Old English Anvil - Face Damage

[raworange]

Found this old iron today and am mostly wondering what you all think of the current state of the face. It appears to have a hardened plate that has chipped or delaminated across a section of the face. How much does this hurt the usability of the anvil, and is there anything that can be done to prevent further damage?

Can anything be determined from the appearance of the anvil about age or manufacture? My (likely flawed) understanding suggests mid-1800s English manufacture, built-up from multiple pieces of wrought iron, with a hardened steel face. There are clear welds on the feet as well as the horn, and the only markings I could see were the weight, indicating 136lbs. It is said that there were upwards of 200 anvil manufacturers in England during this period, so finding the name may be quite difficult in a case like this. Rebound with a steel ball was pretty good across the face with good consistency even on the damaged area. 

Thank you all for your input!

 

[ThomasPowers]

Does the pritchel hole show signs of having been hot punched?  Or is it possibly a drilled retrofit---and so pushing the date earlier. Definitely English---CWT stamping, and without any maker stamping you really can't attribute it.  It was common for people to work at one of the anvil manufacturers and then go off to start their own, very often making anvils that look a lot like the ones they learned the trade making.  So even if you found an identical stamped anvil there is no guarantee that this anvil was made by the same manufacturer.

The face that's left looks very thin to me and I would not expect it to hold up well to heavy hammering. You might get away with light ornamental work for a while. (What would you say about car tires that showed that much thread thickness left and were worn to the belting along one side? That's basically what this is like.)

The face can be built back up using the Gunther/Schuler method---followed EXACTLY! (retreading)  However this would be expensive in time and materials. (I once saw an anvil rebuilt that had been milled till the face was around what is left on that one.  It took a highly skilled welder---taught the welding classes at the college for years!---around 5 hours using industrial sized equipment and a lot of abrasives to boot to build it back up to a usable thickness.)

The value of that anvil as a *using* anvil is very low; I once bought an anvil close to that weight that I consider in much better shape even though it was missing the heel for US$40. The thickness of the face is the life of the anvil!    The cost of the repairs should be factored into any price for that anvil as buying a new one may be cheaper.

[raworange]

Good to know. Certainly will continue my search.Thank you!