Zozon Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 A few days ago I went hunting and came home with 150 kg (330 lbs) North German pattern S&S anvil. In previous life it was "in" concrete base, hardy hole was blocked with piece of steel, very, very rusty and it was ideal for testing welding sticks ... despite everything sound was amazing, rebound too! I had no time to clean it completely but I just had to release its feet from rests of concrete, had to take out peace of steel from hardy hole, cleaned working surface and made a few photos and videos for you guys, I hope you'll like it! video-1646257891.mp4 video-1646258172.mp4 video-1646258430.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 That is a beautiful anvil. It will inspire a LOT of anvil envy. It has generations of life left in it. It is hardly broken in. I wish there was some way, at a reasonable cost, to be able to ship things like this from Europe to the US. It seems that anvils are more available on the right side of the Atlantic and things like blowers and forges are more abundant on the left side. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 She's a BEAUTY, sweet score! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zozon Posted March 3, 2022 Author Share Posted March 3, 2022 7 hours ago, George N. M. said: That is a beautiful anvil. It will inspire a LOT of anvil envy. It has generations of life left in it. It is hardly broken in. I wish there was some way, at a reasonable cost, to be able to ship things like this from Europe to the US. It seems that anvils are more available on the right side of the Atlantic and things like blowers and forges are more abundant on the left side. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Thank you George. You're right about anvils, we have forges here but they are different type then on the left side of Atlantic. I have one forge it's very old but it's not functional. I will post some pics when I have time. 2 hours ago, Frosty said: She's a BEAUTY, sweet score! Frosty The Lucky. Thanks Frosty! I'll be back with more photos when I clean this beauty correctly :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojo Pedro Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 Nice one. Is that a date between the S's? Looks like 1941 maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 Very nice indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julianb Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 A fine example of a cast anvil with welded on faceplate! A clear picture of the cleand up markings would be great! And by the way, "Schlasse" is a proper noun, "Schloss" would mean "lock". Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zozon Posted March 3, 2022 Author Share Posted March 3, 2022 8 hours ago, Rojo Pedro said: Nice one. Is that a date between the S's? Looks like 1941 maybe? Yes it is, made in 1941. 3 hours ago, JHCC said: Very nice indeed! Thanks! 3 hours ago, Julianb said: A fine example of a cast anvil with welded on faceplate! A clear picture of the cleand up markings would be great! And by the way, "Schlasse" is a proper noun, "Schloss" would mean "lock". Cheers! I will post more photos when I clean it properly :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobtiel1 Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 Very nice anvil! Congrats! And I agree, anvils aplenty, German pattern vises too. But forges, not so much. I'm still on the lookout for a proper hand crank blower! ~Jobtiel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zozon Posted March 5, 2022 Author Share Posted March 5, 2022 On 3/4/2022 at 8:25 AM, Jobtiel1 said: Very nice anvil! Congrats! And I agree, anvils aplenty, German pattern vises too. But forges, not so much. I'm still on the lookout for a proper hand crank blower! ~Jobtiel Thanks! Hand powered blowers are so, so rare, it's almost impossible to find one in this part of world :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Too thickly settled and industrialized; my Mother grew up on a farm with no electricity; lots of hand powered stuff out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 As Thomas mentions, I think that the difference is the result of historical settlement and development. In the US the settlers and homesteaders were thinner on the ground and had to have their own equipment. Most folk who tell me, "Oh, my grandfather/great grandfather was a blacksmith." actually mean that he was a farmer or rancher who had a forge and anvil to do his own repairs rather than spending a day or two going to town and back for a repair or a part. This pattern of settlement coincided with the late 19th century production of portable, hand powered forges. So, it was pretty easy for many folk to acquire a blacksmithing set up at an acceptable price. In Europe the pattern of settlement had been established for centuries and villages had been in place for generations. It was, at most, an hour or so walk or ride from any farm to the village and its smith. Many villages had their own blacksmith shop that had been in place for generations and the older bellows worked just fine to supply blast. There was no motivation to replace it with hand cranked equipment. The old bellows were replaced by electric blowers once power was available. So, there were never as many hand crank blowers or reasonably portable forges ever used in Europe. Also, I do not know if there were scrap drives in Europe during the World Wars like there were in the US. Much old equipment and historical artifacts went into those in the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zozon Posted March 7, 2022 Author Share Posted March 7, 2022 On 3/5/2022 at 11:09 PM, ThomasPowers said: Too thickly settled and industrialized; my Mother grew up on a farm with no electricity; lots of hand powered stuff out there! On 3/5/2022 at 11:36 PM, George N. M. said: As Thomas mentions, I think that the difference is the result of historical settlement and development. In the US the settlers and homesteaders were thinner on the ground and had to have their own equipment. Most folk who tell me, "Oh, my grandfather/great grandfather was a blacksmith." actually mean that he was a farmer or rancher who had a forge and anvil to do his own repairs rather than spending a day or two going to town and back for a repair or a part. This pattern of settlement