oakcrkcyn Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 I have an old anvil, although its embedded in a short barrel of concrete. I'm trying to find out if someone knows anything more about it? I can't find a name on it or make out the makers mark, but I did take a bunch of photographs. The mark on it is hard to distinguish, I found one very much like it on the internet looking at other anvil images. (In one of my photos I played around with the color and contrast using Photoshop because sometimes markings and details show up better in another color, or with more/less color saturation.) If you look closely, at the top shows "Warranted" and just below that you can see an arm with a hammer on it. It's not like the arm/hammer that is on an Arm and Hammer Anvil. I have the one photo that shows my anvil markings alongside the one I found on the internet. The internet photo is clearer, but it looks very much just like mine, can't find a name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelonian Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Welcome to the forum! Yes, it look like an Arm and Hammer anvil. Looks like the weight is 152lb to me, but the numbers are pretty faint, so I could be wrong. Have you read about not grinding or milling the face of anvils? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Arm and Hammer, made in Columbus Ohio by the Columbus Anvil and Forging Company. Considered a top grade anvil. The book "Anvils in America" by Richard Postman has 25 pages of information on them including a list of serial numbers correlated to dates. (SN on the front of the foot under the horn) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakcrkcyn Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 So Arm and Hammer had different styles of arm/hammer marks?? Curious because the arm/hammer etching doesn't look like the ones I've seen. The Arm and Hammer's looked more defined or robust might be the word. I will have to get some help turning this anvil over to find that SN. Excited to find out more, it was my husbands and he never got around to researching it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 First do not confuse the Arm and Hammer logo used by Vulcan anvils that is cast proud of the surface of the side of their anvils. The Arm and Hammer anvils' Arm & Hammer is stamped into the side of the anvil and depending on how well it was stamped it can be faint or partial or well done. (Note that I consider Vulcan anvils as a bottom tier anvil so a wide difference between the two brands!) Neither type is etched. Arm and Hammer anvils often still show the undulations on the bottom side of the heel from the blows of the steam hammer it was forged with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Welcome to IFI I always suggest reading this to get the best out of the forum. READ THIS FIRST Your A&H looks to be in very good shape, to see the serial number you can chip away the concrete covering it at the front foot under the horn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Frog Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Oak, yours is the second style of logo stamp A&H used in production. They used several different styles of stamps through their history. Please post a picture of the serial number on the front foot under the horn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakcrkcyn Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 Had some help today, no numbers on the front foot under the horn, we looked really close, lots of rust, maybe it corroded off? The only numbers we could ascertain were a 1 3 2 on the side (or could be 152), below the words Solid Wrought and the arm/hammer. In my first photo if you look closely you can make out numbers in the bottom 1/3 of the photo, my help today thought it was 1 3 2, but looking now could be 152. Are these fairly valuable, I want to put a price on it as my neighbor is very interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 The number stamping is the weight. Put it on the bathroom scale and see what it is. (Note may be a couple of pounds off: old weight/modern weight) Can't suggest a price range without knowing LOCATION: Anvils where I live now are at least a dollar a pound higher than anvils where I used to live and BOTH places are in the USA! Which of the 150 countries that participate here on the World Wide Web you and it are in we don't know. (Anvils are cheaper in the UK and more expensive in Australia for instance...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakcrkcyn Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 No way to put it on a scale as it is embedded in concrete in a metal drum, as shown in photo. Anvil is in Southern California, 2 hours north of Los Angeles, west of the town of Mojave. I thought about trying to chip away the concrete but do not want to risk damaging the anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 OK you are in the higher price area. However having that anvil embedded in concrete will cut down on the number of people who would buy it due to difficulty in moving it! Not to mention: what are the chances that it will be at the exact correct height for the person buying it! Wire brushing the rust off and waxing or coating with BLO will give it more "curb appeal" too. NO GRINDING! NO MILLING! NO WELDING! As anvil prices are generally given in dollars per pound; You need to figure out the stamping or weigh it. Taking a star drill and breaking up the concrete next to the anvil's base should not damage it. US$3-6 a pound is probably a range in your area. What did the California Blacksmiths Association, an ABANA Affiliate; suggest? They should know local prices better and might be a source of possible buyers. Since it is most likely under US$1000 it's not very valuable compared to silver or gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 6 hours ago, oakcrkcyn said: in Southern California, We won't remember that once leaving this post hence the suggestion to edit your profile to show location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krout's Crow Farm Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 I have a new to me "Arm and Hammer Wrought Iron 100" anvil. Number 18953. Can someone help me with the year of manufacture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 Good Morning, Oak Ask a contractor or a Concrete batch plant, How much does a yard of concrete weigh. Use Pi/R2 X height of barrel, to figure out the volume of the pail. If the pail is 1/4 of a yard, do the math. You will be within a few pounds of actual weight. Weigh the total weight and subtract the pail weight. If it matters that much. If the height of the Anvil is close for your height, leave it in the 'Crete'. The Anvil would probably enjoy a good massage with a prickly wheel on an angle grinder. Give it a name and christen it by using it/her/him. You could fasten a 'Cow Bell' under it's neck, to keep it talkin' to you. LOL Ting Ting Ting!! Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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