New-to-me project anvil: any suggestions?

[Sonicadventure]

Hi all, I blind purchased a beat up old anvil today at the local market. No clue as to brand as there doesn’t seem to be any markings. I do light sheet metal hobby work, and I have a HF cheapy and another old beater 35 pounder with the hardy hole end busted off. This anvil is likely bigger than I will need, but it gives me room to expand what I’m doing and someday get into a little bigger projects. 
 

It comes in at 128 pounds. I assume it was probably originally 130 pounds before some of the metal broke off. The striking face is roughly 4” x 13”. The base dimensions are 11 1/2” by 10”. It’s about 10 1/2” tall in the middle. It appears to have a steel strike face, which is damaged in some areas. Disappointed that the horn is broken off and the table striking area is also badly damaged. However the hardy hole is decent and the base casting under the hardy hole area is quite sturdy which really appeals to me. 

I know this thing looks rough, and I’m not sure if it’s worth investing the time and money it might need to practically restore it. That said, I felt the price was right and even in its current condition it does have usefulness. I wished I could have done a bearing drop test when I bought it but it wasn’t possible.

Any ideas as to age or maker, or thoughts on what it might take to fully restore it? Thanks. 

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Looks like a Vulcan to me, 

mid so they are cast iron based with a tool face, 

It’s been awhile since I’ve read through the Gunter Method but I think there was a comment in there about it working on cast anvils too,

have you done a rebound test yet?

[Sonicadventure]

Not sure about Vulcan, the feet of this one don’t look like a Vulcan.
 

Here is a basic rebound/ring test with a light ball pien. It sounds a little dead but seems to have OK rebound for such a light hammer and the face is decently flat. I don’t have any steel ball bearings to do a drop test. 
 

 

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

If it’s a cast body it won’t ring as loud as a wrought or steel anvil, 

rebound look decent to me, I’d say use it as is

but if ya wanna fix it up take a look at the Gunther method at repair, it’s kinda expensive to get those stoody rods an it’s very labor intensive

personally I wouldn’t put that much time an money into it though,

[Sonicadventure]

It has the holes on either side in the waist area; does that typically indicate forged construction, or were those holes sometimes cast in so a smith could use them to bend hot rod?
 

The bottom of the foot area of this one is more or less flat. I’m leaning towards an old English anvil, but there is so much pitting all over it it seems any stampings that may have been there are long gone. 

[Frosty]

128lbs. is a nice size, it's heavy enough to do serious work but light enough to move without equipment. 

The damaged edge looks like torch damage another clue is how the steel face is hammered down over it. Bummer about the horn but  it's not a big thing, a bick for the hardy hole is easy to forge and allows you different angles of attack. A marlin spike is  a good start, all you  need do is forge the shank and bend.

What do you plan doing with it that needs restoration? She's in pretty rough shape but there's plenty of face left and it will smooth out and shine with hammering  hot steel on it. There is one good edge and the hardy hole looks sound. I do NOT recommend using the step for chisel work, a sacrificial mild steel plate laid on the anvil face works a treat and you're not limited to a small area. Nor will you be cutting up your anvil.

The "ring" test is a misnomer from the days folk measured quality by a false cue and as has already been said Vulcan and Fisher don't ring, they say tank without ringing. Rebound is what is important for performance and to do that with a hammer turn it over and let it fall from a little ways in a LOOSE grip and watch how high it bounces (rebounds) off the anvil. What you're listing for is a sudden change in sound, it WILL change naturally as you move from the sweet spot over the center towards the heal and horn, that's normal. What you want to listen for is a sudden change for example it's says tank, tank, tank, tunk. The tunk indicates a soft area on the face, tap around it and define how much and where the boundaries are. 

It can indicate different problems, a delaminating face plate (coming unwelded from the body) or perhaps torch damage where some dip stick laid someting on it to heat with a torch. If the whole face is soft it might have gone through a structure fire.

Doing a rebound test takes practice to be reasonably sure of what you're seeing and hearing but it's plenty reliable.

The square holes in the body are "handling" holes and are found in almost all anvils, even cast anvils have to be ground using great BIG tongs and BIG grinders. 

Frosty The Lucky

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Yes handling holes do usually mean it’s a wrought forged  anvil, 

although I’ve never seen a round hole in the waist like that one has,

I know my William fosters, Peter Wrights, mouse hole, ect.. all have square holes in the waist,

that horn keeps throwing me off too, the way it looks where it meets the body

I don’t have my AinA handy to look through at the feet right now but I’ll take a look later, 

maybe Thomas will be along soon, he has that book memorized! Lol

[Daswulf]

Won't lie, it looks like it was rode hard and put away wet (in a swamp). But like frosty said, the face looks in good usable shape and the edges aren't too bad. With the good hardy hole you can make all sorts of tooling to go in it. 

It is a usable anvil without doing anything to it but using it. 

[Direwolf]

Hi Sonic, what you have there is an early Fisher and Norris anvil probably made in Maine before they moved to Trenton NJ. Query njanvilman on here who just wrote a history of Fisher and Norris. I have one identical to yours, 50 lbs, which if I remember correctly he gave a date of late 1850's. Yours is so weathered the logo is obscured. Use it as is it is a waste of time and money repairing cast iron anvils. If it doesn't do all you want you can make tooling to help and eventually acquire a better anvil. You might read through the Fisher and Norris section there are many pictures I belive I posted one of my 50 llb but it has been a while. Hope this helps ya. If you really want I suppose I could post a pic again.

[ThomasPowers]

Nice hard face. no ring; I'd agree with Dire!  We generally advise folks to use a new anvil for at least a year before they *think* of doing anything to it!

[Farmall]

It's probably a Star Anvil.  Star was supposedly run by a former Fisher Anvil employee, so had cast bodies and a steel faceplate, so were quiet like Fishers.  Since it only has that one groove in the 'feet" on the back side and not the front, that looks like every Star I've ever seen.  I could be wrong, but that's my best guess