Anvil question

[Marko3]

Hi

I just picked up the 180 # Fisher and I was wondering if anyone could help me tell what these markings are for or what they mean.

The anvil was purchased by me through craigslist. I found it only because the guy made a spelling mistake and it did not show up on regular anvil searches on craigslist. The anvil was his dads and he had passed on.. He wanted it to go to someone who would use it. It was not cheap at almost $500 but I felt based on other anvils I had looked at and the time it takes to find these things it was worth it.

 

[Willie71]

Great find. I agree that sometimes you just have to pay. Most used anvils look like they have been dragged behind a truck through a rock garden. I don't know a lot about anvils, but here is a good site with a lot of good info: http://www.anvilfire.com/index.htm

 

[Dan Pierson]

Looking at the condition from your pictures I think you got a good deal. $2.50/lb is not a bad price

 

[Marko3]

It's my second Fisher. The one this replaced was a smaller 100# with no markings except the eagle and it didn't have mounting holes or anything. I put that up on craiglist and it sold in about 10 hrs. I have searched around the web to see if anything came up when I google the combination of letters and numbers. It really doesn't matter just figured if the info was available wouldn't hurt to know. As far as the condition of this face dead flat with a staight edge one side of the face has a perfect edge and the other side has a few spots that have some slight wear.

I met a guy last week near me and he is a hoarder. His words not mine. So I call him up to see if he wants to part with some smithing item's says sure come over. So he has a bunch of anvils maybe 15 couple of 200 # and the rest smaller. I could not get him to sell me one. he had them all over his property , Under tarps and out in the open some with rotting wood on them to keep them out of the weather. He told me to call later and he would give me a price. Called a few times and he gave me the old I have not checked my files blah blah blah. He was never going to sell. I don't even know why he told me to come over. It was crazy the stuff he had everywhere. I'm going to try and get him to sell me a post vice. Again at least 10 or more of them all over the place. I don't get people sometimes.

 

[quint]

I would check on iforgeiron there are plenty of anvil pros over there. On the fishers I dont know what the 4 stands for. Lots of times the inspectors would stamp there number combo on anvils but forgot which companys did that.

Oh and that is a great deal. That anvil looks brand new and at that price I am amazed you got it. One aewsome score.

 

[Salem Straub]

Great anvil! One of the newer Fishers, I think that the lugs on the feet mean it was made for the Navy. The 18 on the foot would be the weight in multiples of 10, and the 4... I don't remember, unfortunately the library wanted their "Anvils in America" back.

My first real anvil was a #150 Fisher, best rebound of any anvil roughly its size that I've used.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The "18" is 1.8 hundredweight = 180 pounds.
IIRC, LII IIII are mold and batch numbers from the foundary.
The "4" is probably some sort of a date code.
I believe this is a newer Fisher.... called a Crosley? (Is that right?) from the 1970's.

 

[Marko3]

I do want to get anvil's in america sounds like something right up my ally. I have roughed out one blade from it and it is a pleasure to use. I wasn't sure if it was worth getting a larger anvil but I do believe the extra weight makes a difference. I think I had my other anvil a touch low. It came on the wood block and the top of the anvil is right at my fist.

 

[javand]

You got a very fair deal, I'd have paid that for a newer Fisher in that condition in a heart-beat.

I got a close to 400ish lb William Foster (I believe) that I've been using as my shop anvil, but recently I pulled it down to move it and have been using one of my smaller Fisher's and it reminded me just how great they are. I think I'm going to sell the big one (old huge anvils have softer faces on all examples I've seen), and try to find a nice Fisher in the 200-300lb range.

I know where to get a Peddinghaus, but I just hate the loud ring from steel bodied anvils.