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Finally Found That Antique Anvil I Been Huntin'

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TDM said:
If you do go ahead and resurface, you might consider dressing one section of the edge to have a nice, sharp 90 degree to strike on.
Click to expand...
Guess I missed this post earlier. It does have one side that's pretty square and still straight, and one side sort of rounded over. Not hard to figure which side was used the most. I think I'll leave those edges alone.
 
Turns out my buddy doesn't have power to his surface grinder at the moment. Back to the angle grinders. Two days with a 7" stone wheel, and a few minutes with a Bauer 36 grit flap wheel, and she's good enough. Not super flat, but flatter than I expected it to be being done by hand with a grinder, and the rust pitting is gone.

Screenshot_20221110-205511_Gallery.jpg
 
The Appalachian said:
Turns out my buddy doesn't have power to his surface grinder at the moment. Back to the angle grinders. Two days with a 7" stone wheel, and a few minutes with a Bauer 36 grit flap wheel, and she's good enough. Not super flat, but flatter than I expected it to be being done by hand with a grinder, and the rust pitting is gone.

View attachment 174365
Click to expand...
Looks Great! Time to start swinging that hammer!
 
I've been wanting to buy a heavy old anvil for 2 of my sons that forge. To me, the older anvils were by far the best made. When I do find one that is 100 lbs. or more, and is very old, the price is unbelievable these days. I keep looking!
 
Rockflyer said:
Is your Bradley a helve or strap hammer ? I've got a Helve and have been trying to find cushions for the beam.
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It’s a compact, so it has neither a beam nor straps. Bradley used to sell parts in cortland ny (they were made in Syracuse ny). The rubber bits were natural latex but there are modern rubber that can replace them. Power hammer forum might be a place to ask. I replaced the rubber on a small Meyer bros. A few years ago with a set of coil springs from a boat trailer but I’m not sure that would work for you. The rubber isn’t just a cushion, it stores energy from the upstroke to deliver it sharply on the down.
 
Mustang65 said:
I've been wanting to buy a heavy old anvil for 2 of my sons that forge. To me, the older anvils were by far the best made. When I do find one that is 100 lbs. or more, and is very old, the price is unbelievable these days. I keep looking!
Click to expand...
Every rusty piece of dung seems to be pure gold. It’s the forged in fire effect. Every rich guy sees that show, buys a pile of gear for far too much money, then realizes that blacksmithing has a bit of a learning curve and the stuff collects dust. In awhile, I’d expect prices to drop a bit. Not that really good gear will ever be cheap, it never was.
 
TDM said:
Yep, 50 years ago anvils were looked at mainly as an eye sore. I guess some of that came from them reminding older folks of tough times. I wouldn't be surprised if a few anvils just got buried in the ground to get them out of the way.
Click to expand...
I have a 275-lb. unmarked anvil in my yard for 'decoration'; always thought that all over this country, here and there, are 'buried', neglected anvils. Thousands, probably. Whenever an old anvil comes up at local auctions, there's a heated bidding on them. Thanks. Anvil-related talk fits right in with muzzleloading chat, as old-time barrels were made from skelps formed on anvils! :)
 
Eutycus said:
We used to have a scrap yard in a neighboring town but it's since gone under. They sold iron there by the pound no matter what shape,anvils, chains, sledge hammer heads, etc. Iron was iron. I should have gone there when I was looking for a piece of rail iron.
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So, the scrap yard went to...wait for it...the proverbial scrapyard? :)
 
springfield art said:
So, the scrap yard went to...wait for it...the proverbial scrapyard? :)
Click to expand...
Ohhhh…

In solvay ny allied chemical and a railroad repair depot shut down years ago. Gondola cars of huge round 3 horn 1200lb anvils, drop hammers, small anvils (2-400 lb) tongs swages , etc went for scrap. Small tools sort of “walked away” . Saint Marie among the Iroquois (living history museum where I volunteered when I could) got their bituminous coal from the pile at the railroad shop.
 
