Greetings,

 

I recently picked up this anvil on a chance, at first it appeared to have zero markings, but a bit of cleaning showed a few so far. 3 layers of paint had them 100% hidden, so there may well be more. Didn't help that the lowest layer was "aged steel" in color. To complicate things further, when using the word "worth" in a search with "anvil", the results were obviously more focused on "anvil value".

 

Rings like a bell, decent rebound, but the face seems rather soft. 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

STOP GRINDING ON THE FACE! You are removing years of useful life that can NOT be replaced! Take a wire wheel to the body and remove the paint if the maker is important to you otherwise mount it at YOUR working height, heat some steel / iron and put it to work. Working HOT steel on it would have forged most of the blemishes on the face down and done some work hardening. Unfortunately that beneficial possibility has been ground off. Work hardening will still happen when you put it to work.

No telling what Worth means, maybe WoolWorths? It "LOOKS" like a Trenton farrier anvil to me but that is a guess, it LOOKS a lot like my Trenton. but that is a guess and my reasoning for what it's worth. The spatter of random letters, characters probably only means the "smith" tested various punches on the side of his/er anvil. A LOT of smiths did that to their anvil and lots of people in fab, mechanic, etc. shops used the old anvil in the corner as tables to hold things to heat or cut with a torch. 

The face plate appears to still have some decent thickness.  So as is she has many good years, maybe a couple generations of good work in her IF nobody does more damage to her.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Thanks for taking a look,

I promise I did not "grind" it. Brass hand brush and dental pick on the sides, very light draw with an extra fine file on the face, barely past paint, I know that's still frowned upon, but there was some unusual issues. Looked like someone used it as a welding table, and other days to chop wood. 

As far as the maker being "important" to me? Only important if it's important , did not want to make an mods or further ruin something of significance. 

In saying that, the top plate is 3/4" near the horn, tapering to about 1/4" at the heel, the heel seems to be hard, but loses hardness as it reaches closer to the horn, though I'm not overly familiar with farrier anvils. I planned to dress the sides a bit to better suit my work... but perhaps it's better to pass it on to another and try again.

A twisted steel wire cup brush in a right angle grinder works a treat for cleaning old paint and rust off an anvil without removing enough metal to make a difference. Getting deader towards the horn isn't happy making, especially if the heel is hard. Makes me wonder what happened. 

If you're planning on using it seriously, passing it along and finding another in better condition might be your best bet.

Frosty The Lucky. 

I'm at the anvil all day everyday, so I appreciate your input, confirms my wonder as well. Something is a bit off for sure.  

That's some serious anvil time, what do you make and where? Curious old curmudgeons want to know, Hmmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

Primarily armour, and some amateurish blade work, Southern Canada. I'll try to pop in the "What did you do in the shop today" thread, now that I signed up.

I made some armor foe SCA fighters many years ago, mostly helms, van braces and basket sword guards / "hilts". My wrists were too important for my job to do any fighting soooo.

Frosty The Lucky.