Rich C Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 Hi my wife bought me this for christmas and i collected it a couple of days ago, while cleaning it i found some makers markings but cannot decipher enough to find out who made it. It is very heavy but doesn't seem to have a weight stamp. From what i can see it has an anchor logo then below is * (possible Y) ARD (L/E) (L/E) * & CO below that i think is either YARD or just the same stamp as top line but slightly accross as i can see & CO again but offset to the right B E S T WARRENTE ** possibly warrented or warranteer? Nothing on this line that i can see but i guess it should say something due to spacing E R - i guess this is what it looks like and is for the queen so post 1950s It has a square hole in the base and through the waist. Any help in identifying this would be greatly appreciated thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 When you photograph a logo on an anvil, it is best to use a point or strong light from a low angle to the anvil. This created a shadow across the marks depression in the metal. A pencil rubbing on a piece of paper sometimes reveals details you may have missed. Pay the anvil on its side and dust the logo with baby powder or flour then lightly brush off any excess leaving the depressions of the logo to catch and reveal the logo. Use all three and compare them. Usually you can get most of the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 Luckily you don't need to know the name of the maker to use an anvil. I can say it looks to be a traditionally made English anvil and if it passes the bounce and ring tests a very nice one. I hope you got here something special too! Has the face been ground on? It looks quite smooth for the amount of use the edges show. I hope not; as that decreases the value of it as it decreases the thickness of the working face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C Posted January 14, 2020 Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 I tried the light from many angles and this was the best i could get, haven't tried a pencil rubbing or powder yet but will do tomorrow. Thank you for the tip. As far as i can tell it hasn't been ground at all, i gave it a quick run over with a wire wheel on the face and horn only a brush on the side. I'll go over the whole anvil with the wheel as soon as i can and might be able to get more details out of it. It rings nicely all over not too long and not dull but a nice pitch, seems to have a good amount of bounce all over too. Any ideas of material? I assume forged steel as it doesn't have raised cast markings and seems pretty hard all over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 My guess would be a forged wrought iron body with a relatively thin steel face forge welded on, maybe in strips. (Why we worry about people grinding or milling anvil faces!) Forged steel anvils are fairly recent in smithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C Posted January 14, 2020 Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 Thank you, hopefully while cleaning it up i can get some more detail on it and be able to research it's history. Then try and get it on a scale as all i can say at the moment is it must be close to 100kg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Welcome aboard... Knowing where in the world it's located will help, hence the suggestion to edit your profile to show location in this thread. READ THIS FIRST Have you read it yet? It's full of helpful tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C Posted January 15, 2020 Author Share Posted January 15, 2020 Thank you i have read lots of the post on this site over the past year or so and have found it very useful, I've updated my location now and read the tips. Did a pencil rubbing today and unfortunately only the same detail came out, same results with a higher power lightsource from multiple angles as well so think there is no more to be seen than what I've got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Keep the rubbing and if it ever walks off, you can prove it's yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C Posted January 15, 2020 Author Share Posted January 15, 2020 Excellent suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 With the current prices and detached smithies I worry about loss and how to prove something is mine without volatile picture storage like a phone or pc hard drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Another method that sometimes helps reveal a logo is to use modeling clay and press it into the logo. Peel it away and you will get a negative of the impression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich C Posted January 16, 2020 Author Share Posted January 16, 2020 Good to have several ways of trying to raise an impression and get more information from faded stampings thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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