to be some sort of insignia on a side but it appears to be faded long ago. I have included pics as well as a video so you guys can hear how it sounds. Thanks again for any input you may have. I hope I got him a nice one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Well the good news is that I do not know of any ASO, (Anvil Shaped Object) that was weight marked with the CWT system. It was made in England and should weigh close to: 1 x 112 + 3 x 28 + 13 for a total of 209 pounds without the base. How did you weigh it? The bad news was that there were several hundred anvil manufacturers in England often making very similar anvils and so without a marking the best you can do is it's "like" a certain brand of anvil. The best news is that the proof of the anvil is in the USING not the Name and so if it has a good clear ring and a good rebound it's a top quality anvil no matter who the maker was! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ugotit22 Posted December 13, 2017 Author Share Posted December 13, 2017 Thank you for the info. I weighed it on a normal house scale so I'm sure the weight was off. That's pretty interesting it was made in England. The gentleman I purchased it from said he got it from his buddy in 1970. Apparently he was a blacksmith for the town of New Haven for 50 years and this was his anvil. The seller used it sparingly over the next 40+ years. Does the sound and rebound look good from the video? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Wow, what a nice brother you are!! When starting out I would have been super happy if someone in my family had purchased me an anvil like this one. The ring and rebound look very good and the edges are pretty clean. That fact that it comes with a fitted base is a huge plus for your brother. He can basically start forging on it. You did good!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ugotit22 Posted December 13, 2017 Author Share Posted December 13, 2017 I can't take all the credit all our siblings are going in on it as well. I was concerned bc the price seemed to good to be true. From my limited research I gathered they go for anywhere from 500-100+ depending on condition in this size. I only paid $200 for it. Thanks again for the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 I'd say you did good on the deal and I'm sure he will love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 For more than 50 years the "going rate" for a good anvil was US$1 a pound. Some of the old folks will still sell at that rate; but it's getting very rare. There has been sort of an anvil bubble going on lately since the TV shows have brought in a massive wave of buyers with no history of the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will W. Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 And also a massive amount of sellers seeing that wave of buyers, and looking to make a quick buck off of their ignorance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 You got a smoking deal at $200. You might bring tears to his eyes seeing he's now using a piece of railroad track. I still say that you get "siblings of the year" in this community of blacksmiths. Santa is just glad that you are the one who will have to deliver that present Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ugotit22 Posted December 14, 2017 Author Share Posted December 14, 2017 is there any special way I should clean it up before I give it up him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John in Oly, WA Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 Wire wheel in a drill would clean it up without doing damage. Just don't use a grinder on it. Maybe wipe the sides down with linseed oil after the wire brush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 Never know after cleaning it with a wire wheel, you may see other markings that would lead to the maker. Even a very light partial marking helps. Look on the foot below the horn, some makers put a serial number there. Either way, I say ya done good and I'd be happy to call you brother. BTW: welcome to the forum. If you edit your profile to show your location you may be surprised how many members are near you and some answers are location dependent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ugotit22 Posted December 15, 2017 Author Share Posted December 15, 2017 Is it safe to just use a normal hand wire brush on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 Yup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 I'm not sure I would clean it up for him. If you do it to your liking, it might not be to his. I also think that it will make him appreciate the nice gift all the more to clean it and make it his own. Me personally, I'd rather do the cleaning so I can decide how much patina I want or if I want to do anything else to it. I've seen some anvils on craigs list that were over-cleaned and looked like a shiny new nickel. Please know that no type of cleaning will hurt the anvil's performance, just the look of it. If you are set on cleaning it, a wire wheel attachment to an angle grinder works really well. It takes all the surface rust off without removing much of the patina. This top picture is my anvil before cleaning. As you can see, there was a lot more rust on my anvil compared to yours. Here's the same anvil after the angle grinder clean-up and oiling with a rag dampened with clean 10W-30 engine oil. After cleaning I found the weight stamped on it and other markings. This took about 3 hours of constant work to get it to this condition. With a hand held wire brush it would take quite a bit longer I imagine. Keep in mind, this was the look I was going for but other smiths here may not care for it or see the need to clean their anvils at all. They work just fine without any cleaning. Like others said, don't do any grinding on it with anything! Once you grind metal off the hardened steel top you've shortened the life of the anvil. The top will polish up with use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ugotit22 Posted December 15, 2017 Author Share Posted December 15, 2017 Thanks for all the info. I think I'm gonna clean it up for him. He'll appreciate it. Plus he's a bit of a history buff so if I could get some more markings out of it I'm sure he'll be pumped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 I forgot to tell you that after you are done with the wire wheel cleaning, you need to wash the whole anvil with soap and water really well to get all the rust dust off and out of all the crevices before oiling. That's a really important step as oiling with the rust dust on there will just be a mess. Good luck and be sure to post a picture after you get it cleaned up so we can see all your hard work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ugotit22 Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 So I spent the last HR or so cleaning the anvil with my father. The numbers came out much better. We also revealed what I imagine is the makers mark. There are what looks to be 4 large letters up top then a small long word below. Very hard to make out but it looks to be "I" then under that HILL Then the word underneath is very rough but appears to start with a R or B and end with AN Any thoughts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 Look up Isaac Hill Birmingham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 The word underneath is most likely Birmingham. I applied a little Google-fu and came up with this: " Mr. Postman had recorded three Hill anvils. He notes that it seems to be a manufacturer name, and it is listed under the English Anvils section. He didn't have much info on them other than describing them, but they are marked Hill Birmingham with the weight on the other side." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ugotit22 Posted December 20, 2017 Author Share Posted December 20, 2017 Here is the Anvil all cleaned up. I used MC HAmmers instructions and it came out awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 Super job on the clean-up Ugotit22!! That's a great look for a cleaned up anvil. His use will polish up the top after time and a lot of hot metal being forged on it. You done real good. Your brother will like all that mass in the waist of the anvil because it's under where all the work is done. What cleaning method did you ultimately use to get it looking like a proper lady again? You still get brother of the year in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ugotit22 Posted December 21, 2017 Author Share Posted December 21, 2017 I did essentially what you called for. Wire attachment for the cleaning. Only took about an HR. I noticed it was chipping alittle on the corners of the base so I went easy on them when I noticed. I then cleaned with soap and water and buffed with motor oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John in Oly, WA Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 Looks good all cleaned up! That'll be one great Christmas present! The chipping was probably just rust flakes coming off. I wouldn't imagine a wire wheel would chip good metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 I'm glad the cleaning procedure worked well for you. Thanks for posting clean-up pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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