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Unknown anvil with 196 stamped in it

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Unknown anvil with broken horn. It has the hardy hole. And has 196 stamped on it. I don't have the anvil, trying to acquire it, just don't know the value with broken horn. Here are some pictures. 

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How much does it currently weigh? What is the result of the bounce test?  (asking the value of an anvil without having a bounce test done on it is like asking the value of a used car without checking that the engine runs)

  • Author

Ok I have heard of the bounce test. Is there a standard, say type of ball bearing? I'm guessing that there should be to determine an accurate test. And if so what is/are the specs of the ball bearing?

As for the weight now, no idea. It's not in my possession. 

generally a 1/2 to 1" real ball bearing; a ruler, and a wire brush if there is any crud on the anvil face.

Many people have access to a bathroom scale for weighing anvils and asking for the weight is extremely common.

It doesn't look very large wrt things in the background.

Damaged anvils *SHOULD* go at a steep discount; but I've seen many a one posted on CL for mint condition prices.

  • Author

So, since my last post I've looked at videos and such on doing rebound testing, the more percentage of rebound is the better anvil Correct?

Basically somewhere between 80%-90% rebound is generally what you want correct?

well if you don't have an anvil or it's really cheap 70% and up; but the 80+% ones are definitely nicer.  Below you are heading into the lost temper anvils or are cast iron ASOs.  However any crud on the face or bad pitting can show a lower number than the face really has.

Last time I bought a damaged anvil for using---missing the hardy hole and heel it was about 1/3 the going rate for the same anvil in good condition. Long time ago, about 20 years,  which is why I stated the discount rather than the price.

  • Author

Again, that just sounds like it should be reasonable.

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but typically the 196 was the total weight of the complete anvil?

I know it's broke so it won't weigh what it says obviously. But I only have a rr track aso. So either way the broken anvil should be better than what I have.

Steve: If it has good rebound, 70% or better and a good price it's a working anvil. Horns are over rated, a bic is easy to make if you need one. 

Were I in the market I'd rather see the horn gone than the heal and hardy hole. I use the hardy hole a LOT more than the horn. 

Frosty The Lucky.

I rescued this old anvil from the scrap. At 248# (a bit less without the horn) it would find a permanent place in my smithy if I didn't have an anvil. It sits in our workshop now and still gets occasional use. A hornless anvil is a bit sad to look at, but can still be very functional.

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196 would be the weight only for American made anvils (and some swedish anvils made for the American market) as it does not conform to the CWT system.  Weighing the anvil is a whole lot faster/more accurate than dithering on the net.  A bathroom scale will do for most weights we deal with.

CWT: leftmost number hundredweights (112 pounds), Middle number quarter hundredweights so only 0-3 allowed (28 pounds) rightmost 1 or 2 numbers residual pounds (0-27 pounds)

Now in modern anvils we do get some stamped in kg.

When I bought my anvil for a guy he had a really old Fisher with 1/3 of the horn broken off.  Otherwise it was in great shape.  I've been thinking a lot about that anvil as it was a big one.  It would make a good workhorse anvil with that thick face plate.  I actually think the horn could be reground to somewhat of a point and it wouldn't look too bad.  Let's face it, you use the face of the anvil much more than the horn so that Fisher could make a really good anvil.  

Lets face it whether you use the face or the horn more depends on what you are doing!  Practical Blacksmithing had a shop where the horn was not to the left or to the right but straight towards the forge---they made rings in a production manner.

I'm quite happy with a blunt horn anvil and have made several pieces of hardy hole tooling to do small work on---more convenient height!

True Thomas!  I've seen some smiths that do most of their drawing out fullering on the horn.

Newly acquired anvil! Any history/info about it would be helpful! 

Looking at some other post with serial #s close to mine, I guess it to be about 1907 for a date of manufacture. Maybe in Ohio?

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Thanks Irondragon! The weight is 84.5. A beautiful ring to it and rebound is about 80%

Not bad for a flea market find in my personal opinion 

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