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Anvil question


Greg Agresta

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I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this question but I'm new and a beginner so..... I recently lucked onto an old anvil. I've cleaned the rust off the best I can and can see bits of the lettering. Closest to the face I can make out India. The letter are in an arc as if there are more letters and enough room for a second word curving back down to the right. Below that, there is half of what appears to be the left half of a long (horizonal) diamond with the letter Tren, then they disappear. I'm thinking maybe it says Trenton??.I don't know how much it weighs but it's easily over 100 lbs. The face measures 17 1/2x4 inches. The stepdown is about 3 inches and the horn is probably 6 inches. It has a hardy hole and a pritchard. Any thought on exactly what I stumbled onto? Any info on where to research or the manufacturer, place, year etc would be appreciated.  Thanks

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Some pictures would be helpful

 

"The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else."

 

I said that.

 

If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.

- - -G. K. Chesterton

 

So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy.

 

Grant Sarver

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It looks to be in great shape but a lot of the mass in that thing is in the horn and heal and might make it a little slower in moving steel.  Of course that all depends on the actual weight of the thing.

Doug

HELP...I'm a twenty year old trapped in the body of an old man!!!

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The anvil gurus will show up shortly, but if that face is 17.5" x 4", it should be well north of the 100lbs you estimated.  (Rare, as people usually overestimate the weight of an anvil :) )

Trenton is indeed a manufacturer, but I can't tell you anything more than that.

-Brian

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Yes indeed.  Trenton, made in Columbus, Ohio by the Columbus Forge and Iron Company.  The "India" stamp is odd, probably someone testing a stamp or set of stamps they had made.  Made in 1906 by the serial number, the other number is the weight, 160 lbs.  The W in front of the weight is the anvilsmith, Karl Wright. They used a cast mild steel base forge-welded at the waist to a wrought iron or mild steel (whichever was cheaper at the time) body with a steel faceplate.  Good anvils!  

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That's a beauty!

You cannot go wrong with a Trenton, and the face of it looks in really good shape! 

I'm a advocate of do not resurface the anvil face until you have worked with it a little bit. Wire wheel and scotch bright pad only. 

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