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Hi, i recently got an anvil off a friend of mine and i was wondering what type of anvil it is. To me, it appears to be an american star anvil, but all the markings are rusted out. The horn is busted off and there are welds along the edges of the face. Other than that there is no really bad damage. I don’t know the weight but if i had to guess it’s probably around 110 lb to 120 lb. if you guys could let me know what type of anvil this is ( if you know) that would be great. thanks!

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 Berkley, Welcome,Have you checked out the IBA website? Check out the list of groups near you. There are some great guys nearby. If ya need something let me know.....                    Life is Good               Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

 Berkley, if you happen to check back in here. The satellite 13 group is meeting @ the state fair grounds blacksmith shop this Saturday. Take the anvil with you and you can get input on it, first hand. If your just looking to sell it, you might run into a buyer.. Life is Good        Dave 

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Ok, I might stop by. I actually took some blacksmithing classes there. I’m not looking to sell the anvil, I was just courious about where is came from. Is there any kind of fee for the meeting? I think the instructor for the class was bill. I don’t know his last name but he did a great job!

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 Nope no fee....just show up. Maybe bring something for iron in the hat, and a few bucks to buy tickets for the drawing.  That was maybe Bill Newman? I don't know for sure. I have only been there once, and it was all good.....Got a coil spring off a train or something, I'm still making tools from that thing....awesome. If ya go, report back on how it went. Gotta move my son into his new house that day.....Don't be scared....they won't bite...lol                 Life is Good               Dave

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However if it's like most meetings, there will be some barking & growling.:lol: It looks like a wrought iron base with a hardened face forge welded on and someone who welded on the edges that didn't know what they were doing. Without some markings it's hard to even guess on the maker but it looks old from the pictures. How is the ring & rebound over the whole face? If they are good it is a perfectly serviceable anvil.

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It looks to me to be one of the old English types of anvils based on the feet and legs, but that horn shouldn't be flat on the top nor should there be a cut-out on the front feet.  I'd go with old English anvil as a guess.  There were tons of makers back then, but Mouse Hole Forge is one of the biggest producers of anvils at that particular period in time.  I'd say clean the whole anvil up with a wire wheel on an angle grinder.  Just take the rust off and see if there are any further markings.  You'd be surprised what rust covers up or obscures.  

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I think I'm up to 3? anvil brands that had the cutout in the foot under the hardy (Badger, Southern,  ???)  all three had a cast iron body and tended towards FAT heels and short horns and not much drop from the face to table to horn---especially if they used a steel face-horn topper.  Seems like that one fits the general type.

Check the body and see if it's cast iron. I'd be surprised if it wasn't.

Anyway why does it matter what type---it's a "using anvil" so use it!  I own a number of anvils and when I chose which one I use on a project the maker has pretty much Never a factor.  (Save for the Fisher being "quiet".)  Size, weight, availability, thickness of heel, length of horn; all play a part in the decision---brand: nope.

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On 3/20/2019 at 8:49 PM, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

However if it's like most meetings, there will be some barking & growling.:lol: It looks like a wrought iron base with a hardened face forge welded on and someone who welded on the edges that didn't know what they were doing. Without some markings it's hard to even guess on the maker but it looks old from the pictures. How is the ring & rebound over the whole face? If they are good it is a perfectly serviceable anvil.

the rebound is around 75%, which fine by me. if there is anything i would end up doing to this anvil, it would be redoing the edges. the whole shape of the anvil, except  the horn, looks like a mouse hole forge anvil. but like i said, the horn does not match up. thanks for all your help!

On 3/21/2019 at 10:59 AM, ThomasPowers said:

I think I'm up to 3? anvil brands that had the cutout in the foot under the hardy (Badger, Southern,  ???)  all three had a cast iron body and tended towards FAT heels and short horns and not much drop from the face to table to horn---especially if they used a steel face-horn topper.  Seems like that one fits the general type.

Check the body and see if it's cast iron. I'd be surprised if it wasn't.

Anyway why does it matter what type---it's a "using anvil" so use it!  I own a number of anvils and when I chose which one I use on a project the maker has pretty much Never a factor.  (Save for the Fisher being "quiet".)  Size, weight, availability, thickness of heel, length of horn; all play a part in the decision---brand: nope.

how would i check to see if it is cast iron?

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Just like you would check if any other piece of scrap was cast iron: Grind and check the sparks---unfortunately WI and CI sparks can be hard to tell apart; so the second common test is to drill a bit on the bottom and see if you get the black swarf of cast iron.

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