Anvil find

I wire brushed off one side and the bottom today and stove blacked it.. I'll do the other side tomorrow.

Once scrubbed clean it's possible to see the join of the top plate forged to the casting and faint lettering stamped into the side. Sadly I can't make out what it says.. too faint. It's inwards rather than a raised casting. Maybe it;ll be a little better in daylight but I failed to get anywhere trying a rubbing or side illumination. The bottom ine may say 'warranted' or 'patented' or something like that. Middle short line might be a short serial number but the last letters are possibly lb or st (yeah it;s that faint). Top line almost impossible.. may begin with an H or part of a W or even an N.

As for black powder firing... The history of gunpowder factories isintersting ..grinding the powder finely gives best performance and factories were often sited by rivers for water-power.. built with three stone walls and the wall facing the river of timber..so in the event of explosion that weaker wall would blow out into the less populous zone and factory could rebuild and get back to work quickly...

... I'm guessing staff wasn't the problem back then...

Try rubbing some chalk on the lettered area, then wipe off the surplus, the white may show up better.

Ian S C

The number may be the weight of the anvil in Hundredweight, quarterweight and pounds. For example, if it says 1.3.25 then that equals 112 + 84 + 25 = 221lbs. The numbers should normally be separated by dots I believe.

..it didn't help

Hi pgk pgk If you have a U.V. lamp and a U,V, marker pen ,Clean area to bare metal ,paint with pen,let dry and then lightly ,with a flat sheet of emery(so that the bottom of the indents are not touched )clean again ,shine uv on and with luck it will show up .I have done this and it works, Best wishes Maurice. PS a dark room is best place as the uv is not very bright.

,

Part f the problem is the shallow impression and then there's a fair bit of scrappy paint, some casting roughness and superficial pitting on that face as well... all of which obscures things further. If I sanded smooth then the faint impressions would probably vanish too. It really isn't that important to me..just a curiosity and might have had some history.

If memory serves there's an etching technique used forensically to try and read filed off serial numbers too

Here we go... not as senile as I thought (but couldn't find a way to reduce font size)

From http://forensicsciencecentral.co.uk/firearms.shtml

Even though criminals may attempt to erase these serial numbers to avoid the weapon being traced, it may be possible to restore these serial numbers to a state in which they are legible. Serial numbers are often erased by filing or grinding, which will not necessarily remove the digits below the surface. Alternatively the perpetrator may attempt to change the serial number. Various techniques and reagents have been used to successfully restore these original numbers.

Fry’s Reagent is a substance composed of hydrochloric acid, copper(II) chloride, ethanol and water, commonly used on iron and steel. Other reagents are available for use on other types of metal. Initially the metal is polished to smooth the surface, a process which in itself may partially restore some of the digits. Following this, the etching reagent is then applied using a cotton swab, removing scratches and markings covering the numbers. This process can be repeated until the entire serial number is restored. However chemical etching methods can be very time consuming and are obviously damaging to the evidence.

An alternative method of restoring serial numbers on iron or steel is the Magnaflux method. As in the chemical etching method, the surface to be treated is first smoothed. A magnet is then attached behind the area and a mixture of iron filings mixed in a light oil is added to the surface. These minute metallic pieces will hopefully arrange themselves to visualise each digit. This technique is particularly beneficial due to its non-destructive nature, however it is not effective on all types of metal.

My anvil is stamped with the weight in cats,quarters and lbs, I understand that anvils were sold by weight. Many moons ago I was warned on several occasions never hit your vice or anvil in frosty weather,they can break, I have never witnessed these breaking but some time ago struggling with a bolt on my tractor and put a pipe on the handle of a Record stillson wrench,it was freezing cold ,pulling hard the wrench let go when the fixed head just snapped.Normally the handle would bend ,my other wrenches are all straight as I am not that strong, I just put it down to the cold.

Go on, put it down to a 'hulk' moment and feel proud <g>

I must admit to buying a 24in adjustable rather than the stillson's as well as a very long breaker bar for the socket set - age takes it's toll....

Vauxhall suspension springs always snap in the cold months. Must have replaced six or more on cars in the family - three on my Vectra! Fortunately not a hard or particularly expensive task.

Neil