My first anvil. I am told it is a Soderfors.

[Asuperstar]

I am curious what the 1733 marking is.  The wright is accurate.  I weighed it and it is 158.6 lbs.  Now I need to build a stand and forge.

Edited November 20, 2022 by Mod30
Resize photos

[George N. M.]

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming.  Glad to have you.

Take a look at this thread 

The consensus seems to be that Soderfors numbers are a mystery.  They may have some relationship to a particular order or lot or something else in the manufacturing process.  It does not appear to refer to a date.  If your anvil have a pritchel hole it is post about 1830.  So, the 1733 is unlikely to be a date.  Also, IIRC 1733 would be on the early side for a classic London Pattern anvil.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Asuperstar]

Thanks for the reply and information.

[Nicktheforger]

I’m new to the site, I found the site while doing research on an anvil I purchased a year or so ago.  I finally wire brushed it and built a taller stand.  While doing so I found markings, and learned from this site that it’s a Soderfors, anyone have a rough idea of the year and is it a Paragon model?  
 

I also was researching repair/refurbishing the edges and from what I gathered in my research, leave it alone.  
 

It appears that a M.B. Krause had possession of the anvil at some point.

 

[Frazer]

Judging by your third picture it looks like someone already had a go at trying to repair the edges with a welder. Unfortunately, the steel around the weld puddle contact quenched, hardened and eventually the "repair" broke off and left it worse than before.

If you haven't already, use it for at least a few months before you do anything. If you need a nice crisp edge, make an anvil block for the time being. An anvil block is very simple, and it's exactly what it sounds like: a block of steel with a square shank on it that you place in the hardy hole. The shank can be arc welded on (much faster/easier) or forged out. It serves as a narrower anvil on top of an anvil and can be a handy when you're working on something that's short and doesn't span all the way across the width of your anvil. It does this by effectively moving the far edge of the anvil closer to you. It is also a tool you can grind/modify without needing to permanently alter the anvil itself. If you go with a square or rectangular anvil block you can grind 4 different radii on it (one on each side) and simply insert the block as needed for the specific task.

Were it my anvil, I would knock any sharp areas along the edge down a little bit with a flap disk ASAP. Eventually I would take a flap disk and lightly dress all the edges to round them over and give them a bit of a radius. This is really a case where less is more. You can always remove more material (form a larger radius) but you can't put it back on. Dress a bit, forge for a while, dress a little more, etc. until you're satisfied. The anvil block can be your test bed for what radius you want over the "sweet spot" of the anvil and if you want to leave a sharper or more rounded section somewhere else (they can each be useful for different things); there are no rules that you have to have a continuous radius everywhere along the edge... I know my Soderfors doesn't.

Other than cleaning up the sharp edges I would more or less leave the "repaired" section alone. To grind that out would remove a lot of material and there is still plenty of useful edge elsewhere. Maybe down the road you do something more to that section, but there's no need to go crazy trying to clean it up only to regret doing it the way you did later on.

I love the anvil, it's a nice size made by a great manufacturer. As far as the age of it goes, Soderfors seems to be all over the place with where they stamp things and what they stamp on it. In my case     (which is a Paragon, yours has a different logo so I don't think it is -- pictures here) the date was stamped on the foot under the horn.

[Nicktheforger]

Frazer, thanks for all info, I’ll do exactly as you said, luckily I work part time at steel fab shop so I have access to a lot of steel. 

I’ve used the anvil for the last year or so and none of the edges have bothered me.  I was looking to repair until I found “IForgeIron” and read some post.  All great info, good find.
 

I looked around the feet/base but couldn’t locate a date.  No biggy, don’t plan on selling it.

 

Thank you

Nick

[Les L]

Frazer provided you all the information you need for your anvil, except how to repair it correctly ( Gunther method) if you decide to do that, but that should be your last choice, and only if you have the proper equipment and welding knowledge 
You have one side with a pretty good edge and the anvil blocks will take care of the rest. 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

On 2/23/2023 at 8:28 PM, Nicktheforger said:

It appears that a M.B. Krause had possession of the anvil at some point.

That very well could be Mark Krause the "Hammer Whisperer" and a member here. He doesn't post a lot but you might try sending him a PM. Or Google his web site.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/profile/15733-mark-krause/

[Nicktheforger]

I sent a pic to Mark Krause, it wasn’t his anvil or anyone in his family.  That really would have been a small world.

 

Thank you

Nick

[Frosty]

Not all Soderfors anvils were date stamped but generally it would've been on the opposite side as the name, logo and weight. Being stamped dates were easily obliterated by "testing" punches and chisel on the side.

Frosty The Lucky.