eseemann Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Good Morning All, I was on vacation and I found a long time machinist with a very nice anvil for only $300.00 so I took him up on his offer. The nice part about getting the anvil from this guy was he had a racquetball sized ball bearing to test the rebound (around 10 inches out of 12 inches) and he refaced the top so it is as smooth as glass. I have seen a great number of anvils that have dents in the slid like this one has and I wonder why people seem to beat on the non-working part of the anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eventlessbox Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 The Mark's on the side are from Smith's checking the heat treat on their punches and chisels as they made them. The unhardened part of the anvil was a easy place to test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 I've also heard that they used to impress a customer that way back in the day; most folks not knowing that the body would be dead soft wrought iron and it's only the face that is hardened. That one is fairly lightly marked up. Looks like the cutting plate was heavily used and ground down to hide that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goods Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Is it just a lighting effect, or does it look like the face was milled/ground through almost a ladder pattern? It doesn’t seem that way from the side picture. It just looks strange... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eseemann Posted October 21, 2019 Author Share Posted October 21, 2019 The guy I got it from did say he milled the top flat. I think the ladder pattern is due to the mill he used. The top is very flat and smooth. I would not be at all surprised to find out the top looked like Harag the Horrible's sword in some places. It is a new to me that is heavy and has a much better rebound than my home built job. 5 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: I've also heard that they used to impress a customer that way back in the day; most folks not knowing that the body would be dead soft wrought iron and it's only the face that is hardened. That one is fairly lightly marked up. Looks like the cutting plate was heavily used and ground down to hide that. It was a tool, the smiths at that time were not worried about the resale price in the 21st century. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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