coincided with the late 19th century production of portable, hand powered forges. So, it was pretty easy for many folk to acquire a blacksmithing set up at an acceptable price. In Europe the pattern of settlement had been established for centuries and villages had been in place for generations. It was, at most, an hour or so walk or ride from any farm to the village and its smith. Many villages had their own blacksmith shop that had been in place for generations and the older bellows worked just fine to supply blast. There was no motivation to replace it with hand cranked equipment. The old bellows were replaced by electric blowers once power was available. So, there were never as many hand crank blowers or reasonably portable forges ever used in Europe. Also, I do not know if there were scrap drives in Europe during the World Wars like there were in the US. Much old equipment and historical artifacts went into those in the US. You are both right, here we had isolated farms and households but they were not that far from villages/cities as in your country. We also had smaller blacksmith tools for farms but forges/ blowers were foot powered, for some reason hand powered blowers were not available here. I have one but it's not ready for photo session yet :-) Here is a few photos how they look, when i finish mine I'll post more photos or make a new topic, cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 Back in 1980 I spent a couple of weeks in a place in Texas where the school kids had a 90 *mile* bus ride going and coming home from school. Even the water had to be trucked in as it was dry several hundred feet down and when you did hit water it was toxic from the minerals. A lot of my friends in Europe have problems envisioning how empty parts of the US west were and still are. The difference between foot powered and hand powered is interesting though; I wonder why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 I have theory about crank vs. lever powered blowers and foot powered blowers may be a corollary. I have always figured that smiths who were used to working a bellows with their left hand would prefer a mechanical blower that worked with a lever. I always feel like I should be doing something with my left hand which is used to turning a crank when I have something in my gas forge. Similarly, I have seen photos of old European smithies where the bellows was operated with a stirrup attachment to the bellows lever. Perhaps the same idea of familiarity of muscle memory and motion accompanied the foot operated mechanical blowers on that side of the pond. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frf Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 On 3/3/2022 at 12:10 PM, Julianb said: A fine example of a cast anvil with welded on faceplate! A clear picture of the cleaned up markings would be great! And by the way, "Schlasse" is a proper noun, "Schloss" would mean "lock". How do you know this was cast and not forged? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julianb Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 The overall look and the fact, that S&S produced cast iron anvils with welded on steel plate since the 1930s, strongly suggest that. Of course, I still could be wrong. How's the cleaning process coming along, Zozon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frf Posted April 11, 2022 Share Posted April 11, 2022 Does it have a square hole on the bottom or is it flat? The upset block has what looks like a forge welding seam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zozon Posted April 21, 2022 Author Share Posted April 21, 2022 On 4/10/2022 at 7:20 PM, Julianb said: The overall look and the fact, that S&S produced cast iron anvils with welded on steel plate since the 1930s, strongly suggest that. Of course, I still could be wrong. How's the cleaning process coming along, Zozon? We will have to wait a few more days, I am about to finish planting season, after that I'll have more time for workshop :-) On 4/11/2022 at 4:03 AM, Frf said: Does it have a square hole on the bottom or is it flat? The upset block has what looks like a forge welding seam. The hole on the bottom used to be square but being in concrete so, so long made that hole very strange shape, I'll make a photo of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frf Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 Most likely it is a forged anvil. The S&S we have with a cast body has no hole on the bottom. We have not seen a cast German anvil with the bottom hole. -Josh Please note, we are a professional blacksmith shop operating under the instruction of a professionally-certified journeyman blacksmith. We are committed to furthering the professional blacksmith trade through cordial cooperation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 22, 2022 Share Posted April 22, 2022 On 3/7/2022 at 8:32 PM, George N. M. said: I have seen photos of old European smithies where the bellows was operated with a stirrup attachment to the bellows lever. The forges at Colonial Williamsburg have pull ropes (photo from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation): One advantage of this kind of setup is that you've got a lot more room to maneuver; it's much easier to dodge a hanging chain than a big ol' wooden lever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmall Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 In the Colonial Williamsburg photo above, that rear forge with the fellow in the white vest has the bellows mounted upstairs so its out of the way. The forge that Mark Sperry (the smith in the dark vest) is using has the bellows mounted below the ceiling with the same pull handle. It is mounted below the ceiling so the visitors can see the bellows operate. These are side draft forges and the air enters at the rear and bottom of the forge. I've got the drawings for the forges somewhere. I got them from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation when they rebuilt the shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 The pull handle for Mark’s bellows is visible in the upper left corner of the photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dororo Posted July 10, 2023 Share Posted July 10, 2023 S S Anvil - 297 Kg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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