[TheForge] Peter Wright 254# (Maybe)

[saltydog335 at aol.com]

Saw an interesting anvil yesterday.  London pattern, marked PETER WRIGHT  (“PETER” is centered over “WRIGHT” about 2” below the face) and   “ 2    1    2”, faint but legible.  Beautiful, right?  But a couple things puzzle.  Instead of  254, it weighed in at something under 220 lbs, and it certainly wasn’t in bad enough shape to have lost 34 plus pounds over the years.  Edges well worn but only one chip.  Far edge is worn at an angle starting about 1” from the edge over most of its length.  Rest of the edges worn to between 1/8 and 3/8 radius, except the heel, which is practically new.   Face is sway-backed about 1/8” or slightly more over its 19-plus inch length.  Ball bearing test averages 60 percent, higher on the heel and near the horn, lower in the center.  Ring is  more of a clank, what a musician would call a lot of attack and a little sustain, like a banjo rather than a guitar.  Face is 5 ¼” wide at the heel, 4 7/8 at the other end, 19 3/8 long.  Overall length is just over 29”.  The horn strikes me as weird, too.  Its just about round for half its length (near the point) and slightly oval nearer the table.  Point is very dull and round, about ½”  radius in both dimensions, but does not look at all as if it is worn or deformed to this shape. It is also sharply upturned,  
1/2” over its length” so that the point is only about 1/8” below the level of the face.    Hardy hole is 1 3/8 (below the area of wear) and the pritchel hole is ¾, and shows almost no wear.  Handling holes about 1” sq front and rear at the waist, and front only about ½ x ¾  in the front foot.  1” sq hole dead center in the bottom.

 

So a couple of questions arise:  first the weight marks:  are they correctly placed?  The “1” is dead center, and the “2”s are about an inch from the edges.  No dots.  Why the weight discrepancy?  Did Peter Wright ever use the American  weight system, say for export?  Could it be a forgery by someone who didn’t understand the British hundredweight system?    What about the shape?  Almost ¾” difference in width front to rear, and that rounded, upturned point don’t look like other Peter Wrights I have used. Rebound is not great  AM I nuts or is something wrong here?   Is this the real deal or should I be suspicious? I might use this with the tommy hammer I am building, but I don’t think I want to beat on this thing all day by hand .  Any suggestions?