I recently found myself dropped into a world in which I had a lot more questions than answers. I’m really unsure of the quality of my anvil, recently purchased at auction. I’ve done the ping and rebound tests, the high pitch ping and healthy rebound suggest that anvil is steel. What I’m not sure about it the sides…they appear to have a fired clay which is then covered in black paint. It was suggested that this is a “filler” which I’m wondering does this mean my anvil is inferior in quality? There is also a number 75 in raised lettering, the anvil weighs 75kg so not sure if this denotes weight or a maker? Any thoughts on maker and the side filler would be much appreciated.
Wow - interesting anvil.
First off, it’s hard to see scale on this thing. It looks larger than 150kg if it were all steel, is all the base the fired clay?
Is the horn a fired clay? Can you see a steel top? What’s the rebound % about?
Honestly this is out of my realm, I’ve never seen an anvil like that before. I would definitely say it will not be as effective as a full steel or even a cast with hardened top anvil. Without the mass you won’t have the dead blow.
That being said, I would be wary of really hammering on that thing. Again, I have little experience - but just the fact that is the first one I’ve ever seen makes me skeptical of using it.
Thanks Grant, a magnet sticks to all parts of the anvil, it appears as though this clay is literally a filler to even out the surface on the two main flanks.
Dimensions
L:24”/61cm
H:10.25”/26cm
W:9”/23cm (base)