Anvils

[Radar67]

I picked up a Trenton Anvil over the weekend. It was made in 1900 and weighs 153 pounds. Who ever had it last, painted it green. I used a wire brush on it to get some of the paint off, but can't get in some of the imperfect areas. It is solid wrought steel. Can I sand blast it? I hate it when people paint perfectly good antiques trying to make them pretty.

They also tried to grind down the surface  >:( I will have to check into getting it surfaced to bring the edges back. (I hate having to do this as well, but it is almost not usable with rounded over edges). Any thoughts or suggestions on this?

[Al_Smith]

Try a little paint remover like marine zipstrip .The time you get it stripped if you want a little patinna just sit it outside for a while .

Don't feel so sad I've seen Peter Wright anvils one of the most sought after having the horns beat flat on the end from unknowing people over the last one hundred years abushing  them .Once again proving it is truely possible to destroy an anvil with a feather given enough time .

[fuzzybear]

I had the same thing on an anvil I got at a yard sale.  Build yourself a good fire outside and put the anvil in. the heat will strip the paint and raise it in the dinged areas. let it cool then wire brush the heck out of it.  Resurfacing I always did myself with a small grinder.  Take your time and never let the grinder sit in one area. Make full passes taking a little at a time.  The last one I resurfaced took about 4 hours till I got it down to what I thought was close to level then I started sanding by hand to remove the grinder marks and finish leveling it.  All together it took about a week to refinish.
  Is yours a country or town anvil?   I prefer a country anvil for the sharp ring it has.  The town anvils sound like a dull clang.
FB

[Al_Smith]

A real good Smith not to be confused with this Smith as in Al can tell by the ring and rebound what's good and not so good .My name however did originate due to fact the entire family back in England were blacksmiths ,armorers and machinests .

The Peter Wright anvil and several others were a swedged fit steel top over a wrought iron base.

For those interested a good place on line to find info about anvils ,how to refurbish them etc  might look at  http://www.anvilfire.com/

[Radar67]

Fuzzybear, it rings like a school bell. My neighbors are going to hate me when I start using it. Thanks to both of you for the information. I will get pictures later to add to this post.

[grweldon]

It is solid wrought steel. Can I sand blast it? I hate it when people paint perfectly good antiques trying to make them pretty.

There is nothing stopping you from sandblasting it... it won't damage it, however, it will come out with a very un-natural grey look to it that is the result.  I've never seen it done, but I've heard that blasting with walnut shells won't do that...

[Al_Smith]

Fuzzybear, it rings like a school bell. My neighbors are going to hate me when I start using it.

Well that's one way to get your evens if they play loud music until the wee hours of the morning .Head banging stuff or  Lawrence Welk .Just ding the anvil about 6:30 AM some Saturday morning to see how their head feels .That would be mean though come to think of it .

[ely]

i have a PW anvil that was redone by my bestest friend, he does all sorts of things like that.

[Slabs]

Why is it that I hear Anvil Chorus playing in the back of my mind?

[thecfarm]

153 pounds??  I have a small one compared to yours. I have no idea what kind it is. Might weight 60-80 pounds??

[SwampDonkey]

Dad had one here on the farm. But it went with the farm when he sold it. It was more like Cfarms weight and size. Dad fixed and welded his own stuff most of the time. The neighbor had a forge, that was a cool rig.  8)

[Radar67]

It is definitely a two man lift and carry tool. I can lift it, but my back may revolt on me if I do. The man I got this from had a PW listed (150 pound) and had a Hay Budden (85 pound) he sold the night before. He also had another one on his truck, similar to a Mouse Hole, think he said it was an Atlas.

I may give the walnut or corn cob media a try on this. I can always put it in the fire if that doesn't work.

[Al_Smith]

I've seen 300 pounders but they are rare as a hens tooth and old .The largest Peter Wright I've seen was around a 200 also rare .

They used to fetch about a dollar a pound but the big ones fetched more per pound. I haven't a clue what they go for now .

I've made do with a homemade anvil made of high crown heavy crane rail which I burned out myself once from a revamp job in a steel mill in Mansfield Ohio .Fact during that maintainance turn around I must have cut out a dozen 15 of them .One for the job superintendant as a matter of fact . 8)

[Radar67]

I have a small RR track anvil I picked up at a swap meet a little while back. It probably weights 35 or 40 pounds. I also have a length of rail I was considering for an anvil. i think I will leave it as is for now.

[DanG]

I have a big ol' anvil that has been passed down through our family for several generations.  I know my GGGrandaddy was a previous owner, and his Daddy probably was too.  I decoded the numbers on it once.  I'm thinking it came out to 177 pounds, but memory is fuzzy.  I know you ain't likely to walk off with it without some help.

[Radar67]

The number system is easy, now that I know it. The number system was mainly on the English Anvil. The first number is the Hundred Weight, a 1 = 112 pounds, the second is the quarter hundred weight, a 1 = 28 pounds (one fourth of the first number), the third number is the actual pounds, a 5 = 5 pounds. In this example the anvil would weight 135 pounds.

DanG, it is a good thing to be able to know the history of your anvil. 

[Magicman]

Now I am going to have to go out back and look at my anvil.  I did not know that it might have a name and numbers.

[Al_Smith]

They made anvils in more shapes and sizes than you can shake a stick at .Itty bitty ones used my artisans for jewelery type metal work  ,old blacksmith types some with double horns to hot work horse shoes .Big giant things for forge welding heavy steel .

They was an account of a steamboat captain on the Mississippi that somehow snapped the main 8" shaft  on the river boat .They somehow got the shaft removed and had it forge welded by using two forges and heating both sides and swinging them  in place with chain falls over a giant anvil with 4 men beating with 10 pound hammers .It held .

[Magicman]

Radar, I'm missing something in your example.  I get 145 pounds.

My anvil has been used, abused, and neglected.  I put ( ) where I had no idea what the letter was, and (U) when I thought that was the correct letter, but it may not be.  And some of the letters that I think are correct may not be.

M & ( )
(M)ITA(G)(E)
( )O(U)SE

0 .  3 . 25

So I guess that my anvil weighs 0+(28X3)+25= 109 pounds.

[doctorb]

My daughter weighs 109 pounds, but I am not going to go looking for any numbers/letters code to verify it. :D

[Shotgun]

Here's a thread about anvils from 2005 that might add some information to the current thread.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,12319.0.html

I have one too, that is pictured in the provided thread.

Norm

[Radar67]

Radar, I'm missing something in your example.  I get 145 pounds.

M & ( )
(M)ITA(G)(E)
( )O(U)SE

0 .  3 . 25

So I guess that my anvil weighs 0+(28X3)+25= 109 pounds.

My math was off, it was 145 pounds.

Do some research on the Mousehole anvils. I think that is what you have and 109 is the correct weight on it.

[Magicman]

Wow, Terry, I now know that I have an M&H  ARMITAGE  MOUSE HOLE anvil that was manufactured in Sheffield, England, and weighs 109 pounds.  I also printed out some information that may even date my anvil.  I had no idea that there was even marking stamped on the side until I went and looked.

[Magicman]

Looking at Dan Shade's anvil in Shotgun's link above, Reply #34, I found my anvil's mate.

[thecfarm]

I'll have to do some checking too.