Hi All,

 

New to this site, I just purchased my first anvil and I am very excited. I wanted to get your thoughts on the condition and whether or not to clean it up as it is so old. Here are a few pictures. One thing is that on the bottom it says May 13, 1884/1894 but the back says 1900 can someone clear that up for me? In addition I think I got a really good deal on it but I dont know the going rate for these types of things. For more information I am located in New Hampshire.

 

Thanks,

Dally

Welcome aboard Dally, glad to have you. You scored you a good one! Fishers are quiet, the high carbon steel face plate is welded in the mold to a cast iron body which damps the resonance that makes anvils so loud. From what I can see it's in excellent condition, wire brush the rust off if you like but all the face needs is hot steel hammered on it. The edges are good, barely roughed a little in a couple spots, nothing to do there until you have enough time at the anvil to KNOW you want a change.

If you REALLY want to, a cup brush in a disk grinder will make short work of the rust on the body. If you want to prevent rust forming again, a coat: of boiled linseed oil, Paste wax applied to a warm anvil or whatever you like.

Just please, PLEASE don't take a grinder to the face or horn that grand old lady would only suffer a loss of useful life under a grinder. She's got generations of good hard work in her, your grandkids can brag to their kids about their blacksmith grandpaw when they pass it on.

Everybody should have a blacksmith grandfather. Mine were a logger and a Fed judge. I turned out okay, honest I did. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Hi Frosty,

 

Thanks, I am glad to hear I picked a good one. The rust doesn't really bother me, I think the oil will help quite a bit and I was wondering why the sound was so quiet!

I have heard that before about the face just needing hot steel being hammered on it, is that all it really takes? I will take good care of her and makes sure to not rough the edges further, there are still some good spots for shouldering so I think I should be fine for the meantime.

 

Best,

Dally

Yes; I have a 134# Hay Budden anvil that had been stored in an unheated shack in a swampy area in Ohio.  it had fine condensation pitting on the face under the rust.  I wire brushed off the rust and used it and now the sweet spot is smooth and shiny.  Scale is an abrasive you know.

Yes, being quiet was one of Fisher's big selling points and it's a top shelf anvil to boot. Yeah, hammering hot steel/iron on it will shine it up and go a long way to smoothing any dings.

You done good.

Frosty The Lucky.

Good to know, I cant wait to use it! and get her looking pretty.

For reference I picked her up for $315 so $2.25/lb. in New Hampshire Anvil prices are through the roof so I was glad I could get one for a decent price.

 

Dally

Ya done good and she's in fine shape.

In my part of FL, Fishers in far worse shape are listing for twice as much. Congratulations,  may she serve you and yours for generations. 

Thank you all, I am glad to hear that my first anvil purchase was a good one, I will be sure to contribute to this forum as my skill level as well as my knowledge increases.

The guy I purchased it from just wanted it to go into the hands of someone who was going to use it. I will be sure to serve it well.

Cheers,

Dally

How much did a new anvil cost in 1900? Anyone have an idea?

According to the 1914 Hay Budden catalog anywhere from 2-5 cents per pound so the most expensive 200 pounder would be $10. The Sears catalog #112 from 1902 lists Peter Wright anvils 85 to 500 pounds at 9 1/2 cents per pound.

The Sears Roebuck catalogs are a gold mine for dated prices; several of them are available in reprint, (I have 1897, 1905, 1908, IIRC), and they can be found on-line.   What impressed me the most was that they carried replacement screws/screwboxes for postvises in some of their catalogs!

I found the Sears, Hay Budden, Buffalo Forge and a couple of other Catalogs as PDF free downloads.