Tom McKenzie Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Good evening, I am looking at identifying an old anvil that has been passed down over the years through the family and curious as to the history of the manufacturer. The anvil has the raised lettering "Van I&S FNDRY Vancouver WN" My Great Great grandfather started the McKenzie Blacksmith shop in Oklahoma in the late 1800's and the shop ran until the mid 1940's when my Great Grandfather retired. Some of the old branding irons and tools have been passed down over the generations along with the anvil, but not sure if it was one of the original anvils used in the shop. I have pictures of the anvil as well as the original blacksmith shop with both my Great Great Grandfather and my Great Grandfather if your interested and that helps. I truly appreciate the help on this and look forward to hearing back. Thank you in advance, Tom McKenzie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Howdy from eastern Oklahoma! And welcome to the forum! we love pictures here so please do post them! as far as the anvil goes I don’t know off the top of my head I’d have to check AinA but there were lots of brands that were actually made by other manufacturers, so some pictures would definitely help with identifying it, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McKenzie Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 Thank you sir, my entire family is originally from Oklahoma and some still live there !! I will get the pictures posted ASAP. I had to do some cleaning on the anvil and soaking in some penetrant oil to get the years of crust off of it. Thank you for your quick response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Your very welcome! on a side note if you plan on spending some time on I forge Iron, then I highly recommend looking over the read this first thread, it’s full of information on how to navigate the sight and posting pictures and just about everything else! also if your gonna spend some time here you might wanna update your profile location, so you can hook up with local blacksmiths that can help you in person! you never know, you might decide to start smithing yourself! Once the bug bites you’ll start a whole new journey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 FLEEE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McKenzie Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 Here is the Blacksmith shop. My Great Great Grandfather William Herbert McKenzie is standing next to the wagon with the large brimmed hat and the tiny kid on the left side of the picture is my Great Grandfather George Thomas McKenzie. I have another picture of George Thomas all grown up and about 50 years old working in the same blacksmith shop. I will get that posted as well for you guys, pretty cools stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Lol, don’t mind Mr Powers joke, he’s a resident smith here with 40 years I think? Of time by the forge, he can definitely help answer your questions better than I can! that’s a pretty cool picture, where in Oklahoma was that blacksmith shop located? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McKenzie Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 Funny you mention that, I have actually been in the metal fabrication industry for the last 27 years. I own a fabricating and engineering business that specializes in building off road race trucks from the ground up. They are 100% hand built trucks that race down in Baja Mexico in the Baja 1000 and so on. I also do special projects for the military and the aerospace industry. Metal fabricating has always come very easy, so I'm guessing I can thank my great great grandfather for that. But thank you for the tips on navigating the site, I will go through everything and learn how to navigate the site. I was just excited to get started and see if we could get this anvil identified. Have a good evening sir !! From what my grandmother told me it was near a town called Stonewall, Oklahoma ? Here is the photo of My Great Grandfather George Thomas working in the blacksmith shop circa 1940. And I double checked it was near Stonewall, Oklahoma. Its a pleasure to meet you gentleman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Dear Tom, Welcome aboard from SE Wyoming. There is a previous thread from 2014 about Vancouver Iron and Steel Foundry anvils but not a lot of in depth info. Is your anvil the one shown in the 1940 photo of your g'grandfather? Have you done a ring and bounce test on it to see if it is usable or is just a family keepsake? If you put your general location in your profile we will be able to give better answers to your questions. A surprising number of answers are geography dependent. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojo Pedro Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Thanks for posting. Great photos and cool history Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 I started forging as a hobby in 1980 or 1981, I don't remember so I claim 1981. 2022 is my 41st year. It's been a great time and it's been amusing how my blacksmith work has played into my IT work, exp: my boss once asking if I could salvage a system that a forklift had run into. I was able to reduce the crumple and get the circuit packs to slide in and match up with the pins (mainframe!) and boot up and be usable---saved a LOT of money and a lot of lead time on ordering a replacement. I did spend a year apprenticed to a swordmaker full time; but then got married and had to support a family. My current shop has buggy tyres leaning against the side of it as part of my real wrought iron pile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McKenzie Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 12 hours ago, George N. M. said: Welcome aboard from SE Wyoming. There is a previous thread from 2014 about Vancouver Iron and Steel Foundry anvils but not a lot of in depth info. Good morning sir, Thank you for your response and it's a pleasure to meet you. The anvil I have is unfortunately not the one in the photo, but I see another one farther back in the shop picture that it might be. I'll do the ring and bounce test today when I get to the shop and also take a couple pictures to share with you guys. I also got some of the old branding irons and a couple tools, but not sure what they were used for. Ultimately, I am not going to use the anvil and just going to make a cool display at my shop with the family history and hang the pictures and the branding irons as a tribute to the hard work of all blacksmiths. 