HumanAfterAll Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 Hey guys! Found this anvil here in São Paulo, Brazil and need help identifying it. I know it weights around 200 Kg and that's all... Can you help me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 Welcome aboard, I always suggest reading this to get the best out of the forum. READ THIS FIRST It is full of tips like editing your profile to show your location and many others. A picture of the underside of the base may help with identification. In the pictures it's hard to see the writing due to reflective glare. A picture from a little farther away may help too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanAfterAll Posted May 12, 2020 Author Share Posted May 12, 2020 Thank you, sir! That's not actually glare, it's chalk the owner used to see if she could make the name visible. I'll ask for farther away pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 The chalk fills the indications and when the excess is lightly brushed away, those indentations stand out. It helps to use a strong light from the side to illuminate the markings. Photos should include both sides, both ends, top and bottom to give the information needed to attempt an identification. Another trick is to use the zoom feature of the camera to enlarge the subject rather than moving closer. You do not learn these things in a book, only by someone passing them along while you try to get photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanAfterAll Posted May 12, 2020 Author Share Posted May 12, 2020 I'll try to guide the owner on following these steps. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 English, one of the 200+ English anvil makers that have been identified. I can look in AinA tonight for the "best" and perhaps a CRXXXX? Note that Best is usually associated with "wrought iron" and so the markings under Best are probably that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 The big N in the middle of the name Norrisez is as distinctive as the Hay-Budden arch or the Trenton diamond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanAfterAll Posted May 12, 2020 Author Share Posted May 12, 2020 I think you've solved it! Is this a "good" anvil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 Yep, got it nailed John. I did a Google search Norrisez anvil site:iforgeiron.com and got 63 hits on the forum. Here is but one thread. That's one anvil name I have never heard about, thanks. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/49735-need-help-identifying-an-anvil/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 I can't say about the Anvil's brand but it's condition looks very good. A little chipping on the edge is pretty normal of an anvil that has been used much and it is a good indication the face is hardened. Other than a little chipping the face looks reasonably smooth, no torch marks or obvious signs of welding spatter. I'd put it to work as soon as I built it a stand. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanAfterAll Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 The owner also has a 1924 153Kg Soderfors anvil. She wants $430 for the Soderfors and $480 for the Norrisez. What you think about those values? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Don't know what the anvil market is like in Brazil, but in the USA, those would be excellent prices, especially for anvils in such good condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 I'm not familiar with Norrisez. Soderfers is a top tier anvil by all accounts, and is in better condition based on the photos you sent. Once you reach that size anvil, the difference in size doesn't mean that much unless you are going to be working on major architectural iron and have a team of strikers around. I know which one I would go for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanAfterAll Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) If you want a new anvil you'd have to go for something like this: [commercial link removed] Which is the one I got and is described as "100% Nodular Iron FE 700002" and "Whole piece, no welds". A big one (#80 - about 60KG) will cost around $310 Or something like this: [commercial link removed] It is described as being "Tempered" and "made of SAE-4340 steel". The one on the link weights 44Kg and costs around $370. If you want something that's not new you'd be looking for one like those but used and severely beaten up, or one like the Soderfors/Norissez, or end up with a scrapyard chunk of steel/railroad track. Now, IDK much about metal in general and anvils yet, but when I bought mine (the Metalcava #10 - about 10KG) those descriptions did not sound very good... but heck, that was what I had at reach for the cost I could afford. The Fergus' one looks better in overall quality. Am aiming higher now, but don't know if I should go for one of those beasts I shared. They seem a bit "out of my league"... hahah Edited May 13, 2020 by Mod34 Commercial links removed per TOS, excessive quoting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Well here in the States the Soderfers would easily sell for twice the price being asked. I'd certainly take it over a modern ductile iron anvil, but perhaps not over a H-13 or cast steel Reffinghaus or Nimba anvil (though the modern cast steel anvils would be many times the price asked for the used ones you list). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Yes those used ones seem a MUCH better buy than the new ones mentioned. I wonder if it's due to them being London pattern vs a continental pattern that might be more familiar in Brazil. That Soderfors is sure tempting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanAfterAll Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 Blacksmithing is not really part of our culture. We do have knifemaking tradition over the south, where most people are German and [some] Polish descendants. But anyway, it really escapes me how a Soderfors ends up here in Brazil. And lemme say that this is not the one I've seen for selling. Look what I just found for $220: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 You noticed that it's weight stamped in pounds and not kg---so it was made for export to the USA; once it's in the hemisphere it would be a lot easier to move around. It's had almost 100 years to wander...Perhaps some business in the USA opened a branch in Brazil in the 1920's or '30's and tooled it up from here in the USA. I was amused to find a sledgehammer marked with the Broad Arrow (UK military) and stamped with a 1980's date at a fleamarket in New Mexico just a couple of decades from it's date. It was a match for one I had earlier found with a 1943 date stamp that was much more reasonable a time gap for it to get over here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanAfterAll Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) Oh, so the Soderfors is 153 Lb? Around 69Kg, then. Still is it a good price? Brazil had a great railroad expansion throughout the Military Dictatorship from '64 to '85, but before that we had some USA companies come here in the '20s and '30s, as you said. We even have a town called "Americana" ("American") in São Paulo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americana,_São_Paulo That Sonderfors probably really got here through the USA. Edited May 13, 2020 by Mod34 Excessive quoting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Actually I think I was wrong---that looks like a Kg stamp on the Sodefors. I'm just used to them having the LBS stamp on them I didn't even examine it carefully. If you keep showing us great anvils at cheap prices you may start a trend in "anvil tourism" as Americans visit Brazil to pick up anvils; probably be easiest by boat as you can probably bring it on board with you. Hmm I wonder if there will be any very cheap cruises advertised right after the Pandemic quiets down... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanAfterAll Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 I'll found a Blacksmith Tourism Agency! Hahahah... Well, the Soderfors is gone, unfortunately. And it was KG. The owner actually weighted it on a scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanAfterAll Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 (edited) Just a friendly reminder the use of the @tag is frowned upon. Using the @ name on the forum What you guys think about that Nash & Sons? Worth the price? She does have a cut on the horn: Edited May 14, 2020 by Mod30 Remove @tags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 I'm not an anvil expert by any means. Reading the side it appears to have 0.3.10 in the English hundredweight system which would be around 94 lbs or 43 kg Link removed A double horn anvil is nice for architectural work as well as general forging. This one is a little small, at least compared to the large shop anvils you were looking at, but depending on what you plan on doing with it, certainly usable. Edges are reasonable and horn damage wouldn't deter me. At $220 it would sell here quickly, but I don't know what prices are by you. Can't remember what this particular anvil pattern is called (Yorkshire perhaps), but it is subtly different from the German and Austrian double horn patterns having a dropped flat horn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanAfterAll Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 Thanks Latticino, I found another anvil, is this a Wilkinson's? The owner says it's a "Kinson's" anvil What you think about it. Is it worth $290? And sorry about asking so much if it's good or not.L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanAfterAll Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 Value correction: It's about $140 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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