How to Identify a Forged Anvil

Everything you need to know to identify what type of anvil you have found!

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[-curran]

I am 24 years old. I got a job in construction as labor when I turned 18. It was very hard for me to get out of the fast food work ethic that I had, but through watching your videos I learned to love the work and I am now working as a carpenter. My boss just gave me another considerable raise, is paying for me to get CDLs, and is going to put me into a local school for construction blueprint reading and building construction management. Thank you for these videos. You have taught me to invest in the work I do, and the work is starting to invest back into me.

[turbodrawspeed]

I just stumbled upon this video. I have no particular interest in either anvils or blacksmithing, but I still found this video both interesting and informational. Thanks for sharing.

[jerrym]

Am 61 yrs old and I learned something new today. Been around tools all my life, graduated from Nashville Auto Diesel College in `80, joined the USN in 88. Engineering can be a fun, rewarding field pending on what you are doing. I like to tinker with woodworking now, have pulled my fair share of wrenches. Growing up in rual WV nearly every farm I can remember had an anvil, some had forges. A do remember the ring they made when hit with a hammer, the rebound I am unsure of. Thanks for making this video, it was good to see you again.

[johntaylor]

I work steel as part of fabrication I do. I could not find a good steel anvil so I talked to a foundry in Phoenix AZ and they cast a chrome molly steel anvil from a wooden mold I gave them. That anvil has been a great asset to my work.

[bahmdiggity]

I’m mildly interested in stuff like this but your delivery and information had me glued. I usually do 2-3 things at once (multitasking myself into an early grave) but this video had my stopped and motionless for the duration.
Good on you Mate. Cheers.

[sungear]

The delaminated anvil you have can be repurposed for dropping on roadrunners.

[BrucesShop]

Thanks I have an old Kohlswa anvil. It has rough edges but it is flat and true. I installed it on a stump from my own property and it is now an heirloom for my family and I.

[Tom_Losh]

Back in Junior High School (in the late '50s) we were offered "Metal Shop" as an elective. One thing I clearly remember is the massive anvils we had rang like church bells. It was a true joy (to me, at least) to hammer a piece of steel into shape on those anvils. I'd have never known to have checked, but I'll also bet those anvils had excellent rebound - they almost felt alive.

[ChasOnErie]

I have my grandfathers anvil that he bought from a blacksmith going out of business in 1910…
It rings like a church bell ..?weighs about 50-60 lbs and helped repair hundreds cars from 1910 to 1990….worked on by cousins and uncles and my dad … I am last in line … it is at least 140 years old now …love it …

[thepangolinforge]

I have a relatively small fully cast steel anvil from an unknown manufacturer, a medium sized cast steel with a forge welded face Brookes England, and a large forged anvil from another unknown manufacturer.

And i was able to identify the way each was made, by all of the signs you've mentioned.

Each of them was a rescue from a different place and i am happy i can give them a home where they're useful and not just decorative.

[generalesdeath]

You guys are awesome for offering everything at $9 a month! The biggest obstacle for me was the $297 entry price for the blacksmithing course (after finding an anvil or buying the tools necessary to make one and a forge of course) and it just seems to put it within my reach to get everything at a low monthly price. I was in a really bad car accident in 2009 that messed up my back and neck and I've been fighting the pain ever since. That pain has taken a lot away from me including steady work as I've made a living off of what I could build or serve someone and the last 3years have been the worst of my life as far as pain and work go. I just keep praying that I can get back to making things with my hands again and your course gives me something to aim for. Until then I'll keep looking for remote work from home employment opportunities. God bless from Florida the last bastion of freedom.

[georgedistel]

Wow, loads of information . I still have my granfathers anvil that he used when repairing things on his river boat among other things, he was a very talented man along with his brothers. I will have to check it out and try to identify it thanks again.

[henrysara]

Thank you for sharing. During my high school years we have foundry as a credit class. Which gave me so much pleasure to work hammering, heating and shaping the steel to reach dimensions neededed to be adjusted and later tempered.

[jakedugar]

Man, I love that Fisher setup. From the anvil to the stump. Awesome work station!!

[frederickbooth]

We have an ancient blacksmith anvil with no horn that has a hardy hole as well as a slot at one end. We found it on the banks of the Nehalem river in 1980.We have used it for many years to shape steel & aluminum horse shoes. When we began to learn how to shoe & trim horses feet we could not afford an anvil & our mother suggested we ride our horse, Turk, to Nehalem and look around the muddy banks for an anvil that might work. Sure enough after a couple of hours searching we found one. The 1 we have is rectangular & weighs about 45#. Light enough to be portable enough to haul on a saddles horn which is how we brought it home. The anvil were sure is cast as it has many of the same markings you point out & is kind of soft with with only a little ring to it. It also has 4 mounting holes at the bottom that one could mount it to a work bench if desired. Nehalem was an old timber/ logging town. The town has at times severe floods & that`s why the anvil was left there many years ago. Unfortunately no makers marks that we can find. Very handy tool which we still use today even though we no longer shoe horses at 66!

[keithkimsten]

My apologies if I repeated some of your tutorial in my reply. My hearing is shaky at best.. LOL.

Anvils like any early made tool had their good and bad aspects.

The dead spots were mostly due to poor forge welding of the "top" work plate onto the Anvil body. The older forged Anvils had no top plate thus had no dead spots. They were forged in three pieces, footbase, body and horn(s).

I was the last A-Rated Industrial Blacksmith in my area within the Copper and brass Industry in the 1980's. It was a great job but as with the loss of industry to foreign slave labor countries the Industrial Blacksmith went the way of the buggy whip...

I continued to forge in my home shop but due to health reasons closed up after 15 years.

Anyhow, thanks so much for bringing back those memories in my old worn mind.

[truthinkr]

My GGFather was the last blacksmith of a small Western Michigan town. I Bought a drop forged RIDGID Paddingheus 35 anvil two years ago for $800. Now sells for $1, 000 if you can find it. Scratches and dings only make it more valuable. Great investment.

[GenderSkins]

Best way I have found to learn how to be a blacksmith, is to learn the trade as an apprentice to a blacksmith. That is not saying that you cannot learn from online courses, as that works great for some people. And I love this guys video’s, as he is highly skilled. But he still cannot teach things that I learned through hands on training under an old school blacksmith and that’s been over 30 years ago. I think anyone would also be a fool to not listen to this man, as he has a wealth of knowledge to share.

[tonyneville]

I acquired an anvil years ago stamped early 1900s. I will have to do the ball bearing drop on it. You’ve fired up my inquisitiveness

[e-curb]

Touch it on the side with a grinder. Orange sparks = cast iron. Yellow sparks = steel.