rtr Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 Hey guys......new to this site and wanted to share pictures of an anvil my grandfather has had for around 20-30 years or so. He got it from US Steel plant, where he worked, and brought it home. They were tearing down some buildings and were going to throw it away and he had it loaded on his truck to bring home. We mounted it on a steel work table so it could be swiveled and rotated. Never have had a reason to use it, but it is one of the biggest and coolest anvils we have ever seen. Each "leg" of the anvil is a different size. They are all the "half-moon" shape.It is also extremely heavy, so no worries of anyone stealing it!! haha. I'm hoping someone here can help us identify it and tell us more about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammerMonkey Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 I know what it is.... It is very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 Well...........???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammerMonkey Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 I may be wrong, but I think it is... very cool... lol Someone else will probably have more useful info though. I like the way you mounted it on the table and it can rotate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 I gotcha! haha. Yeah, we welded a cap on the bottom so no one would steal it! hahaha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Direwolf Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 Good morning RTR, I can't tell you exactly what that is but it has the look of a mandrel for forming radiuses of different sizes in either sheet metal or bar stock. It could be a part of something else. I use various mandrels for such purposes some originally intended for that and some found objects. You did a great job in mounting it to be a useful tool. If it is cast iron I wouldn't do any heavy pounding say with a sledge hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 Yeah, pretty sure it isn't made of cast iron. I just wonder what it is or if it is a one-off tool for something specific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 Test it rather than guess! Easy and simple: I suggest either the cuttings test or the spark test over the acid test. I've been surprised more than once over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 Ok. Will do. Please elaborate on both tests and I'll check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 Welcome to IFI, I always suggest reading this thread to get the best out of the forum. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/53873-read-this-first/ Sorry I can't help identifying your anvil/mandrel but can say I would love to have it, so many things it could be used for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 From the American Welding Society webpagea: "When you drill steel, it makes chips and shavings that are easy to recognize. When you drill cast iron it will make a fine, graphite like dust. You only need to use a 3/16 or 1/4 drill, and only go deep enough to identify the shavings. It works 99% of the time." The spark test is to touch it to a grinding wheel and look at the sparks it produces, I suggest you do this with a known piece of cast iron as well and compare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 gotcha. I'll have to try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 The drill is the easiest way to do it. Many new anvils are made out of ductile cast iron - not all cast iron is the same, there are a few grades. And don't be so sure someone could not steal that. A friend had an entire 1,000# safe stolen out of his house.... A tow truck would move your table quite easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 You're right about the tow truck. I guess I should have said "run off with it". The anvil is Pretty Old since he has had it 30 years or so, and It came from US Steel Works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 A safe is nothing. A friend of mine "owed" a "builder" a thousand dollars and the only reason he never got paid was because the roof never got finished and the building suffered major water damage from the wicked Michigan Upper Peninsula winter. So any way the guy came in the next spring and stole the whole building and everything in it. Including guns a couple quads, $10,000 worth of tongue and grooved cedar, and countless other things. All the state cops said was he had a legal right to "repossess" the building because he was never paid. As for the contents they told him he was making it up to get back at the guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 Just making a guess here--on some wire mills they have to hammer a bend on the end of the wire (and similar items like narrow strip from slitters) when starting them on a coiler--basically a hook to get the coiling started. Remember--wire to a steel mill is often 3/4" diameter or larger--it is coiled before "straighten and cut" operations that give the familiar straight round bar people usually see. For example, all that large diameter wire for auto and railroad springs comes off coils--not long straight pieces. For our own operations, we buy 5/16" dia round bar as coiled wire and do the straighten and cut operation ourselves. I've personally seen as big as 3/4 come in coil form--and I know there is larger but I don't know the top end of practicality for coiled stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 RTR' "old" for anvils usually starts around 200 and goes back a couple of centuries more. I have an 1828 anvil I still use for smithing. Most of my anvils are over 100. That is a great anvil though and I envy your having it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted April 26, 2018 Author Share Posted April 26, 2018 On 4/24/2018 at 6:21 PM, ThomasPowers said: RTR' "old" for anvils usually starts around 200 and goes back a couple of centuries more. I have an 1828 anvil I still use for smithing. Most of my anvils are over 100. That is a great anvil though and I envy your having it! No telling how old it is. I was just saying that it is "old" and it was considered "old" when US Steel wanted to throw it away 30 years ago. I guess there is no real way to tell, huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 Getting past the time you could talk with the "old folks" and see what they remembered. When I bought my screwpress at a factory auction I actually met a fellow who remembered when they bought it in 1959 and could tell me that they didn't use it much as they got a hydraulic press in the 60's and nobody wanted the use the "old tech" anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charcold Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 That looks like an armorer could make some good use of it with all the different shapes it has. Looks like quite the hunk of steel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake the snake Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 New to the site. My grandfather also gave me something similar. He always called it a sheet metal workers anvil but I tried to find it on the internet and have no luck. It's not nearly as heavy duty as yours. But does have half round extensions, though. One of the photos is shown with it upside down. You can see where it is meant to bolt to a table and slid back-and-forth as needed. You're help would greatly be appreciated on its identification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 Ayup, that's what it is a sheetmetal worker's form. One use is to make or alter ducting. I have one myself, I got it with a bunch of other "tin knocker's" tools at a HVAC shop auction. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake the snake Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 Frosty, how old might this tool be? Is it worth anything? It actually doesn't look very old, rusty yes but not old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 I don't know, it isn't rare though I don't know if they're still being used. My short stint making armor led me to bid on the stuff I have and it's mostly just been there since. It's not my thing. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airyk21 Posted November 7, 2023 Share Posted November 7, 2023 Jake, just last week I bought one in Dallas Texas for 50$, mine is about 3ft long, when I bought it there were about 6 or 7, some that were 5ft were going for 100$, I think I got a good price and besides those I haven't seen many elsewhere. Mine does not have that bolt/slide but I was already thinking of fabing something similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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