Anvil ID appreciated if possible.

[Dece]

Picked this up awhile ago from an antique place. Not the best condition and was covered in a lot more rust and dirt then shown here(used hand sanding to get a lot of it off and feel a bit of an idiot for doing so now), got a ringing off of it with a hammer but I could not tell how pitted it was when buying, and was not allowed to "damage the patina", but after haggling a bit price was only about double what I could get for it in scrap price at the time(about 0.90/lb) and figured it was worth the risk. I was wondering if anyone has an idea what type of anvil it is. And if it looks to be in decent usable condition to be cleaned up and used. I got some more of the rust off and tried bringing out some of what markings I could find on the second picture (same face as the first picture).

Sorry if the pictures are too large in file size, not that savvy in getting them smaller and this was the size the phone took.

Thank you for any time given in search for the maker and advice. If there is anywhere else I can look for identifying marks I can take more pictures and clean it up so more, just a bit late and after going through the show me your anvil thread I got a bug to get out of bed and take some pictures and do a little bit of looking.

[Steve Sells]

Could be a Trenton

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

It is a Trenton and not in bad shape. A wire wheel on an angle grinder will clean it up just fine then a little oil or BLO will protect it and hammering hot steel will shine up the face.. just don't grind, mill or weld on the hardened face.

[duckcreekforge]

I’ll guess German Trenton, with the flats on the feet.

[Dece]

Thank you very much. I wish I had taken some pictures when I first got it before getting it cleaned up to the state those pictures are. Could not tell how bad the  pitting or chipping on it was.

 

Is there a difference between a Trenton and German Trenton? Doesn't matter too much if once I can get the time to finally clean it up and on a stand it'll most likely be the more portable of the two(minus my railroad track and 50lb square block of steel anvils) and more used.

 

 

[ThomasPowers]

Well the German Trenton's were made in Germany for the Trenton Co and were their early anvils.  The later American Trentons were made in Columbus OHio, USA.

What's the underside look like?

[Dece]

It has a roughly 1 inch square hole in the center of the underside of the base

[MC Hammer]

I would agree with the German Trenton ID.  German Trenton's were imported into the country by Herman Boker.  They date from between 1860 - 1890.  There's some debate on rather the bases were made by Peter Wright or Henry Wright, but it could just be the Germans copied the feet on the base.  Under the Trenton logo and in between the feet the weight should be stamped in pounds.  Here's a picture of my German Trenton for reference.  Mine is 179 pounds.

Your German Trenton seems to be in great shape.  Wash the whole anvil in soap and water, dry it, and take a wire wheel on an angle grinder to remove the rust off.  Don't press hard on the grinder.  All you want to do is remove the rust and leave the nice patina on it.  It shouldn't look silver when you are done, but a chocolate brown like mine above.  When done with the wire wheel, wash it again with soap and water, dry it, and oil it.  I use new 5W 30 motor oil and it works just fine.  Use will polish the face on it so don't grind or sand the face anymore because it's metal you can't put back on.  The German Trenton's are a rare Trenton to find.  I've only seen a few in my travels so far.  Here's what mine looked like prior to the wire wheel clean up.....look familiar?  

[Dece]

Ok, cleaned it up a bit more. Sadly only wire wheel I have is for cleaning up the cannons and not something I can really attach to the angle grinder, will have to pickup one after work tomorrow. Here are 3 shots of the underside. 

[MC Hammer]

That flat bottom is a dead give away for a German Trenton.  Here's a picture of the bottom of my German Trenton for comparison.  

Here's a similar picture of mine like the ones you took above:

Did you look in between the feet on the Trenton logo side for the weight stamped in pounds?  It could also say "Solid Wrought" under the Trenton logo as well.  That's sometime in a circle or straight stamped like mine.  Some of the later ones were stamped "Germany" there as well or under the horn.  Definitely pick up that new wire wheel for the angle grinder.  Most all of the rust you still have on it will come off and it will look much nicer.  You'll be surprised.

[Dece]

Thanks for all the help with the ID on this anvil. Right now only things I can see stamped on the anvil is the first T and the O N of the logo on one side and a 3 stamped on the other side about same height as the logo. This weekend Ill be getting a wire wheel that fits the angle grinder and trying to clean up enough to see any other marks.

 

Really am amazed and grateful of the help and support of folks on this forum in the couple threads I've posted and questions I have asked.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I can see a remnant of the Trenton triangle also.

[MC Hammer]

The weight stamp on mine was not visible until I wire wheeled it.  The seller estimated it was 150 pounds so when I found it was 179 pounds I was thrilled as it bumped my price per pound down below $2.  The 3 is a mystery for me as I've never heard of the German Trenton having anything stamped on the non-logo side at the logo level.  Mine as a number stamped on one of the feet that I presume is the worker who made it or some time of order number or inspection number.  Some have them and some don't.

Oh, and wear safety glasses when you use the wire wheel on the angle grinder.  I've had the wires come off and stick right in my cheek or arms.  It's be a bad day if one stuck in an unprotected eye.