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Help identifying Anvil Find


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I recently purchased this 209 pound anvil and (Has 1 3 13 markings on it, though they are fading) looking to hopefully ID a maker?

I tried to clean it up, but still didn't see anything that could be clearly defined as a maker's mark. Also can't see the underside without un-mounting it (which I plan to do because the angle steel used to mount it doesn't provide a solid mounting option), but I'm hoping the flat-top helps make a positive ID.

Thoughts?

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22 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Note where the horn looks like it sticks up a bit at the horn/face interface?  My guess is milling and a destroyed anvil.  Sure hope they tested it before getting it!

You betcha! For the price, it was worth the potential that it was salvage-able. Seemed like a worthwhile cause at the time; seeing it in daylight has me wondering if it's worth/capable of being fixed now.

41 minutes ago, Daswulf said:

The face is suspiciously flat and level with sharp edges where it's not mushroomed a bit. 

Definitely ground down - was hoping the remaining steel was enough to salvage it.

46 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Flats on the feet,  CWT weight stamps; I'd go with Peter Wright.  Has the face been milled down or is that one of the variants of a London Pattern? (Check with the ball bearing test please.)

Tested when picked up - got a good 80% rebound on "most" of anvil (where plate remained). Significantly less when the ball was dropped on the few wrought iron pieces showing through.

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Well the entire hardened face plate is gone leaving only wrought iron. It Can be fixed but not inexpensively. There are many ways to do it wrong, I have heard the Robb Gunther method is a good way to go. 

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Last time I was present when an anvil that had been face milled was repaired it took over 5 hours of welding by a professional welder using industrial equipment and a lot of grinding media---don't forget the preheat too!.

So not cost effective to have it done professionally.

If you can do it yourself and get a good deal on consumables you can have a good anvil but there will be substantial costs involved in the repair: electricity, rod/wire, grinding media, TIME, propane for preheat, etc...(the one I mention above was done at an ABANA affiliate "anvil repair day" a great way to get expertise at a low cost!  My 400#'r was the other anvil at that workshop. It had air arc gouges on the face after abuse by a copper mine maintenance crew. I only paid for the consumables for my anvil...)

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2 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Last time I was present when an anvil that had been face milled was repaired it took over 5 hours of welding by a professional welder using industrial equipment and a lot of grinding media---don't forget the preheat too!.

So not cost effective to have it done professionally.

If you can do it yourself and get a good deal on consumables you can have a good anvil but there will be substantial costs involved in the repair: electricity, rod/wire, grinding media, TIME, propane for preheat, etc...(the one I mention above was done at an ABANA affiliate "anvil repair day" a great way to get expertise at a low cost!  My 400#'r was the other anvil at that workshop. It had air arc gouges on the face after abuse by a copper mine maintenance crew. I only paid for the consumables for my anvil...)

Good to know! I'm new to the forum and smithing as a whole, so I appreciate the ABANA affiliate advice!

Based on convos with various folks around me before purchasing this, I was lead to believe if it was ground down to just the wrought iron it could still be used for some light work - is that "fake news"?

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Sure you can use it; it just won't be as good as a 200 pound chunk of steel from the scrapyard.  The hardy hole, pritchel hole and the horn will still be useful tools. I might have gone as much as US$1 a pound for it and hope to hit up another repair day some year. (Of course I have a number of good anvils in good condition already and have an allowance to spend on my vices/vises/stuff I want!)

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imagine a level area of loose sand or dirt with a half inch thick layer of concrete on it

 

now imagine hitting that all day with a 14 pound sledge hammer

 

what do you think will happen?

 

this is what happens when you have a thin hard layer over soft wrought iron, your ball bearing was not enough to damage it and it still bounced.

a thin layer of hardfacing will do the same.

repairing this will cost a bit unless you only want a garden ornament

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Just now, the iron dwarf said:

imagine a level area of loose sand or dirt with a half inch thick layer of concrete on it

 

now imagine hitting that all day with a 14 pound sledge hammer

 

what do you think will happen?

 

this is what happens when you have a thin hard layer over soft wrought iron, your ball bearing was not enough to damage it and it still bounced.

a thin layer of hardfacing will do the same.

repairing this will cost a bit unless you only want a garden ornament

Very good analogy! Helps make my decision to throw it up on Craigslist as a lawn ornament or something someone else can pay to repair much easier.

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Yup, first thing I was told by a farrier friend when he saw pictures of my anvil was "Nice anvil, you need to take it to a machine shop to get the face milled and edges ground to sharp corners."  Thankfully, I'd been reading everything I could find on this forum about anvils and knew his advice was a death warrant for my new anvil.  I say this because it's likely the person who had it before you was given the same advice.  What a shame, but what is done is done.

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I've seen an amazing number of anvils seriously damaged or with their usability destroyed by "Master" Machinists or Weldors.  I've decided that being master of a different craft does not mean you know SQUAT about blacksmithing and how anvils were/are made (I know about half a dozen ways anvils have been made just in the last 200 years...); or used.   "Practical Blacksmithing", Richardson, published over 120 *years* ago says: "For my own part I am satisfied not only that sharp edges are useless, but they are also destructive of good work. I cannot account for their existence except as a relic of a time when the principles of forging were but little understood."  Vol 1 page 111

Folks get all tied up into what they think rather than taking time to learn what is correct...so my basic take on working on a new to you anvil: "FIRST: DO NO HARM!" In 37 years of smithing I have actually seen several anvils where I would advise milling the face; I think the count is up to 3 now; vs the thousands of other used anvils I have seen.

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