There are too many armchair experts out there who quite frankly have absolutely no clue what they are talking about.Ĭase and point is that there were literally HUNDREDS of forges making anvils in Britain. If you are trying to identify an anvil with no clear markings I would suggest asking the forum or PM me directly. You can also make out the stamp in the picture.Īnother thing to note here is that I often see beginners try to identify anvils for one another on Facebook with some very strong opinions on what the anvil “DEFINITELY” is. Also note the extra handling hole in the feet, this is characteristic of Peter and Henry Wright anvils. Notice the handling holes at the waste and under the base. I’ve inserted an image of a forged anvil. This is where large tongs gripped the body while it was forged.Īnother indication of forged construction is having a stamped makers mark, depressed into the steel rather than raised out of it.įorged wrought iron anvils have two very common “faults” - “delamination” and “sway”. The most obvious is the presence of handling holes at the waste of the anvil and often a handling hole under the base of the anvil. Notable makers include Mousehole Forge, Peter Wright, Hill, Isaac Nash, Henry Wright, Wilkinsons and many others.Īll forged anvils have identifying features that give away their construction. Older anvils had the face plate made up of several different pieces of steel, as steel was harder to make in large sections. The fact that so many survive today is a testament to the quality of their construction methods.

There are numerous British and American makers that used this method and it makes a superb anvil. These anvils have a forged wrought iron body with a steel face welded to the top. The oldest construction method of the bunch. Wrought iron body with welded steel face. Just for your knowledge though: There are several materials anvils can be made from - in no particular order. The only real thing you need to discern is whether or not it is made of cast iron. Generally speaking it really doesn’t matter at all. The first thing for me would be to work out what it is made from. RULE NUMBER ONE: ALWAYS TAKE CASH WITH YOU AND BRING MORE THAN THE COST OF THE ANVIL!!!! When going to view an anvil you need to bring a testing kit with you.Ī scraper if the anvil is covered in paint. What do you need to know and what should you be looking for? So you’ve saved up a wad of cash and have found an anvil within reasonable collecting distance. If it does you are either a) incredibly lucky or spending a great deal of money. But the reality is I can’t.Ĭhances are that the anvil you are going to look at is very unlikely to look like the above. This is arguably the daddy of all anvils. This is a brand new Refflinghaus anvil pictured on - The face is perfectly flat. If anyone has issue with me using their image please let me know so I can take it down. If you have an anvil that looks similar to the ones I’ve shown then please post them here so that we can use images from forum members. All rights go to their respective owners. Some are even better than a “real” anvil for one reason or another.Īlso I’d like to make it very clear that this guide is aimed at newcomers to the craft and not seasoned smiths.Īlso I’d like to note I’ve copied these images from the internet. London pattern anvils are usually very expensive (your location in the world makes a big difference) not to mention relatively rare and hard to find.Īll too often I see posts on forums or Facebook where a new smith has spent all of their spare cash because they “HAD” to have an anvil.Ī large sledge hammer head, a section of rail track mounted vertically (more mass under the hammer) or any large chunk of scrap steel will make a perfectly serviceable anvil. So I figured I'd write a decent buyers guide for buying anvils.įirst of all I want to make it very clear that if you’re just starting out in blacksmithing you DO NOT NEED a “London Pattern anvil” to start hitting hot metal on.

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