can anyone tell me about the construction of William Foster anvils? Ive never had the chance to inspect one myself..Are the wrought anvils? Do they have a face plate or are they a solid body? Thanks

Hello, William Foster anvils were made in England , they are a multi-piece , forge welded , wrought iron body with a steel face plate welded on . They were high quality anvils and there is still a large number of them in use today . Hope this helps , Forgeman

I'll just add that they *should* ring unless they are dampened down and a free standing one that doesn't ring may have face delamination issues. Also check for cracks in the corners of the hardy holes as I've seen several WF's that were missing the heel.

They are neat anvils in that they are date stamped---mine is 1828

Hey Thomas. Were any of the William Foster anvils cast? I just went to check out an anvil last weekend and we couldn't make out the name, for sure. It looked like it had 2 names, the second started with F and ended in ER. It was stamped 1846 right below the name in numbers that were about 3/8inch or maybe 1/2 inch tall. The anvil didn't have a real good ring, but had about a 3 inch long chip out of the edge of the face.

None of them were cast and the date stamp is pretty conclusive for William Foster as few if any others did that.

If it doesn't have a clear ring, try walking the hammer around the face to see where it's "dead"---probably where it's delaminating, if it's only in an area you don't care about it will work for you *but* at a lower price as it will tend to spread with use.

The missing chip isn't the problem, I have used anvil with the edges pretty much destroyed that still rang. the problem is that there is a crack or seperation somewhere that is absorbing the sound energy.

Old anvils often had the face made up of several plates forge welded on and the welding can be dubious on different plates. If the working area sounds good then I don't mind if the heel plate is "loose"---but it's not as good an anvil as one where the complete face is good.

OTOH to get started a chunk of fork lift tine will work. Don't get hunk up on anvils! Take a look at this $25 anvil MKArmory Makers of Rapiers, Swords, Daggers, and Longswords then go to "that anvil story" link on the bottom of the page.

That's disappointing. My only anvil is a William Foster, and the only spot that rings is the heel. I guess I paid too much after all.

Could the half-attached chip in the side of the anvil be absorbing the sound energy, or is it pretty much guaranteed to be delaminated?

Edited September 16, 200817 yr by psilogen

A crack in the body/face or delamination kills the ring, a chip out of it does not.

Thank you for the info, Thomas. I really appreciate it. I'm glad there are knowledgable folks on the site that can help answer questions. That's what makes this site so good!!

Hi... I have a William Foster Anvil dated 1868 and it has what looks like a kingscrown on either side of the name does that mean anything??? It also has the marking of what looks like WARHAN or WARRAN LL?????

Probably "Warrented". I'd have to check AinA for the crown bit

Looks like something in the hardy hole. Take it out. Also try putting a dowel crossways under the front and back feet.
Ken

Ok thankyou for that if you could get back to me with it that would be great

Looks like there is a welded up chunk just above the waist on the right hand side. That is probably killing the ring *but* will *NOT* affect the use of the anvil much if at all. (Just avoid abusing the anvil with large sledges!)

Dandy anvil *years* of life left on it. Get thee to smiting!

Generally where would one find the date on a William Foster?

Sorry to dig up old posts but, my 270# William foster does not have much of a ring to it but has great rebound, and will move metal great! Should I be worried that it does not have much of a ring?

NO  if it's working for you don't sweat it.  If something does happen then you repair it.

No Nank, it's just fine. Lots of us have been trying to get people to stop thinking ring is a sign of a good anvil. The REAL indicator is rebound, that's how hard your anvil is hitting back. the tech term being "incident of rebound." Measure rebound with a bearing or light hammer. A bearing is preferable as they're HARD so it has a higher incident of rebound and will measure the anvil's better. Hammers aren't necessarily all that hard, especially the new breed.

 

Like Thomas says, if it ain't broke don't fix it or worry about it. I don't recall hearing anything bad about William foster anvils and if there's any little glitch folk here WOULD be talking about it.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Awesome! Thanks guys, I wasn't too concerned about it, I measured rebound with a 1" bearing and the rebound was great. I just ran across this thread and figured I would ask a populous with far greater insight than I!

two of my most used anvils are missing a piece; one the tip of a foot and the other the heel; doesn't affect most tasks done with them and sure made the price nicer.

 

The heeless anvil is my best "teaching new folk to use stout hammers" anvil as I don't worry so much about mistrikes.  We'll be forging a jackhammer bit down into a hardy on it Wednesday GWatCDR.