Hi all! I'm from Australia. I'm new to the site and see there are some real gurus on here who can hopefully help me identify an Anvil I picked up recently. From what I can tell its old and potentially wrought iron with the hard plate on top. The sides have a strange pattern on them which might have been from misuse but could also be from manufacture. I've seen similar marks on a Soderfos Anvil but also thinking it could be a Mouse hole. Measurements are: Length: 750mm (29.5") Height: 320mm (12.6") Plate width: 145mm (5.7") Hardy hole: 25mmx25mm (1"x1") Pritcher Hole Dia: 15mm (5/8") It has a grab hole in either side of the waist and one in the bottom. I've wire brushed the sides so far and have only found a "7" on the foot under the horn, a "2" indicating the first number in the weight sequence, and a "U" above the 2. I thought I could see an "R" in front of the U but not certain. The weight is 132.5 kgs or 292 lbs. Any help would be muchly appreciated.  I thought I could see a 307 on the opposite side (bottom Pic3) when I was wire brushing but that could have been my imagination. Thanks in advance!

5 hours ago, Kj.S said:

I'm from Australia.

Welcome aboard, we won't remember location once leaving this post, hence the suggestion to put location in your profile. We have a bunch of folks here from OZ, there is a thread in Everything Else (OZ roll call) with a lot of members there.

OZ roll call - Everything Else - I Forge Iron

Sorry I can't help with the ID of your anvil but do know that back in the day Blacksmith's would test the temper of cutting tools like chisels and punches on the sides of their anvils to see if they were good to go.

I hope you have read about not doing any grinding, milling or welding on the hardened face, which does more harm than good. I would say she is ready to be put back to work and hammering hot steel on the face will shine it up in short order..

Thanks for the advice. I've updated my profile with location and have got onto the Oz roll call. That's interesting about the tools and how they got tested. I'd say the old girl has seen a lot of new implements in her time judging by the volume of marks. Remarkable condition for the work its seen

As the body is made from soft wrought iron; testing on it would give you a different answer than testing on steel!  I'd go with Mousehole too as the keel on the underside of the horn is typical IIRC. Of course there have been over 200 anvil makers in the UK and many of them learned the trade working for Mousehole or Peter Wright and so went on and made anvils that look a lot like those two. 

How much does it weigh?  That 2 should be the first number of the CWT weight.

Thanks Thomas. I figured the "2" was the first number to indicate the weight. Its 132.5 kgs or 292 lbs. What does IIRC stand for? 

IIRC stands for "If I Recall Correctly".

So: 2 would be 224 pounds, probably another 2 for 56 pounds  and around  12 for the rest to bring it to 292 (Though on old anvils the CWT weight is often a few pounds off from the weighed weight.)

Kj.S    FWIW...For What It's Worth,

I have a later Mousehole and the weight is on the opposite side of the U 2 on yours. I think the U2 on your anvil is a much later addition, more modern looking, it also looks too clean and crisp.  The logo and CWT weight on mine are visible with the horn to the right. It may very well be a mouse, but the U 2 was an add on I believe.

It is a nice looking anvil, I hope you enjoy it 

 

That's a good point Rusty. They are pretty crisp considering the beating the rest of it has had. Has yours got the "7" on the foot (under the horn)? Not sure what this means

Anvils can have a lot of extraneous markings on them: inspector who inspected it, team that built it, foreman of the team that built it,  the batch of steel used to make the top section, etc.  Some of them we really don't know what they indicated 100+ years ago. And then there are markings added since original manufacturing...Dealers who sold, Companies who bought, Smiths who owned. Indications of government ownership, etc and so on.

Kj.s

Mine is mounted in a stand with a good bed of silicone and I don't remember if it had any markings on the front foot. One of the feet on mine is bent a bit, so it wobbles on a flat surface. I silicone'd and chained it into the stand, which kills the ring and gives me a stable anvil.

Looks good Rusty

I've never had an issue with grinding on the bottom of an anvil to make it sit flat---its a *tool* not an idol!

Thomas,

Problem is it is bent up. Maybe it hit the ground on the left front foot and bent it up about 1/4 to 3/8". I do not want to pound it back down cold and I don't want want to try to heat it and take the chance of over doing it and messing up the temper. I don't have enough experience or knowledge. So it sits as is.

My Mousehole (aka The Undisputed King of Anvils) also doesn't have a flat bottom, a problem that I -- like rustyanchor -- solved with silicone.

There is a marvelous invention called the arc welder...and if you don't want to mess with real wrought iron and arc welding you can weld a pad on the stand...

The stand does have a built up pad welded in the corner of the bent foot, then silicone. I figure I will let the next owner figure out their best solution.

Bent foot and all, I really like that little anvil, It is just pleasant to work on (As much work as I do on it anyway).