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I Forge Iron

Anvil maker?


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Best bet is to wire wheel the rust off to see if you can find any markings. After getting the rust off if you dont see any Mark's you could rub flour on it to see if anything pops. Afterwards you can wipe it down with BLO to help prevent it rusting again. Working hot steel on the face of it will shine that part up. 

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ThomasPowers what is ball Bearing test? I don’t know much about this type of thing to be honest

Irondragon ForgeClay Works I’m in Ireland there is no markings at all on it that I can see, the bottom there is none either! It was my grand uncle’s from when he was blacksmith back in 1940’s 50’s

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On several brands of American anvils there are not markings but an indentation: Caplet shaped is generally Trenton and Arm and Hammer,  Hour glass is generally Hay Budden and some Trentons.   The presence of a handling hole in the base also helps identify possible makers.

Being in Ireland it's much more likely you have an anvil made in the UK, of which over 200 different makers have been identified so 9if no stampings on the side then you are pretty much out of luck.

Now as for the ball bearing test: using my browser, google chrome, and the test string: ball bearing test site:iforgeiron.com  gives  803 specific hits; I'm sure it's described many many times; but here it is again:

1 clean any rust paint or oil off the face of the anvil

2 drop a 1/2" to 3/4" ball bearing  from a known height next to a ruler, (here in the USA 10 inches is a common height), and record the height of the bounce. 10 inches works very nicely as it gives a direct percentage:  Drop Height 10"  Bounce Height 7"  gives 70% rebound, pretty much the lower bound for good using anvils, 80% good, 90% excellent! It's a good, cheap, quick and easy way to check for anvils that may have lost their temper in a structure fire. (After more than a century in a wooden structure heat4ed, lit and containing a forge or two, quite a few anvils have been through fires.)

Now it has to be a hardened ball bearing and a clean face to get a clean bounce. 

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The ball bearing test is when you drop a ball bearing, usually about 1" (2.5 cm) from about a foot (35 cm) above the anvil face and measure how high it bounces.  70-80% of the height it was dropped from is a good rebound.  the more rebound the better.  You can try the test on known materials such as a chunk of cast iron for a omparison.  You can also estimate it by striking the anvil with a moderate amount of force with a hammer and feeling how "bouncy" it is.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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