Anyone give me idea of maker or age?... only stamping I see is 13

Where is the 13 located? Can you get more better pictures? Wire wheel cleanup could reveal a lot more. 

Is a chunk of the tail faceplate broken off or is that the picture quality and coloring messing with me? Also I don't see a pritchel hole. Is there one? Without might date it to after right around the 1830's.

Looks Mouse hole-ish but hard to say with that picture. 

I will get better pictures in the morning 

Pics straight down on the top, the bottom, an both sides. Throw some in with a yardstick or tape measure, or at least a soda can to give an idea of siz/scale.

thanks and welcome aboard

Welcome to IFI... Have you read this thread yet? https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/53873-read-this-first/

It would help to know where in the world you & the anvil are located.

Hey guys I am in Illinois I bought the anvil at a yard sale....  The face is missing a good size chunk out of it but with the money I have in it I can afford to restore it... 

are you an expert at anvil restoration?

it is very easy to make a usable anvil with some damage into something only good as a garden ornament

doing it right will take a lot of time and effort and money

use it as is will be your best option

looks like the weight when made was 169 lbs

I'm most definitely not an anvil restoration expert... I am however an experienced Welder... how many you tube videos do I have to watch on anvil restoration before I'm an expert? 

you tube is not a place to learn from, nothing there is peer reviewed and anyone can post anything

welding on it will seriously affect the hardness of the area around the weld

are you an experienced welder of wrought iron?

it is very different to mild steel and an anvil is not just a chunk of metal, the top plate is hardened and needs to be welded over the entire area

you need to test the top plate that remains to see if more is delaminating and for hardness

See if you can earn a welding certification watching Youtube and I'll take a lash at telling you how many you need to watch. 

That bit of sillyness aside what procedures are you planning on using? Before you ask, yes I've welded up anvil faces successfully but nothing covered by 3 certs really made a difference. Well not a lot but the training was helpful.

Let us know what you're planning on doing I'll try to help you not destroy it.

Frosty The Lucky.

I am actually a very experienced Welder of wrought-iron.. I was just checking the hardness of the remaining plate and it is not in very good shape.. Im figuring on probably just getting it all ground down and I'll probably just resurface the whole face with 309 stainless rods... im guessing it is going to take some time getting it completed but I'm guessing this is my best bet...  or maybe I'll just try to sell this one and look for a better one... 

I believe the rods I used were - MG 740 rods when resurfacing the edges of my PW, very happy with it for the last 10 years.

Well, it's not a pretty anvil, but what are you forging that it can't do for you? The horn and table are reasonable, you have a smooth radius edge and a sharper edge. I would just use it as is until something better comes along.

Now was that Wrought Iron as in the modern decorative stuff; or Wrought Iron as in the material used before mild steel was invented and became common? VERY DIFFERENT MATERIALS!  (I had one fellow telling me he had access to lots of wrought iron as there was an ornamental iron business near him---I told him to go ask and that I'd bet they were using A-36  and not the material Wrought Iron. I tend to only bet when I know I've already won...)

As for the process; the best accepted method is the Gunther/Schuler method described here: http://www.anvilmag.com/smith/anvilres.htm

I've had this method used on several of my anvils over the years and IIRC it's the one used at the SOFA anvil repair days and on their open shop anvils.

Would anyone be willing to make an educated guess on maker?

English, post 1830, Not a Peter Wright; need more stamping info!

And the type of Wrought Iron you are experienced welding?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i

if you had any experience of welding WI ( I have welded WI in castles and cathedrals ) then you would know that 309 stainless would be a very bad choice for the top of an anvil on WI

The worst I could do is ruin it I reckon..

I'd just clean off the little bit of weld thats spattered on it and use it as is till you find something better, then sell it. 

20 hours ago, Steven Fitzwater said:

I am in Illinois

We won't remember that once leaving this post, hence the suggestion to edit your profile to show your location.

Well yeah I suppose the worst you could do is ruin it. Unless it falls on your foot that is. 

If you're going to grind the existing face off and completely resurface it you don't have to take precautions to preserve the face plate.

The rule of thumb I use for hard facing rod for anvil repair is. Choose an impact resistant rod that's "steel on stone" rod. NOT "steel on steel." Typically it runs to rc 50 +/- and is deflection resistant. It takes a pounding without checking or spalling. 

You'd think that without an exiting HC steel face plate you wouldn't need to worry about preheating. However you don't want hard facing rod to cool too quickly when laying it in max depth, 3 layers. 350 f. according to the tempil stick is perfect.

I ping and relieve each pass with my needle scaler and wire brush with my cup brush to make sure there are no inclusions between passes or layers.

Once I'm done welding I go straight to the grinder if possible. Hard facing is abrasion resistant by design and grinds so MUCH easier at red heat. I use a cup stone in my 9" Milwaukee disk grinder to rough grind then switch to a disk to do the finish, including radiusing the edges. Then I cover it in perlite and scrap Kaowool till it's cool to the touch.

Keep the grinding disk parallel with the face or you'll end up crowning the face. Edges are often ground out of flat with the face a person has to watch themselves to avoid it.

That's not THE way to do it but it works for me and I based it on the Gunther/Schuler method. By based on I mean I used what was available, consumables and tools.

Frosty The Lucky.