3 hours ago, Rojo Pedro said: Thanks for posting. Great photos and cool history Thank you sir, I'll share some more when I get them. I'm a big history fan and like all the old stuff like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McKenzie Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said: I started forging as a hobby in 1980 or 1981, I don't remember so I claim 1981. 2022 is my 41st year. It's been a great time and it's been amusing how my blacksmith work has played into my IT work, exp: my boss once asking if I could salvage a system that a forklift had run into. I was able to reduce the crumple and get the circuit packs to slide in and match up with the pins (mainframe!) and boot up and be usable---saved a LOT of money and a lot of lead time on ordering a replacement. Good morning, Thank you for sharing, that's a great story and you definitely have some experience in this arena and sure you have made some pretty cool stuff over the years. There is never a substitute for experience and years of hard work. It's nice to meet you and thanks for your response !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 It looks like he had a line shaft set up there along the back wall, that’s pretty cool, do you still have any of the machinery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Tom McK; have you read "Dinosaurs of the Flaming Cliffs" about paleontological digs in the Gobi Desert? It mentions that the first trip they used "Russian army surplus" trucks and had a lot of issues, (I recall them talking about cutting a new head gasket out of an oatmeal box in the field...) And then suddenly getting clearance for another expedition and having to grab the first desert rated transports they could find in CA: Toyota Baja Buggies. Much nicer with AC and Music and wild paint schemes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McKenzie Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 Good morning, Unfortunately, I don't have any of the old equipment and really wish I did. My Grandmother spent some time at the Blacksmith shop while my grandfather was fighting in World War 2 since she lived with my Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother during that time and although she is 99 years old this year, she still remembers some of that stuff. My great aunt who grew up there and still lives in Oklahoma is still alive as well and I'm going to talk with both of them and see if they know where all of that stuff went. It would be nice to track some of that stuff down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Welcome from the desert just outside of Fabulous Las Vegas NV. Were you here fr the Mint 400? I am putting the parts together for my off road explorer, a 1956 Imperial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McKenzie Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 Hey Big gun Doctor, It's nice to meet you and unfortunately I wasn't out there for the Mint 400, I would like to have made it but have been so busy I wasn't able to get away. Your project sounds pretty awesome !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 7 hours ago, Tom McKenzie said: I'm going to talk with both of them I regret not making any tape recordings of my grandfather, when he was willing to talk about his Army Days with Gen Blackjack Pershing and blacksmithing in the army. Back then a tape recorder would have been used but today the smarter than me phone will also make recordings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McKenzie Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 Mr. Powers, Sounds like a great read thank you for the suggestion !! I will definitely get that ordered and give it a read. And yeah the luxury desert prerunners we make now a days have much more of the creature comforts of a normal car, but can still 100 over the 3 foot whoops in the desert. Definitely a ton of fun, just a ton of work. The last one I finished for a customer took right around 4,000 hours to build start to finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McKenzie Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 24 minutes ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said: I regret not making any tape recordings of my grandfather, when he was willing to talk about his Army Days with Gen Blackjack Pershing and blacksmithing in the army. Back then a tape recorder would have been used but today the smarter than me phone will also make recordings. That would have been some amazing stories !! Gentleman, So here is a picture of the old anvil after soaking in penetrant oil for a couple days and cleaning some of the scale off of it. The back has a "V" stamped in it and the front says "70". I weighed it and it came out to about 73 pounds. I did a ring and bounce test (to the best of my novice ability) and the back of the top plate has a nice ring and the hammer rebounded about a third of the distance from which it was dropped. The center of the top plate was a dead thud with no rebound at all. The Anvil has definitely seen some abuse, but overall a nice heirloom for the shop. I would just like to find out some more information about the manufacturer, Vancouver Iron & Steel. I also took a picture of the branding irons that were passed down along with an old crow bar and not sure what the tool on the bottom was used for. If anyone has an idea any help would be appreciated. To me it looks like something that would be used to mount wagon wheels, but who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 Those are some really cool tools you inherited! I still haven’t got a chance to look at AinA to see what it says about the anvil manufacturer, do you know if your great great grandpa changed buildings at some time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McKenzie Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 Thanks !! and I'm not sure about the building. In the more recent picture, you can see there are block walls, so I'm not sure if the building was expanded behind the original tin building or what happened. I will ask my Grandma and see what she remembers about it. Thanks for looking into the anvil for me !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Man I’m sorry I couldn’t find anything in AinA about your anvil, i goggled it an a company came up buy that name, and they cast stuff, not sure if it’s the same company but you may google it an call the number to the company and see what they have to say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McKenzie Posted January 10, 2022 Author Share Posted January 10, 2022 Thank you very much for taking the time to look it up for me !! I will definitely call the company to see what they say !! Take care and thanks again for the follow-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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