Arm & Hammer Anvil

Freds Edge

Well-Known Member
Does anyone have any input on Arm & Hammer anvils , there is a 198 pounder coming up at auction that looks almost unused . Though I would try to pick it up if the bid is right.
 
I've owned one Arm & Hammer anvil, and didn't care for it at all. The one I had was 132lb, and was dead as a doornail. There could have been a number or reasons.... it MIGHT have been through a fire, or who knows what..... but when you dropped a 1" ball bearing on the face from about a foot or so distance, it was like dropping the bearing on concrete...just kinda went "thud" and didn't rebound. It was totally my fault....because I purchased it when I was traveling across the country, and bought it without "testing" it.

The test I always use (after I made the above mistake) on anvils is to drop a 3/4"-1" ball bearing on the face from about a foot above the face.... a "good" anvil will rebound the bearing back to (or very close to) the height of your hand. The distance the bearing rebounds will give you a direct indication of how easy or how difficult the anvil will be to work with..... more rebound from the bearing means more energy will be transferred into your work piece, with less effort requried from you. A lesser amount of rebound from the bearing indicates that you will have to hammer more/harder to achieve the results you want.

In general, lesser bearing rebound is an indicator of a "lesser" quality anvil, whether that be from a manufacturing standpoint, or as I mentioned an anvil may have gone through a situation (such as a fire) that tempered the anvil beyond usefulness. Either way, using the test has saved me from bidding on, or owning, what would otherwise be an expensive "rock".
 
Ed I did the drop test and the ball bearing all but popped right back into my hand , tried it over the entire face and the result was the same the anvil had a very nice ring . A stake anvil came with it and I have no idea what I have , once I have it out of the back of my pickup I will post some pix's. The anvil is 198 lb.
 
Sounds like you might have found a "good un"! Build yourself a good, heavy stand (I prefer wood) that brings it to the correct height for YOU (standing beside it, with a loose fist, your knuckels should just touch the face) and give it a go..... I always love to see someone forge that first piece on a "good" anvil..... it priceless when a person realizes how much of a labor saver a "good" anvil is. :)
 
Here are a few pix's of the anvil , the top shows almost no ware front to back or side to side . In the photos you will also see the stake anvil that came with it , I have no idea who would use it or how.IMG_0851.jpgIMG_0852.jpgIMG_0853.jpgIMG_0857.jpg
 
If you can find somebody with a large enough surface grinder, clean the face up and then polish it out..... (or maybe a large mill with carbide tooling and LIGHT cuts). I'm really anal about the faces of my anvils..... most of the time mine are at a mirror polish, and I always tell anyone who's in the shop to treat my anvils like they are made of glass! :)
 
Looks like a good anvil and stake, like you said hardly any visible wear. A flap disk on a grinder would be my first go to to clean it up. It's a forged wrought iron body with a high carbon face forge welded on top as the striking surface so try to keep as much metal there as possible. Keep the radius on the edges about the same as it is now. Also watch out on the heel, A&H's tend to be thin there. The stakes a tinsmiths or silversmiths tool. It can be used for a mess of stuff, including armoring.
 
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