BartW Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Hello, While cleaning up an ancient (1950'ies) railway workshop near Brussels, I found this Beauty covered in hardened tar. The guys there thought it was useless cheap cast iron. I took her home and started cleaning.. And I found this anvil, German style, but the marks puzzle me. No indication of weight, I guess 200 pounds at least (100 kilo). One size has a mark that is an S with like a Z inside, the other has two marks besides each other one reads FO and the other reads AL. It is hardly used (still perfectly flat), and has what looks like an unusually thick faceplate (2 inch) which is really hard. Also extending in the round horn. Can anyone tell me something about her? Mvg Bart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 I cant help you on the info but gatta say thats a beauty. Give a quick thanks to whoever poured tar on it years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stash Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Watch that "ancient" stuff. That's the era I was born in. Steve Nice anvil, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 They did good work back then! (me too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoName Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Hey Bart, Nice find, hope this helps. N.N.F. Beautiful, Manchester, Michigan. USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BartW Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 It looks like the first sign, but I cannot read the text.. Polish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 The description mentions the name Skoda. The main Skoda works are located in, what is now called, the Czech Republic. My guess is that the language is Czech. The logos that you showed are NOT the Skoda trade that is used today. Incidentally, the company is owned by folks in the Netherlands. But people are not too sure who they are. The company has changed hands several since it was sold by the Czech government They have subsidiary factories all over Europe and abroad. SLAG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou L Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 I thought is was from the Skoda Works as well but couldn’t find examples of anvils they made for reference. It was then I gave up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Lou L. I have not seen anvils made by the company, but my knowledge of that art is limited. The company made, among other things, huge castings for navy battleships. (Austro-Hungarian Empire). Also big artillery pieces, machine guns, nuclear power plant components, etc. etc. They still do. SLAG. You might try contacting the company. You are not that far away from some of their factories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Wow, nice anvil! If you got it for free or scrap prices it was the opportunity of a lifetime. You did a great job cleaning her up. Did you take any before pictures when it was covered in tar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 On 7/16/2018 at 3:15 PM, Stash said: Watch that "ancient" stuff. That's the era I was born in. Some of us were born before that era and at times it shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BartW Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 Yesterday I weighed it, 115 kilo's (230 pounds). I tried her out, works really good. The face is HRC 60 tip to tip (tested with hardness files). absolutely lovely anvil. As for price, I got it (along with a couple of other things) for 2 beers So I assume it's a czech anvil. Does anyone know what the FO - AL mean ? It has been a good week for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 I’ll give you a CASE of beer for it, you’ll make a huge profit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otisdog Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 Gorgeous!!! I'm going to nominate this as "the score of the year!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BartW Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 Hello; Well sorry to drag up the old post; but I got a reply from a Skoda Works foundry ... They confirm making anvils like this from the 30'ies to the 70'ies. They also told me my assumption that it has a hard face is wrong, it's one piece cast; but the top part is ground; the rest isn't, which makes the horizontal line. And I can confirm that; as below the line where the grinding stops, it's still hard. The feet are still hard, but less hard. I assume differential hardening ? Makes the upsetting block more usefull I guess. The steel they used for this is extremely pure and clean tool steel, as they were quite expensive. I checked it, and in fact it is almost like a solid block H13. My other anvil is a industrial press die made from hardened 1.2379 (D2), and it behaved similar. The 100 pound Vulcan anvil I have feels like soft iron in comparison. They don't have a clue what the FO-AL means; altough they admit not being in charge of the foundry for about 15 years when the Nazi's took over. So anyone who speaks Czech any clue what FO-AL means ? greetz; bart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Differential hardening or differential tempering; or *both*! Thank you for reporting back; there's a lot of us that are really interested in little odd bits of info on these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Cast solid steel, NICE. Soderfors hardened their cast steel anvils under a water tower with a metered stream of water on the face after the anvil was broken out of the mold. When the water ran out the residual heat in the anvil's body tempered it. The foot wasn't cooled by the water stream so wasn't hardened as much. Sound familiar? I LOVE my Soderfors anvil, I've never struck finer. I'll have to keep my eyes open for a Skoda eh? You made a SWEET save and deserve the benefits. Well done. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BartW Posted August 22, 2018 Author Share Posted August 22, 2018 Well Frosty, what you describe would be the most correct with the facts. Like the czech guys describe - solid steel, cast one-piece, hardened tempered, then the face got ground flat. It would also account for the reason why the hardness seems to lower from the top (about 60 HRC) to the feet (between 45 and 50 HRC). Or at least, that's the impression I get with hardness files. I absolutely love it too. Makes my vulcan feel like iron ... at least hot iron doesn't move as much on the vulcan as on this skoda anvil. Thanks for the info guys.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BartW Posted August 22, 2018 Author Share Posted August 22, 2018 (edited) If you want one, there's another one for sale: Commercial link removed I've had a chat with the woman selling it - Friendly but doesn't know much about anvils -, and this one also came from a train workshop (same train company), from Liege (100km east of brussels). They must have bought more than one, and since the train company is closing a lot of workshops this years ... Mine is in better condition tough Edited January 6, 2020 by Mod44 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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