I don't know what I've got here...

[ceyoung77]

Bought this at a garage sale. Can anyone tell me what I've got?

Please?

I'd like to get going with hammer and tongs soon.

[jeremy k]

Looks like a usable anvil. What's stopping you?

[Daswulf]

Looks like a perfectly usable anvil. What's the rebound? 

Congratulations it looks like you might have a Trenton. Can we get a picture of the bottom of the anvil?

[ceyoung77]

Thank you for your responses, I appreciate it. 

I will get some pictures of the bottom of the anvil tomorrow. 

[ThomasPowers]

Good anvil in decent using condition---if it passes the ball bearing test.  What  do you need to know?

[ceyoung77]

ThomasPowers,

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Where do I find a ball bearing?  I was interested in the age and a more about the company that manufactured the anvil.

 

[ausfire]

Very usable anvil. I agree with Das; there is a discernible Trenton diamond in amongst all those scratches and dents. It's crying out for work.

[jlblohm]

1 hour ago, ceyoung77 said:

Where do I find a ball bearing

Do you know any maintenance guys in any large factories. I got bags of them when i was maintenance in a food processing plant i used to work in.  Every bearing we replaced i cut the outer race an collected all the balls from inside. There definitely not something you can find in a hardware store.  It thakes a really bug bearing to get a 1 inch ball though.  Also some of the really big bearings are roller bearings and wont do you any good for the ball bearing drop test. 

I just looked on ebay and there is 1 inch ball bearings for sale.  Just put 1 inch ball bearing in the search and you will find them. 

[ausfire]

Surely in Michigan you would have machinery shops or factories that would have oodles of ball bearings. It's an easy job to cut them out of the races. Alternatively you can buy single big ones pretty cheaply on your on-line auction sites. I would happily send you one of the one inch balls in this pic, but you are a bit far away.
 

[JHCC]

Go to your mechanic and ask if you can have a worn-out CV joint that would otherwise get thrown away (explain why you want it; mechanics generally think blacksmithing is cool and can be excellent sources of good-quality scrap). Take it apart and use one of the bearings inside. If you're lucky, the joint will come with some axle attached, which you can use later for tooling.

[ThomasPowers]

Places that work on cranes and dozers are a source too.  In general when you get into a piece of equipment you don't change out a single ball you replace all of them at once...anyway you may want to start lining up sources for even larger ones in case you get a hankering to make some 52100 knives...

Note if you could give us the numbers on the front foot we might be able to tell you the age...

[Frosty]

A 1/2" bearing ball is plenty for a rebound test, I get them from either of a couple places in Anchorage, "Bearing Engineering" or either of the drive train suppliers. Individual balls sell by the lb. at not much over new steel prices. The last I bought 5 ea. 1/2" bearing balls and it cost IIRC $1.70 +/- a couple cents.

I prefer 1/2" bearing balls because they work fine for the test and I can carry a couple in a pocket without noticing.

I have a friend who is a jet engine mechanic, works on helicopters and has access to buckets of bearings. I only mentioned it once and still have a bucket I almost need the engine hoist to move even after giving half of them away.

Frosty The Lucky.

[John in Oly, WA]

Trenton anvil, made by Columbus Forge & Iron, Columbus OH

The serial number on the right looks like - A23160(?)  Maybe a sixth number there?

The "B" on the left is the last initial of the person who made it. I don't have a complete list of names, and no one on my list yet who's last name starts with "B".

[ThomasPowers]

John; I was wondering if the census data from around then would help.  If someone whose name started with B listed anvil maker  as occupation then it would be quite circumstantial.

[ceyoung77]

Here is a picture of the bottom...

B 210 A23460 is stamped on the front of the foot.

Thank you all for help, I really appreciate it. 

[ChrisPTF]

Anvils in America dates it to the year 1901, for a Trenton serial number A23460.

[ceyoung77]

ChrisPTF:

THANKS!

That's pretty cool!

Does that also mean it's likely to be a 210 lb. anvil?

[ThomasPowers]

 As an American anvil it will be stamped in pounds and not CWT so if it says 210 then it's close to 210 pounds....(A few pounds off is fairly common for anvils; especially the older ones. However  1901 is not very old for an anvil...they wear like iron/steel!)

[ceyoung77]

So a buddy of mine works at the local factory and found a ball bearing, it's about 5/8".

I tried dropping it onto the anvil from about 10", it doesn't seem to have a good rebound. Is the ball bearing too small or could it be the wrong type of material?

Just wondering...

I was also wondering if there were different classes or categories of anvil, and where might this one fall?

Thanks for your time. 

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I have an unhardened steel ball that was chrome plated. It makes the anvil act dead if yo drop it on one. It had me confused for a second before I saw the chrome lifting. Got a different one and bouncy bouncy.

[Marc1]

Sure could be a dodgy ball bearing. However, if it is the anvil that has low bounce, don't worry. Bounce is overrated. You can use a 'low bounce' anvil just as well. 

[ThomasPowers]

Did you clean the face before bounce testing? Any oil/dirt/rust/paint will adversely affect the results---often to a high degree!

Nothing stopping you from hitting hot steel on that anvil but *YOU*!

As for "I was also wondering if there were different classes or categories of anvil, and where might this one fall?" There is a 550 page book on anvils; "Anvils In America" by Richard Postman. Sorry but I'm not going to type all that info in for you.  Trentons are a upper tier American made anvil---IFF it hasn't lost it's face hardness in a structure fire!  Class is based on USABILITY!

If you have a nice hard sledgehammer you can test your ball on that...

[RobS]

First.  What does "it doesn't seem to have a good rebound"  mean.  Is it rebounding 8" of the 10" and you don't think it is good enough?  Or is like  a bean bag?  Did you use a ruler or anything to judge the bounce height?

 

 

60% or 80% rebound means little to a hobbyist pounding steel a couple hours a day.  Yes more is better.  But less does not mean the anvil is not usable.  Human nature makes alot of people think they have to have the best of anything or else it isn't worth using.

Rebound should be thought of as another way to check value vs. asking price.

Example-  2 identical cars are for for sale.  One happened to had a vandal take a baseball bat to every inch of the body.  Then it was fixed with body filler and paint.  The driveability is the same on both. But should you pay the same full price for the "repaired" car?

 

[ceyoung77]

I was getting a rebound of between 5 and 6 inches when dropped from the aforementioned 10 inches. 

I really haven't cleaned the anvil much, I've brushed the dust off but what else can I do to clean it?

Thanks for all the information!

[RobS]

Wire brush works good.  No grinding.