big anvil!

john k · April 29, 2012, 04:00:51 PM

Been looking for a big anvil for my shop. This ad in the ag paper said they had 3 anvils, pictures looked good. So today we drove up there, 75 miles each way. Got signed in late, shoved my way through the crowd and started looking for the anvils. 3 rows of pallets, down the length of the yard, farm machinery on both sides. Broken down buggies, tack, harness, and right on the end a pallet with the anvils. The big one was advertised at 250lbs. and looked it. Never used, coated with black paint. Of course the poorly ground casting line on the table was a giveaway, also the poorly shaped horn, and the lack of pritchell hole. What really bothered me were the pits in the casting on the sides, and around the waist. Lots of pitting, pits big enough to break off a pencil in. I think this thing was made in Russia or China, and not very long ago. The mid size anvil turned out to be a Peter Wright, 132lbs. With a piece broken off the table plate as big as a playing card. Waited and waited, finally the auction truck turned at the end of the row and was coming back. Missed a bid on a box of iron, wagon parts. The rusty tools on the flatbed had already sold, due to my misreading the directions and getting there 20 minutes late, but I sure didn't lose out on anything. Finally the bidding starts on the anvils, your choice. My thought on the big one was maybe $150, and was a wee bit surprised to see this fragile piece of yard art went up to $278. The poor peter wright I took up to $100, and it went on past that to $175. The little one, about 40 lbs and no name, I figured maybe $50, nope, it went for 125. Dang, and I spent 40 bucks just for gas. Still looking for a big anvil.

Fins/413 · April 29, 2012, 04:10:56 PM

A shame about that Peter Wright

Branson · April 29, 2012, 11:13:21 PM

Quote from: Fins/413 on April 29, 2012, 04:10:56 PM
A shame about that Peter Wright

Dang! the missing part could be repaired. At $3 per pound value, the price wasn't so steep. I dream of having a Peter Wright! I have worked with them, and they are really lovely!

john k · April 30, 2012, 09:55:22 AM

I have one peter wright that is also damaged, but I figured if I could get this one right, it would go home with me. The top plate piece missing was over half inch thick, and down the opposite side of the table were two bites half the size of Oreo cookies. The tail looked good, horn the same, but figured it would be several days of repair to get it right, maybe. Still was mulling it over when bidding started. The people that bought the two big ones, am sure they never swung a hammer, and will never hurt these anvils by use. Now I know of a museum or two that have Peter Wrights in the 250lb. range, one is new, and they wont ever be used where they are, hmm.

Branson · May 01, 2012, 10:05:57 AM

Now I know of a museum or two that have Peter Wrights in the 250lb. range, one is new, and they wont ever be used where they are, hmm.

I know another one. One of the early blacksmiths at Sutter's Fort had one, and his descendants donated it to the fort, for use. Worked good!
Then the powers that be decided that since it was more than 50 years old, it had to be preserved, and never used. So it got put in "the Black Hole" and cannot be touched except with Mickey Mouse cotton gloves. The big irony (no pun intended) is that Gregson, the smith whose anvil it was, loved to blow anvils...

A friend has a 75# Peter Wright that I've been trying to talk him out of for many years.

Papaw · May 01, 2012, 07:19:08 PM

Blow anvils!-
http://youtu.be/IhQ4dE_RGnQ

OilyRascal · May 01, 2012, 08:00:44 PM

Quote from: Papaw on May 01, 2012, 07:19:08 PM
Blow anvils!-
http://youtu.be/IhQ4dE_RGnQ

You don't see that every day. I wonder how the anvil survived the ordeal. It would be a shame IMHO if perfectly good anvils were being damaged for entertainment value.

rusty · May 01, 2012, 08:26:13 PM

>It would be a shame IMHO if perfectly good anvils were being damaged for entertainment value.

They are, occasionally, but good anvils are pretty tough.
They sometimes go 200+feet in the air.
It has been observed, from time to time, that automobiles in the landing zone do not fare as well as the anvils...

Apparently people have been engaging in this strange form of entertainment since some time before the civil war....

john k · May 01, 2012, 10:02:40 PM

I've witnessed one anvil shoot, pretty impressive. But got my fill of big bangs when in uniform. At a large blacksmith event, an anvil shoot was planned, big area roped off. As the fuse was being lit, a 3 year old slipped under the rope to go play in this big lawn, they got him out in time. That and some bad accidents involving burn units has pretty much ended these events. Can't imagine anybody offering up a $400 anvil just to make some noise.

Lump · May 01, 2012, 10:25:55 PM

I went to a bunch of local yard sales in a modern, upscale community two weeks ago, and near the end of the last day I found a guy with a lot of "primitive antiques" for sale, including an antique mid-sized anvil. But it had a couple of chunks out of the top plate, along one side. I wondered about repairing it, but didn't want to get stuck with a piece of junk (I have a good mid-sized Peter Wright that I inherited from my Dad, so I'm not desperate to find just any old anvil.)

The seller was firmly fixed on his price of $175...and he refused my offer of $150, saying he had turned that down twice already that day. If it didn't have that damage, I would have bought it on the spot. But I wasn't sure about repairing it. Obviously you wouldn't just buy some fancy welding rod for your buzz box, and slowly fill it in...would you??????

So how do you fix an antique anvil with significant chips missing from the edge of the top plate? I could probably still go back and buy it, but if I am correct in assuming that it takes a master to repair it, then the cost of purchase and repair would exceed its value. Right?

john k · May 01, 2012, 11:47:45 PM

My blacksmith group repaired some old damaged anvils some years ago. Heated each in the forge til some 500 degrees. Lifted it out, took 3 men, then while still pretty warm, used a stick welder, not sure of the rod number. It held on two out of three. Some anvils are solid wrought. Some have a separate top plate, that is stuck on pretty good, but lots of damage can loosen it.

Lump · May 02, 2012, 09:23:02 AM

This anvil with the broken chunks out of the top plate is clearly made of separate pieces. I'm just not sure whether to go back and make him an offer again, or just skip it. I would have to plan to resell it someday, since I don't need two anvils.

Branson · May 02, 2012, 11:04:13 AM

Quote from: Lump on May 02, 2012, 09:23:02 AM
This anvil with the broken chunks out of the top plate is clearly made of separate pieces. I'm just not sure whether to go back and make him an offer again, or just skip it. I would have to plan to resell it someday, since I don't need two anvils.

Most of the wrought anvils I've seen are made from separate pieces. I've seen (years ago when I was actively researching such stuff) vintage photos of anvils being made in Germany close to a hundred years ago -- shows them forge welding the parts together.

One of the blacksmiths here in Sacto stick welds the edges up, even pretty deep chips, without even heating the anvil up. His see a lot of use, and haven't failed.

rusty · April 19, 2013, 05:40:13 PM

Spamtest: FAIL

Papaw · April 19, 2013, 07:17:54 PM

Somehow he slipped in!
I removed the post.

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big anvil!