October 17, 20214 yr I have this anvil I inherited from my uncle and I'm trying to identify this beast. The anvil has to weigh atleast over 200 pounds and the only identifying mark it has is a "R" on the base of it. I'm also looking to sell and downsize this anvil since I would only be making smaller blades. What would be a good fair price for this as well. Located in Duncan,Oklahoma
October 17, 20214 yr While I can't help you with your anvil I can welcome you to the forum, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you'll have a better chance of hooking up with members within visiting distance. Posting the SAME question and long string of pictures in more than ONE thread is a huge waste of bandwidth. Iforge has more than 50,000 members in around 150 countries around the world. Many, maybe most do not have broadband and have to pay data rates. Another tip is NOT posting repeated pictures in your gallery. I believe it's a flaw in the system but it's how it works but ANY pic you post from your gallery downloads your ENTIRE gallery, the arrows on the sides of the pic take you to the next pic. Making us download your entire gallery many times is another huge waste of bandwidth. Once is enough to let us see everything in your gallery. That said, don't put anything in it you don't want the entire Iforge membership to look at. I'm not giving you a hard time, there's a learning curve to using the site and we all had to climb it. Looking forward to seeing pics of what you make on that fine old anvil. Frosty The Lucky.
October 17, 20214 yr Howdy from eastern Oklahoma! There’s a lot of guys out your way on here, Ill have to look through AinA later to see if I can help you identify your anvil, the only thing that stands out from the pictures is that’s it’s cast, it looks like it’s in pretty good shape!
October 17, 20214 yr The body may be cast, but the face is a plate...the anvil experts here can identify anvils with (probably) a cast iron body and forge welded-on, hardened face plate.
October 17, 20214 yr It appears to be in pretty good shape and I'm guessing in the 150-200 pound range. Test it for ring and rebound. Drop a ball bearing on the face and measure the amount it bounces back. Anything over 80% is very good. Assuming that is actually as good as it looks in the photos and depending on demand in your area $3-$5 per pound will be the approximate fair market value. Check on line auctions and sales lists to see what similar items are going for. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."
October 17, 20214 yr Author 8 hours ago, Frosty said: While I can't help you with your anvil I can welcome you to the forum, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you'll have a better chance of hooking up with members within visiting distance. Hey Frosty I definitely appreciate getting my attachments and post in order I had no idea it posted a bunch of extra stuff that was not needed. I will add my location in the header next time and pay a little closer attention to what's happening and where the post is going.. thanks again and have a great day! Edited October 17, 20214 yr by Mod30 Trim quote.
October 17, 20214 yr Author 4 hours ago, George N. M. said: It appears to be in pretty good shape and I'm guessing in the 150-200 pound range Awesome thanks for that knowledge I appreciate that! I will find a scale and a ball bearing and go from there! Have a good day! 5 hours ago, TWISTEDWILLOW said: Howdy from eastern Oklahoma! Howdy! It's always nice to find another okie on here! I definitely appreciate you looking that info up for me I've been searching a lot and havent really come up with research on what this might be brand wise or a time this might have been casted! Thanks and have a great day!
October 17, 20214 yr To me it look is reminiscent of Columbian anvils, but I don't know if they cast anvils for other companies or brands.
October 17, 20214 yr Welcome aboard... One thing that hasn't been mentioned is please do not do any grinding, milling or welding on that old anvils hardened face. More anvils have been ruined by trying to improve the looks.
October 17, 20214 yr Ive been reading through all the cast anvil chapters in AinA an I haven’t found one with that R marking yet, it kinda resembles a columbian to me also, they did used different letters for foundry pattern marks in the same location on some but usually on the opposite side, but yours doesn’t have any trademark, Thomas normally shows back up on weekdays so maybe he can help tomorrow
October 18, 20214 yr How does it sound when you tap it with a hammer? Lots of anvil makers would make whatever the customer was willing to pay for and it's possible this one is a Fisher made for another market. Sears for example. HECK, it just now occurred to me this might be a Roebuck anvil! Just kidding but if it turns out I'm right somebody better award me a prize of some kind! Frosty The Lucky.
October 18, 20214 yr 20 hours ago, arkie said: a cast iron body and forge welded-on, hardened face plate Cast iron generally can't be forge welded; I believe that cast iron anvils with steel faces had the faces cast in place. Fisher in particular had a casting procedure that sent a stream of molten iron across the steel plate to preheat it before the body itself was cast. 22 hours ago, Musclecarman1 said: the only identifying mark it has is a "R" on the base of it. That's what we call a "pirate anvil".
October 18, 20214 yr Sure looks like it has a forge welded on face plate---which is good. Several brands used cast steel bases that were welded to the upper section at various times. Any chance the R was arc welded on? (Any chance of getting a picture of the underside of the base and no numbers on the front of the foot under the horn?) In my opinion: if the ring and rebound is good; the anvil is good no matter who made it. If the ring and/or rebound is bad then it's a bad anvil no matter who made it. If you need to get to town; is a Mercedes with a blown engine better than a working Ford pickup?
October 18, 20214 yr 31 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: Any chance the R was arc welded on? I was wondering the same thing.
October 18, 20214 yr The overall shape, grinds on the inside of the curves above the feet but not under the tail, and the "fake" forge welded on face are the exact same as my Columbian. You can look up the specs for size and weight on Columbian anvils and check them against yours. To me it has the look of a cast steel anvil not a cast iron or wrought iron anvil. but as others have said if it passes the ring test and ball bearing test then run with it. If it is a Columbian remember they were only made for about 20 years so they are relatively more uncommon then other brands and Columbians are top tier anvils, they are extreamly hard so they have the tendency like the Swedish anvils to chip along the edges.
October 19, 20214 yr Author 23 hours ago, JHCC said: I was wondering the same thing. Upon further inspection the R looks to be welded on.. maybe it's part of someone's initials or the company mark from past owners..
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