[TheForge] anvil construction

[Gabriel Cain]

<quote who="jon.sloan">
> All:
> I have an old anvil, I am not sure how old it is but it must be from
> about the turn of the century -

Around the good ol' year of 2000, eh? ;-)

> it was my wife's grandfathers.  It is
> not very large, about 50 to 70 pounds. I am a novice at smithing and a
> bit ago there was a thread on repairing anvils so I thought I would ask
> about its construction.  Its top, flat, surface (about 1/2 inch) is

Probably a tool steel, or otherwise higher carbon content material affixed
to a mild steel, or wrought iron body.

> different from the rest and does not extend into the horn - you can see
> a seam.  Does this means that the horn is of a different material,
> possibly softer, than the top flat area? Is this typical construction?

Typically, yeah.  Mine is like that, although mine has been refaced.

> Also there are holes on the bottom and lower back (not round but then
> not square either)- what are these for? Thanks for your time and
> expertise.

AFAIK, those holes generally orginate from the manufacture of the anvil,
are were used for controlling it while it was being forged.  I believe
there's a picture of such an action on the photo access site.

> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith@hotmail.com
> password:  anvil

Gabriel

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Gabriel Cain                Systems Administrator
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