ichudov Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 (edited) For a very strange reason, I ended up today with two anvils following me home. One I bought at a factory, and another at scrap yard. One is a 130 or so lbs Peter Wright with about 5 hardie tools, nothing unusual except for the quantity and interesting-ness of hardie tools. I can post pictures if anyone is interested. 130 lbs weight, $100 for everything. Another one was a mystery anvil I bought at scrap yard for $10 shown here:Mystery anvil pictures Could anyone ID it? It has two flowers stamped on it, and possibly between them there is a stamping that is of s shape of a horseshoe, but maybe it is not the case. It has an appearance of being of "continental" origin, based on my reading of Anvils in America. Also has a kick-asset rebound. Edited February 19, 2009 by ichudov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintjohnbarleycorn Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 good score! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sask Mark Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Those look like numbers stamped on each side of the flowers. They appear to be the English weight system for the weight of your anvil. It looks like a 1,0, and 16 to me which would translate into a 128 pound anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Ichudov, take a stiff wire wheel to the side of that sucker and it will probably clean it up enough to get a better look see. What part of ILL are ya from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichudov Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 good score! Thanks. I just weighed the Peter Wright. It weighs 130 lbs and comes with five hardie tools. I paid $100 for it. Actually it is in a very decent shape, I do not think that they used it much. The anvil that I put on the webpage, in the first message of this thread, I bought for ten dollars due to its poor shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichudov Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 Those look like numbers stamped on each side of the flowers. They appear to be the English weight system for the weight of your anvil. It looks like a 1,0, and 16 to me which would translate into a 128 pound anvil. That's exactly what it weighs. Great guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichudov Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 Ichudov, take a stiff wire wheel to the side of that sucker and it will probably clean it up enough to get a better look see. What part of ILL are ya from? Yes, I will wire wheel it some more. That's what I used to clean it up. I am 15 miles west of Chicago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Yes, I will wire wheel it some more. That's what I used to clean it up. I am 15 miles west of Chicago. 2 miles west of Lake Shelbyville. Come down to the lake sometime, and stop by for a visit.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichudov Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 Great, maybe one day I will stop by... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 It looks cast (flowers stand proud) with a steel face. The mushrooming and broken face lead me to think it may have gone through a fire at one time. Good score all round though, congrats. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichudov Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 It looks cast (flowers stand proud) with a steel face. The mushrooming and broken face lead me to think it may have gone through a fire at one time. Good score all round though, congrats. Frosty This is an optical illusion, the flower signs are stamped, they are not raised. I personally think that mushrooming happened due to being used a lot, possibly with too big hammers or some such. Not that I know much but this is my visual impression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Sure had me fooled. A properly hardened steel face wouldn't mushroom, it'd more likely chip and outright break like the other side of the heal. The only reason a cold chisel mushrooms on the struck end is because it's tempered nearly dead soft. A hardened anvil face work hardens with use, making it even harder over time. I've never seen one mushroomed. Just my thoughts though. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 i dont think its cast the broken bit is where the hard steel plate that was fire welded to the soft forged iron body has broken off and the mushrooming is from over use i have an anvle almost identical to this one in ireland mine came from harland and wolf ship yard good luck to you for finding 2 anvels so cheep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jymm Hoffman Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Looks a lot like a Mousehole to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichudov Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 I have added a few more pictures at the same webpage:More anvil pictures A couple of thumbnails are also attached, but there are more pictures that I added late last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLMartin Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 so i see your anvil is on ebay already, tryin to make a fast buck i guess, cant really blame you, there doesn't seem to be enough money around anywhere these days. is there not a person in your guild or a friend that's trying to get into smithing that you could sell it to for cheep. so many people get anvils and just run the price up terribly, it makes it vary hard for some people to get them that are interested in smithing and cant seem to find one that appropriately priced. a long time ago when i first got into smithing and did not know any better, i looked and looked and finally found someone dealing anvils so just bought one, was not till way down the road that i found out i have been ripped off pretty good on a high price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Dean Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I want to see the PW with 5 hardie holes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Looks like an english anvil more towards the earlier part of the 19th century: small horn thick waist, and the CWT weight is a dead give away Does the pritchel hole look drilled rather than punched? (underside slightly protruding or signs of dressing such down) If it was drilled then it was probably made before 1820 with the pritchel retrofitted. I've seen mushroomed anvils before, not all early heat treats were spot on and heavy use with sledges can do a lot over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longhunter Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 I say it looks alot like a Mousehole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 So do about 20+ other english brands from around the same time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce wilcock Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 as to anvils on ebay ,late last year i gave a lad a small pw anvil it was in near unused condition ,he wanted a anvil to get going ,the anvil was on ebay within the month, i asked him if he got enough to get a bigger anvil , no he got tyres ,he was a little sheepish when i asked him ,he thought blacksmithing wasnt for him. Sad as there were others that would have used it ,my fault i have been getting shut of tackle without thinking its not as easy to sort the sheep from wolves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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