My new anvil..

SBranson

SBranson

Joined
Oct 29, 2006
Messages
2,912
Picked this up on the weekend from a local artist/blacksmith.

He's originally from England and brought this over. Here's the history as far as he knows it.

"The anvil came from the New Forest showgrounds where it was used as a demonstration/competition anvil in the National Blacksmithing Championships, which are held every year at the county shows in the UK. I don't know the make or it's history before the New Forest show, but it is certainly an 'antique'."

It's 225lbs London style and is forged wrought iron with a steel face. There's a nice bounce to it.

I don't know much about anvils and this is my first. The surface is pretty smooth and quite flat with a very little dip in the middle.

I was planning on dressing it with a belt sander as I'm pretty handy with one for flattening. (on large wooden surfaces anyway)

Am I going to regret that? I'd rather not have to pay to get it surface ground as I spent my money on the anvil.

Thanks!

anvil_1.JPG


anvil_2.JPG


anvil_3.JPG


anvil_4.JPG
 
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What the others said, and if it was me I would leave it as it...or at least fire the forge and give it a run to see how well it goes then decide if you want to have it ground.
 
I would leave it as is it got another hundred years left in it the way it is.
Good score they are hard to find in that good of shape.

Bob
 
I'm with the peanut gallery on this one. Leave it as-is and use it. I've seen beautiful work done on anvils in much worse shape. What I wouldn't do is grind it or "clean it up" any unless there is a functional need to do so. I've seen great anvils have their "collector value" ruined by overzealous use of a wire brush and a grinder...

-d
 
Cool. Thanks for the responses. The guy jokingly said that some guy will probably come to my shop and tell me the thing should be in a museum.

And he confirmed that it is indeed a forged wrought iron body with a steel face.

I like the chisel marks on the side from the blacksmiths testing their edges.
 
I think it looks great just like it is, I wouldnt grind or sand on it at all, I would put that bad boy to work! Looks really good!!
 
The face looks like its in great shape. I used a belt sander on an old Trenton but was in much worse shape, it needed it. I don't want to be critical but it almost looks like the edges have been repaired by welding. They look extremely crisp for an anvil of that age. This isn't a bad thing, as long as it was done right, I've done it to both of mine. I don't care about resale value I want crisp edges (slight radius) for blade forging. Regardless I'm sure it will last you a long long time. Nice score!
 
Looks like a Mousehole anvil. In better shape than my big PW. I wouldn't grind it either, but for sure do some forging on it and see if you can live with it like it is.
 
Don't try to fix/improve it. Just use it...

Looks like you got a one time keeper..!
 
Mike Quesenberry said:
...I don't want to be critical but it almost looks like the edges have been repaired by welding. They look extremely crisp for an anvil of that age.
Click to expand...


You're actually right about that. It was repaired by welding but it appears to be pretty well done. I might clean up that area a little but thanks all for the great advice. I was certainly tempted to leave it as is as it's history and provenance gives it great interest. As the blacksmith said, as a competition anvil you can only imagine what amazing work was done on it by some very talented blacksmiths over the years.

I will leave it alone...:D:D
 
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