Help identifying ~150kg anvil

[Coig]

Hey everyone! I'm trying a few different avenues to help ID my first anvil, and I was advised to post this here.

Been on the lookout for an anvil for a long time and suddenly got the opportunity to buy this beast. Was thinking for my first one I'd get something closer to 50kg, but this was more or less the same price as I'd seen smaller (and more battered) ones for sale so I jumped at it. There's precious little distinguishing marks on it and I'm really curious to figure out the make and/or provenance.

There's a third handling hole in the middle of the heel-side foot, and two stamped serials on the opposite side, but that's pretty much it.

I got it from a mechanic/scrap dealer who got it from "an old man's workshop" after he died. The old man was somewhere in the Irish Midlands, so I'm assuming it's British-made. One side is absolutely covered in chisel test marks.

Rings beautifully, far as I can tell it's steel face on a forged iron body, but no visible weld line yet.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

 

P.S. I'd love to know the correct name for the hardy hole tool he threw in with it, that you can see in one of the images, if anyone can tell me.

[pnut]

I don't know about the maker of the anvil but the tool in the hardy hole looks like a bick or bickern if you prefer for a stake plate. It's a smaller version of a horn.  It looks like the shank would damage the anvil because it doesn't rest on it's shoulders. If it is for a stake plate it might split the heel off due to the wedge shape of the shank.  That's what makes me think it goes into a stake plate and not a hardy tool. Someone more knowledgeable will be along soon as I'm not 100% sure. 

Pnut 

[Coig]

Thanks for saving me some potential heartbreak with that! Looking at it now what you say makes perfect sense. The shank kind of just wedges awkwardly in rather than sitting comfortably. Do you think it would work if I eventually ground or forged the shank down to size and square so it sits flush in the hardy hole? Or should I just leave it off altogether?

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome aboard.

It will help to know where in the world you are located, hence the suggestion to edit your profile to show location. There are other tips, like not using the @tag in this thread which will help you get the best out of the forum.  READ THIS FIRST  pnut is correct that the bick is a stake plate tool but could be modified to use with the hardy hole by reshaping the shank. Your anvil looks to be in great shape. I hope you have read about not doing any grinding, milling or welding on the hardened face.

[Coig]

Thanks for the welcome, and apologies for the breach in etiquette. What's the maximum treatment I should give the face to clean it up? I see many people taking a flap disk or a cup stone to it. Does that run too much risk of ruining the heat treatment? There's minimal pockmarking on the face but definitely nothing I'm too worried about. I just want to clean out the grime really.

[Chelonian]

That anvil is in great condition; please don't clean it up with anything other than hot steel and maybe a wire brush. Any material removed from the thin face plate takes years if not decades of useful life from an anvil.

[Frosty]

Coig: Remember the folk who suggested you take a cup stone or other abrasive device to the face of that beautiful old lady and be skeptical of ANY advice they share with you no matter how insistent they are. 

The bottom tool looks like it was made by welding a shank on an old punch. It'd be used for small things like truing up or forming small scrolls, dart sockets, etc. You can buy punches like it new, they're most commonly used to to drive things out of holes, we used them to change teeth in soil sampling drill bits.

It'd probably be okay to use as it is, just don't do any heavy hammering on it. for scale, it'd be a little light for bottle openers AFTER you'd drifted the punched hole open. Grinding it down so it fits snugly without wedging in the hardy hole would be a good move. There is no guarantee someone won't take a single jack sledge to it when you're not looking.

Frosty The Lucky.

[pnut]

I thought it was a punch also but I didn't see an eye for a handle. 

Pnut

[ThomasPowers]

No identifiable markings on the last picture?   Some makers stamped one side and others the other and with over 200 English makes known, many making similar anvils it can be hard to specify without some help!

Can you give a picture of the handling hole "in the middle of the heel side foot?  Could one of the stamped "serials" be the weight in pounds?  (If so it may be an American anvil!)

[Coig]

ThomasPowers: My mistake, the third handling hole is on the horn side, with a stamped number either side of it. On the left is "5236" and on the right in a larger font is a lone "2". Here's a picture of it as well as some clearer pics of the two sides and under the heel.

On the side with the horn to the left, there's just dozens if not hundreds of chisel test marks that I reckon would have obliterated anything that was there before. On the other side there isn't much at all. I dusted it with some flour and nothing jumped out at me but maybe I should brush it up more and try again.

Under the heel seems rough worked which I gather narrows it down to certain manufacturers or regions at least.

Also I'm in Ireland, so while I'm definitely not ruling out an American anvil, British seems more likely at least. In any case I'm here to defer to the experts.

 

Frosty: Tbh the only person I would have any regard for that I've seen doing that kind of drastic work (cup stone and hardfacing) to an anvil face is Scott Wadsworth at Essential Craftsman. By his own admission he's relatively new to smithing and I notice his absence from the YouTube recommendation thread so I don't know what kind of a can I've opened by bringing his name up, haha. Rest assured I won't be touching the face of my own anvil at all.

[ThomasPowers]

IIRC, Postman mentions the handling hole in the foot as being fairly distinctive. Anyone with AinA handy?

The underside of the heel doesn't have the undulations common to an A&H.

The 2 is not a weight and so may be an inspection mark, (Team mark, shift mark, etc).

Does the pritchel look punched or drilled?

The chisel marks aren't bad; I've some you could use as vegetable graters.

I don't think I will be researching tonight.  My wife says I have to help with making the chocolate Amaretto pie for my Departments potluck Wednesday---after I get home from getting a handle stuck on my billet.

[Coig]

Pritchel looks punched and flares out asymmetrically underneath. I also just took a closer look at the ball jammed in the hole on the bottom and had a go at prying around it. It's in there tight, and the same iron as the body rather than a modern steel bearing or anything. I'm very curious about it. Seems a weird thing to end up in there accidentally but nor can I figure out why it would be in there intentionally. Maybe some apprentice long ago said "I bet you this BB fits perfectly in that hole" and then couldn't get it out again and it's as simple as that, but maybe there's something to it.