D87rock Posted April 28, 2020 Posted April 28, 2020 Hello, I recently purchased an old anvil and I was looking for help to identify its maker. I uploaded some pictures to see if anyone recognizes it. Seems to weigh about 120 lbs. Thank you. 0427202028a.bmp 0427202110a.bmp Quote
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 28, 2020 Posted April 28, 2020 Welcome aboard, please read this... READ THIS FIRST It will help you get the best out of the forum with tips like editing your profile to show your location because so many answers depend upon knowing where in the world you are located. I can't open the attachments. Quote
D87rock Posted April 28, 2020 Author Posted April 28, 2020 Here are the pictures, sorry I had trouble uploading them and had to resize. Thanks for looking Quote
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 28, 2020 Posted April 28, 2020 I can see the remnants of Brooklyn NY which would make it a Hay Budden if I'm not mistaken, more pictures would confirm that. Quote
D87rock Posted April 28, 2020 Author Posted April 28, 2020 Any specific areas to take more pictures? I can take more tomorrow. I looked on google of pictures of hay budden anvils and it looks like mine could be one. Thank you for the help Quote
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 28, 2020 Posted April 28, 2020 A full view both sides and one of the bottom (underside) of the base. There may be numbers on the front feet the right one will be a serial number which will give a range of when it was made. I just saw the second picture and it is in great shape, couldn't make out the numbers below would be the weight when it was made. I hope you have read about not doing any grinding, milling or welding on the hardened steel face, which will do more harm than good. Quote
John McPherson Posted April 28, 2020 Posted April 28, 2020 The ....BUDDEN and MANUFACTURING are plain enough, even without adding the Brooklyn. Quote
ThomasPowers Posted April 28, 2020 Posted April 28, 2020 Note as it's an American made anvil the weight stamping will be in pounds. The underside of the base should show the HB "hourglass" and the numbers on the front foot will include the serial number IIRC. Quote
jHuson Posted April 29, 2020 Posted April 29, 2020 Can anyone tell me what kind of anvil this is? A friend of mine was an antique dealer and he passed about two months ago. His wife asked me to find out for her. Haven't weighed it, but would think it is in the 30-40# range. Any ideas? Quote
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 29, 2020 Posted April 29, 2020 Looks like a half of an anvil vise combination to me. BTW Welcome aboard, please read this. READ THIS FIRST It will help you get the best out of the forum with tips like editing your profile to show your location and many others. Quote
ThomasPowers Posted April 29, 2020 Posted April 29, 2020 I agree, not a real anvil suitable for forging on; part of a cast iron "multitool" missing a substantial part of it. Fairly common as the combo tools seem to break fairly easily and the "anvil" part gets saved to use for straightening nails and other light work. Unfortunately not worth much and even less to blacksmiths. For a variation on it see: Quote
jHuson Posted April 30, 2020 Posted April 30, 2020 Thanks for the replies, It has worked well for the kids to beat on a little and play with the old coal forge. We really just wanted to be sure that it wasn't some priceless artifact that they were destroying. :-) I will continue to research and see if I can find anymore info, He had a $365 price tag on it. So, I assume even though it is an ASO, I assume it has some sort of antique value or rarity. Who knows with him though, he all kinds of cool old stuff. Quote
jHuson Posted April 30, 2020 Posted April 30, 2020 Just for the sake of conversation... it is very interesting to me, that no matter what search you do, Nothing seems to come up on these... Searching ASO vises,,,,, and not one even remotely looks like it... the Whole in the side should be telling of something, both have the same keyed type hole.... and neither yours or mine has any vise like faces. I thought maybe a pipefitter, wagon maker, something off the wall... But have not found anything even remotely like it... form fit or function.. hmmm Quote
lazyassforge Posted April 30, 2020 Posted April 30, 2020 This is a picture of a “whole” vice/anvil. hope this helps! Bill D Quote
ThomasPowers Posted April 30, 2020 Posted April 30, 2020 Funny using google chrome: anvil vise combo brought up some pictures though you had to plow though a bunch of regular vises to find them. On what it's worth: It's a piece of a cheap multitool that never worked very well. They are not that rare and tools missing parts are worth a fraction of what the complete item is. I would have suggested getting the kids a railroad rail anvil *cheap* and put the extra $300+ in their college fund. Antique dealers are notorious for their pricing and lack of knowledge on items outside of their particular interest. There was one in Ohio that has a set of "farmer's tongs" with a US$90 price tag on it, a friend was looking at them in astonishment and the dealer came up and told them how cheap they were. It seems that their "book" had a set of tongs with good provenance that had been forged by Henry Ford??? as a demo and had sold at $180; so random "nobody" tongs should be a good deal at $90, right? He offered to bring them 100 sets of tongs for $45 apiece so they could double their money as we were commonly buying them at fleamarkets for under $20 at that time. I consider that price would buy the complete vice/anvil tool in *mint* condition. BTW the early 1900's Sears Roebuck catalogs often have such multitools in them and you can see what the original price was. Quote
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