Unknown anvil

[Tempest89]

I just bought this anvil I don't know the make and the only markings is on the side which says 96 on the far right so I think it's a year but I can see the first 2 numbers. Anyone know what kinds of make this might be.

[jlblohm]

It might be impossible to tell. It is an old colonial pattern. No shelf and no pritchel i would put a date of pre 1800. Seems like it has a hard lean to the right. This is something that is usually found an anvils with the 5th foot. Its an interesting one for sure. Still has some life left.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome to IFI... have you read this thread yet?

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/53873-read-this-first/

 

[ThomasPowers]

LOCATION?

[Tempest89]

My location is eastern shore of va

[MC Hammer]

She's old for sure.  Given your location, she could be really old.  If it were me, I'd probably clean her up really nice with a wire brush attachment on an angle grinder, oil her, and keep her around for show.  Please don't grind the surface level or do any alteration to it since it is so early.  If you want to use it, she should give you more years of service without a problem by the looks.  I think I'd still preserve her more as an artifact than something to use, but that's just me others may disagree and they'd be right to do so.  

[Marc1]

5 minutes ago, MC Hammer said:

She's old for sure.  Given your location, she could be really old.  If it were me, I'd probably clean her up really nice with a wire brush attachment on an angle grinder, oil her, and keep her around for show.  Please don't grind the surface level or do any alteration to it since it is so early.  If you want to use it, she should give you more years of service without a problem by the looks.  I think I'd still preserve her more as an artifact than something to use, but that's just me others may disagree and they'd be right to do so.  

I agree that it is probably more ready for retirement than work. Although it could take some light work no problem.

It is one of those tools that would force comments like "Only it's mother can love it"

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

11 hours ago, Tempest89 said:

My location is eastern shore of va

We won't remember this once we leave this thread, hence the suggestion to edit your profile to show your location because so many answers depend on it.

[Tempest89]

11 hours ago, MC Hammer said:

 

I have found it the anvil is cast iron witch is a let down I thought it was steel or at least had a steel plate. I did clean it up with a wire brush since my last post. I paid $350 for this anvil so I'm wondering if I wasted my money. I don't want to damage it anymore then it already is but I want a anvil I can work on.

[C-1ToolSteel]

How do you know it is cast iron? It really looks wrought to me. Could be wrought iron with no face plate, but it sure looks like there is a partially-delaminated steel faceplate. Do you see a casting line anywhere?? 

[ThomasPowers]

I agree; doesn't look cast.  How did you test it? Spark or cuttings or acid or ???

It's a usable starter anvil as long as it hasn't lost it's temper in a fire---you did test it right?  Otherwise it's like buying a used car without seeing if the engine/transmission works!

Also do nothing to the face but wirewheeling!

and yes I feel that you overpaid

[jlblohm]

Based on the handling holes i would say it is forged wrought iron with steel face plate. There is a huge difference between wrought iron and cast iron.

Also the hardie looks to be punched and not cast in. It is also leaning at even more of an angle than the anvil itself.

[MC Hammer]

No way is that cast iron.  No seams and yes handling holes.  Like others have said, it's wrought iron with several hard steel plates welded on the face.  From what I've seen, those welded plates are not as hardy as the solid steel plates and can come apart...can is the key word.  The dip on the face is called sway and it happens with the old ones of your style.

You did good, and we don't want to discourage you from using it but it's akin to someone taking that old classic muscle car and using it as a daily driver to work and to the store, etc.  You can do that, but most keep it for show and weekend driving.  That's probably the vein of thought I'm trying to convey.

[Tempest89]

I had my father in law who is a mechanic look at it and basically told me it was cast iron but I'm not sure. I've tried to find a forsure way of telling what it is. I have no idea of how to find out. I saw a video of a colonial anvil my size and style that was ductile cast iron that was tempered and the hammer ping on that guys sounds like mine. It rings with a high pitch.

20180404_130451.mp4

Maybe this can help figure it out this is a bounce test video very short

[RobS]

Well if a mechanic says the metal is cast iron it must be.

