[TheForge] Searching for an anvil and a kiln

[GRAF]

In 1910 there were far more active smiths than in 1945 in that time 
frame I have read estimates that the number dropped by close to 90%
Mass production techniques and the advent of the automobile accounted 
for most of this.
Carriage makers had all their hardware, bolts, hasps, hinges ad 
mechanicals made by smiths.
Henry Ford used machine produced bolts and hardware for the most part. 
No smiths involved.. This drove machine production of many heretofore 
blacksmith produced items.

What we have today are mostly the remnants of small mechanical shops and 
farms. The smiths became car mechanics , welders, sheet metal workers, 
machinists etc.
There were plenty of anvils to devote to the war effort.

Mike Graf



Peter Hirst wrote:
> Anvils scrapped for WWII :
>
> I'm not convinced sure it was even significant.  I have seen it 
> repeated a lot, but I have  never seen any authoritative first hand 
> data or even  a reliable estimate.on it.  What I have seen sounds more 
> like urban myth and assumnption.  Hey maybe that's a new Old Wive's 
> Tale:  "you can't find a good anvil today because they were all 
> scrapped for the war effort. Everybody knows that".    I suspect even 
> the lower of the estimates.  I think the apparent scarcity has more to 
> do with packratting (fueled by the assumption that they are rare due 
> to wartime scrap drives!!!) than actual scrapping.  Remember, farming 
> was considered a strategiclly vital part of the war effort, and I 
> can't believe that many farms would give up an essential tool .  It 
> would be like scrapping your wrenches, hoping the local mechaic hadn't 
> been drafted yet and wouldn't be.
>
> Nigh and off anvils:
>
> Obviously, the nigh anvil is the one that responds quicker  to 
> "gee!!!"  and "haw!" when I need a little  more right or left angle on 
> the horn.   She backs and sidesteps, nicely too, so I never have to 
> chase the iron on her. The other one just knows "sit" and  "stay".  
> They weren't broken  together, and they're two years apart in age.  
> They just look alike.
>
> :-)
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Spencer" <mspencer at tallships.ca>
> To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 11:31 AM
> Subject: [TheForge] Searching for an anvil and a kiln
>
>
>>
>> "Peter Hirst" <saltydog335 at aol.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Fisher alone sold some 400,000 anvils over its lifetime...
>>
>> Any guess what percentage of farm anvils went to the scrap yard in WW 
>> II?
>>
>>> ...I have acquired two matched pairs of Fishers...
>>
>> How do you tell the nigh anvil from the off anvil?  ;-)
>>
>>
>>
>> - Mike
>>
>> -- 
>> Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
>>                                                           /V\
>> mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
>> http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^
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