Help Finding Names of Anvils

[Red Shed Forge]

Hello, I am looking for some thoughts on what brand these anvils could be. I do not have this one yet, but it will be in my possession by the end of the week. It is a gift from my father-in-law (not the best pictures, sorry). My best guess on the first one is a 125lb Vanadium cast steel. I am assuming this only based on the little information I have found on anvils that resemble it online. It has a faux, machined plate ledge and has raised letters and numbers reading "STEEL 125 1" in descending order on the front of it. I assume this means it is cast steel at 125lbs... does the 1 mean it's 1st generation? Anyway, the only thing contrary to my assumption of its brand is that unlike actual Vanadium anvils, this one does not say "Vanadium" above the word "Steel." Could it be an early version?

 

The second anvil shown is 100lbs, welded bottom, looks to be forged/welded together with steel rods as there is a hole in the horn and I can see the rods on the inside. Otherwise, I see no markings whatsoever. 

The pictures may not post in the right order, I am having some trouble with that. 

Thank you for your thoughts!

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. The first one appears to be a farrier's anvil. 

The "Steel" anvil is cast and I can't tell from pics if it's steel (good) or iron (bad). 

Next tie you want us to look at pics, PLEASE put them in some kind of order, these were pretty jumbled up. Fortunately they are different enough it wasn't too confusing. Asking for help it's in your favor to make it as easy as possible for folk to give meaningful answers.  Put all the pics of one anvil together and maybe a comment like 'and this is the other anvil' before posting pics of the next one. Make sense?

I'm not an anvil guru though I know enough that I haven't been taken is a long time. You'll want to do a rebound test on both before buying one. The farrier's anvil shows signs of abuse, the holes in the horn look like torch cuts but it's hard to tell from here.

The cast anvil may be a fine anvil but it could be cast iron and a door stop. ASO (Anvil Shaped Object)

 Frosty The Lucky.

 

[Red Shed Forge]

Frosty, 

Thanks for the reply. Yes, as I mentioned, I had trouble getting them to post appropriately. When I uploaded the pics and tested them to see if they opened correctly, they ended up all jumbled. Not sure why. Good idea to comment with the other pics, though. I will do that if I have trouble next time.

I use the farrier's anvil regularly, it is quite solid. I am looking into mending the holes in the horn soon. The rebound test is nice but it can be a bit loud with heavy hits (working on mounting better). I'm just wondering why it is not labeled in any way.. leads me to believe it was either ground off or the whole thing was forged by the previous owner and not of any brand. 

If the cast anvil IS a Vanadium, then I believe it is cast steel with a machined plate ledge. I base my assumption off what this website says  I will have this anvil at my forge in 3 days, if I find any indicators I will post an update.

Remove link as per TOS.

Thanks for the input.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I don't believe the first one was originally a farrier's anvil. The side clip looks like an add on to me. If you can take a picture of the underside of the foot and tail, they may have a clue there.

[Red Shed Forge]

The main reason I thought it could be farrier's is because of how broad the horn is. But you're right, the clip leads me to believe that it was made for a blacksmith(?). But yes, the clip does kind of look like an add on, especially when considering the bolt protruding from it (I attached a better picture). By the way, any idea what that groove on the top could have been intended for? I did not cut it myself.

As for the underside... might sound lazy but I really do not want to dismount it from the stump right now, but I do remember looking at it when I first got it and there are no markings at all. However, as you can see from my 2nd pic on this comment, the base was clearly welded on. So, underneath, from the weld down is all hollow... about an inch and a half. Nothing under the tail either.

-Red

[Red Shed Forge]

I finally have the 125lb anvil here. Attached a couple new pictures because I want to show off the stand I built last night too haha. I need to run to the store today to get some longer bolts for the horizontal ties on the securing angle iron, but otherwise it's pretty sturdy! I counter set it about 3/4" in the top as well. 

Still see no trademarks or brand names anywhere. It is clearly cast because on the underside I can see and feel the cast line. The rebound and ring seem really good to me, but my only comparison is to my other anvil. Any advice on repairing the divots on the top edges? 

I am curious about another aspect: It is hard to tell from pictures, but the horn is a bit lopsided... that is, it is not perfectly round. It kind of dips a bit from right to left. Maybe just poor casting?

Last fun fact: When my father-in-law acquired this one, it came with another miniature anvil that looks exactly the same but with no raised letters or numbers. Can't be more than 20lbs he says. I do not have it or pictures, but it makes us wonder, do you think this could have been a salesman's model?

-Red