[TheForge] anvil

[Stephen Viola]

Kind of related..

I have a Finnish 100 kg B model anvil and it reads 10 B... where as
they generally stamped it 100 B.. I've also seen 100 kg A models
stamped 10 A.. I haven't as yet discovered why there are these
descrepencies. Locomo have not made anvils for decades and there is
little to NO information about this. I suppose there are reasons why
these stamps vary but I don't believe it has anything to do with
"sloppy" workmanship.

Here is some googled information from ANVIL FIRE.

 Anvils-6: Marked Weight of Anvils

Anvils are marked in a variety of methods but most English anvils were
marked using the hundredweight system. However, some English anvils
were marked in stones and anvils made in other places (including many
Swedish anvils) are often marked in pounds. A few are marked in
kilograms and some cast anvils are marked in pounds rounded to the
nearest 10 pounds (250# = 25). Cast markings are easy to identify as
they are usualy raised figures rather than stamped into the anvil.
Then there are the many unmarked anvils. . . If you are not sure and
you really need to know then weigh it.

English Hundreds Weight (hundredweight) System:
Typically the hundreds weight markings are seperated by dots but not
always. These figures were stamped into the finished anvil and are
often not very deep. The first figure to the left is hundred weights
which equal 112 pounds. The next figure is quarter hundred weights
which equal 28 pounds and the last number is whole pounds. The three
are added together for the total weight. Examples:

    1 · 0 · 16 = 112 + 0 + 16 = 128 pounds

    2 · 1 · 3 = (112 x 2) + 28 + 3 = 255 pounds

    2 · 2 · 25 = (112 x 2) + (28 x 2) + 25 = 305#

The second place is never over 3 so if you have difficulty reading the
number it is a 1, 2 or 3. The last place is never over 28 and most
often is a single digit or less than 20.

The weight of these is usualy +/- 1 pound when measured on an accurate
modern scale.

SO. . . how did the English weigh anvils and figure the marking?

EASY, on a balance scale using hundred weight, quarter hundred weight
and pound weights.

http://www.anvilfire.com/FAQs/anvil_calc.htm

I hope this helps..

Stephen