knifemaker said:
The hole on the bottom side is for a porter bar I believe. The forged anvil is welded together in sections. Cast iron anvils are just that, cast. The Fisher-Norris anvil with an Eagle logo on the side is cast iron with a tool steel top face and steel topped horn. Darnedest thing I ever saw. I had to sell it. It drove me crazy..no ring. Was not cracked. It was completely sound. Just didn't ring. Of course, as an old man who wears hearing aids every day, it might have been a better decision to have kept it. There are also old as well as new cast steel anvils.
Click to expand...
I don't know if you have ever heard of Philip Simmons. He was an old blacksmith from Charleston, SC. We named our blacksmith group after him. He had a very swaybacked anvil but created beautiful gates on it. Some of the members of the Guild got together and bought him a find Fisher anvil. He thanked the guys profusely, but when he got away from them, he told our President, "That anvil isn't worth a damn. It doesn't ring at all! No one will know I am working!"
 
Update:

Got about 99 and a half projects going all at once but I finally got around to finding a healthy chunk of white oak out of a buddy's firewood log pile. Got it home and wrestled it around with my Stihl 362 and my angle grinder and came out the other side with a pretty good looking anvil base.

I still want to steel band the top and the bottom of it, and carve out three very short "legs" so to speak on the flat base so it will set without rocking anywhere on my (poorly done) concrete floor, but I needed to use it a couple weeks ago to forge some rustic looking corner support brackets for the new gun building bench I'm also working on.

So at some point I'll swing back around and finish this anvil base like I see it in my mind.

Screenshot_20230202_201923_Gallery.jpg
 
BillinOregon said:
You did a really nice job on the face and on that base. Have to ask if the cleats holding the feet are enough to dampen the ring. I've got chain wrapped around the base of my Dexter 120 and it works pretty well.
Click to expand...

It's dead quiet in the middle. I was really surprised actually how quiet. The only ring is out on the end of the table and the end of the horn, and that isn't really much.

I think it's got a lot to do with the total weight and the density of that oak base. I'm a 6'3" 300 pound corn fed mountain boy and it's all I can do to wiggle this thing around in the shop as heavy as it is. Anvil plus base, freaking HEAVY.
 
The Appalachian said:
Update:

Got about 99 and a half projects going all at once but I finally got around to finding a healthy chunk of white oak out of a buddy's firewood log pile. Got it home and wrestled it around with my Stihl 362 and my angle grinder and came out the other side with a pretty good looking anvil base.

I still want to steel band the top and the bottom of it, and carve out three very short "legs" so to speak on the flat base so it will set without rocking anywhere on my (poorly done) concrete floor, but I needed to use it a couple weeks ago to forge some rustic looking corner support brackets for the new gun building bench I'm also working on.

So at some point I'll swing back around and finish this anvil base like I see it in my mind.

View attachment 200257
Click to expand...
Great! I have an antique un-marked anvil that weighs at 274 lbs.; would need the resurfacing restoration, I guess, if actually used. It sits on a large poplar stump in my yard; a neighbor has offered to buy it twice, (he's amateur) and came by with his sons to lift it onto the stump for me; the older stump rotted away, I'm told poplar will not rot (?). Will know in a few years! My anvil sat in front of a neighbor's house for 50+ years as I grew up; when he retired, he sold it to me for $500. Thanks for your nice photo.
 
springfield art said:
Great! I have an antique un-marked anvil that weighs at 274 lbs.; would need the resurfacing restoration, I guess, if actually used. It sits on a large poplar stump in my yard; a neighbor has offered to buy it twice, (he's amateur) and came by with his sons to lift it onto the stump for me; the older stump rotted away, I'm told poplar will not rot (?). Will know in a few years! My anvil sat in front of a neighbor's house for 50+ years as I grew up; when he retired, he sold it to me for $500. Thanks for your nice photo.
Click to expand...
Poplar WILL rot. Get some white oak... and maybe treat it with something if it is outdoors all the time.
 

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