I'm a small time hobbyist with little shop space so I've been making do with a cheap cast steel 30kg anvil I bought from Mr. Bezos.

At last weekend's Swaptoberfest of the NWBA I took home a small Lakeside serial number 188220. It also has "RUHLEN" stamped on the bottom of the foot, anybody know what that means? Or is it just the owner's name? You don't want some shop pilferer walking off with your anvil in their pocket and telling you it's theirs.

That "70" appears to mean 70 lbs. Confirmed with our bathroom scale, which also tells me the anvil has 0% body fat.

I don't have the AIA, can anyone guess the age?

Elsewhere I've seen references to Lakeside saying it was sold by Montgomery Ward, made by the same folks who made Trentons?

It's definitely cast iron, looks like they cast it in a kid's sandbox, but with a steel plate on the face. Took a wire brush to it, a worn out flap wheel to a few spots of welding spray on the face, and did a medium amount of smoothing on the horn. I'm thinking this thing doesn't have any historical value, I intend to use it.

A PO ground a crazy radius on one corner of the face, don't know if that was on purpose or they were cleaning up a giant chip.

I don't think the 3/4" hardy hole was ever used, it took a while with a home-made power file (triangle file welded to a reciprocating saw blade stub, I'm kind of proud of that 'hack') to get it large enough and square enough to put a tool in. Even then, it's not plumb (see pic with a bending fork inserted).

Correction: I don't know that the body is cast iron. The horn has a pretty good ring even if it was pretty banged up. Maybe this was mostly used by a farrier? That would explain the heavy use on the horn? Is that big old edge radius something that would be useful for shoeing work?

That radius will be very useful, sharp edges are a detriment to good work. Most smith's will grind more than one radius edges. There are a couple threads about them. Here is but one.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/24740-putting-a-radius-on-an-anvil-edge/

 

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus

 

Oh I get the idea of wanting at least some radius, and having a few choices around the face. But that right corner near the horn is knocked WAY down...

A radius that large will be useful for drawing down say you're forging the reins on a pair of tongs from 5/8" sq stock. Being over the body provides a much better rebound than over the horn. The whole anvil will rock to blows on the horn, even if it's solidly clamped down which reduces how much result you get from a blow. 

Montgomery Ward, Sears, etc. sold a LOT of blacksmithing outfits to farmers till after WWII. 70-100lbs is about right for one of the "Complete blacksmith outfits," in the old catalogues. They would've offered bottom tools that fit the hardy hole, tongs, top tools, etc. The combination vise, anvil, grinder was a big seller too.

Good looking anvil. You might consider making a "portable hole" rather than filing the hardy hole  out on that old beauty. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Too late on the hardy hole but I didn't remove that much material even with my reciprocating file. And good point on drawing out.

Can anybody with the AIA tell me a year or did they only do that for the bigger anvil? And what's a "RUHLEN?"

The letters stamped in the base is probably the original owner or company name. 

If you filed the corners in the hardy hole without a radius I HIGHLY recommend you do a little more filing and radius the inside corners! Sharp inside corners are natural stress concentrating, failure initiation points.

Frosty The Lucky.

Another good point. Will do. Might need to weld up another saw blade...

5 hours ago, Randy Rue said:

what's a "RUHLEN

A quick search turned up a family name, didn't go down that rabbit hole though.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus

 

There are lots of people by the name, some quite well known. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Lakeside was a brand name for Columbus Forge and Iron, the same brand that made Trentons. Cast steel, not iron, and every bit as good as a Trenton from what I've heard. Nice find.

I usually draw down on the far side. Guess Mr. Ruhlen liked his anvils horn left.