As everyone else has pointed out.  (People who own, use, collect, browse, drool over, study anvils.)  The signs are there to "define" the anvil.  May not be able identify the specific maker of the anvil.  But it shows enough to tell it is a pre 1830ish, with a delaminating face plate.  It is still a fine usable anvil.  Because the weight is unknown, it is hard to say if $350 was to much.

At 100lbs  I would not pay $350. I prefer to wait for better deals less than $2 per pound, but that is just me.  Anvil prices are high these days.  If it is your first anvil sometimes it is worth it, if you "need" a "anvil" and refuse to use heavy steel as anvil alternatives.

 

 

[Charles R. Stevens]

I doubt it was ductile cast iron if it was a colonial anvil. Colonial looking perhaps, hot not colonial. Now some one certainly could take a colonial anvil and use it as a form for a casting, even go as far as to cast handling holes in it, but that’s a lot of work

 

It’s still an anvil, and if it is a bicenturian I might might be tempted to use her a wile,and learn to weld wrought and toolsteel. Restoration isn’t easy or cheep, and a collector might well pay you enugh to buy a younger, better condition anvil but as blacksmiths we tend to do things the hard way. Look up the Gunther method

[C-1ToolSteel]

Ductile iron is very different than the ASO iron and is considered a respectable material. However, as Mr. Stevens points out, it is highly unlikely that an anvil was ever made of ductile iron during the colonial period (ductile iron wasn’t even discovered until the 1940s!). 

It is also very unlikely that is cast iron with a faceplate. Fisher & Norris were the first ones to produce that type of anvil, and everything about your anvil tells me it is older than that.

I’m still quite sure you have a wrought anvil, but more pictures now that you have wire brushed it would help a lot.

[Tempest89]

I cleaned it up with just a wire brush. I found some numbers on it and did another ping test.20180406_102412.mp4

[ThomasPowers]

I admit my first thought was "as a mechanic what the heck does he know about anvils?"  This is tempered by decades of seeing usable anvils destroyed by machinists and welders---they may be experts in their crafts; but don't know about anvils and so destroy their usability trying to make them look pretty.

If the $350 is a sunk cost; USE IT!  and every time you sell something made on it kick a dollar into the anvil can, at some point the "price" you paid will be totally covered AND you will have a good downpayment on your next better/bigger/beautiful anvil.  For some strange reason the first anvil is often hard to come by; but then once you have it it acts like a decoy and lures other in...

[Daswulf]

Yup that's still a usable anvil as is. Use it  

 

[C-1ToolSteel]

Yes, most definitely a usable anvil, not to mention a beautiful piece of history! Mint condition anvils are cool, but I think anvils that show signs of good honest use in an old village smithy are kinda under-rated. If only she could tell sories...

Forged colonial style anvil, no doubt. You can even see the seams where the heel and feet were forge-welded on. 

[JHCC]

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

I admit my first thought was "as a mechanic what the heck does he know about anvils?"  

I admit that my first thought was, "Why is he listening to his father-in-law?"

1-0-06 should mean 118 lbs (hundredweight + quarters of hundredweight + pounds). Bit pricey, but should still be usable (with caution). Go for it! 

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Read up on anvil stands, and getting it the correct height for you. There are several threads pertaining to both on here.

[MC Hammer]

As others have touched on, a mechanic is not likely the best person to ID an anvil or what it is made out of.  Just stop in and ask some time if they have any 5160 scrap, most will say "What?".  Ask them for leaf spring scrap and they'll know exactly what you are asking about.  Mechanics know a ton about a lot of things, but anvils are not one subject I would lump into that category.  With that said, I imagine that's why you asked us on the forum.  With a stroke of the keyboard you got the opinion of guys with decades of experience far and above myself and the average guy.  Soak it in and trust their opinions.  

Thomas's comments are so true.  I used a crummy anvil given to me by my Dad until I could save up my money to buy a better one.  Using this one won't hurt it but could loosen up more of that deteriorating face plate.

[Tempest89]

Thanks everyone I appreciate all the replays and have learned something about my anvil.