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I Forge Iron

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So first the story on the anvil:

I work in a shop where getting tools is a huge pain, and a lot of what is there is not great, so I buy most of what I need for expediency and because I can always take it with me when I go. The last guy that ran the shop was a maintenance worker with fabrication skills, so the metal shop lacks a lot of tools I like to use coming from more of a fabrication background. Among the tools absent is an anvil. Additionally because this is a maintenance setting with a wide variety of tasks that need to get done I am not the only one with access to the fabrication shop, and while I keep some of my tools locked up most of the larger ones are going to be accessible. Finally I encourage the others to come learn how to use the tools, and try to teach them how to do so with their saftey foremost in mind, and the safety and longevity of the tools as a close second.

We are all aware of the prices of new anvils, so I chose to wait for a suitable used one to come up cheap that would serve in  this setting. My criteria was basically that it be around 100lbs so I can move it (small space) and worn enough that any damage inflicted by my coworkers would not degrade its usefulness... and boy did I find one that meets the bill.

Anyway, the reason for the post is because once I got my hands on it I realized there were a lot of cool forge-welds visible, as well as some interesting degregation of the top plate that I wanted to post in the hopes that it would be informative.

Disclaimer: this anvil is pretty much wrecked and while eventually I will probably weld repair it for now it will be used as is.

 

First the top plate, which looks like it only had the first 1/8" or so hardened and after some abuse the hard layer has chipped away from the unhardened plate. additionally there is an interesting fracture pattern radiating back from the broken edge. in the second photo you can see where the steel plate and the wrought body meet as well. I do not think this has been weld repaired as the fractures go far back onto the face and the steel plate is still visible under the broken section at the edge:

IMG_20190926_140618531.thumb.jpg.052b4fc43d8cadd6f372ace4c3b22d43.jpg

 

Notice the mushroomed part at the right side of the photo. On the left you can see a what looks like a cold shunt where the lower part of the steel plate meets the wrought.

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In the photo above you can see the forge weld lines of the feet. Below is the bottom of the anvil, and it is hard to tell but appears that the feet may be connected and welded then forged as a kind of 'bar' across the bottom of the body of the anvil:

IMG_20190919_133744729.thumb.jpg.1d07096ef1c0c86f6280b2241668ca7c.jpg

 

And in this next photo similar view but a different angle to see where the weld transitions to the side of the body:

 

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Lastly the heel appears to be two pieces, one right on the edge of the hardy hole that meets the body at 45 degrees and one piece further towards the body:

 

IMG_20190919_164848739.thumb.jpg.1073145b6d78681812798075cb954df0.jpg

 

 

IMG_20190919_133716175.thumb.jpg.5b46df9bae8f1ddbb1569a18c0147398.jpg

 

And here is a shot in all her glory, as well as a close up of what remains of the makers mark:

IMG_20190926_140540136.thumb.jpg.8c7e4a7871b75b4cb719fd0309a954ec.jpg

 

I can see the letters "...RIGH..." and thats it.

 

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Given the kind of wear and construction (as well as hundredweight marks) i suspect it was a middling level English import that got used rather hard. all together I count at least 6 pieces, 7 if we assume the horn was welded on as well, and as many as 9 if we count all the feet separately (but it doesn't appear to me to have been made that way). I'm excited to put it back to use and teach some new folks the many uses of the anvil.

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