5/11/2021 0 Comments Trenton Anvil Serial Numbers
I would clean it up a bit and use like it is, and be happy to have it.But this weld on this anvil is so ROUGH.I wonder if it HAD been broken and rewelded.What do you think Original construction There are a few deposits from an arc welder on the anvil face.Could all this nasty on the anvil waist be from striking a stinger Also what do the numbers indicate Weight and serial Thanks.There is a book called Anvils in America that helps ID, date, and learn more about old anvils.
I am unfamiliar with Trenton anvils, however, a lot of older anvils (Hay Budden, Peter Wright coming to mind) were made with wrought iron bodies. The wrought iron was cut into short bars and forge welded to form two large lumps. These were forged the approximate shape of the top and bottom of the anvil body and horn. Once these pieces were rough-forged, they were forge welded at the waist. The anvil was then forged to nearly final shape, and the steel face plate was forge welded on. A common method was to pour the body of the anvil with something like malleable iron or semi steel, incorporating a tool steel face plate in the casting. The face plate had lugs to key the face plate mechanically to the anvil body. Looking at the weld in the photos, I do not think the weld was run when the anvil was originally made. It has a typical weld bead with a wide weave, and there are dingleberries as would come from a poorly run stick weld or MIG weld. My belief is the anvil had been broken at the waist and re-welded. This would point to the body of the anvil being a mild steel or semi-steel casting. Wrought iron is not the easiest material to weld using welding processes such as stick or MIG. It has a stringy kind of structure with slag laying in the laminations. Stick welding with a small diameter electrodes using low heat will work, but some of the entrained slag in the wrought iron will often float up into the weld pool. Oxyacetylene welding is a process which can give a good weld on wrought iron as the welder can work the puddle to fuse in the wrought iron and float up the slag. Either way, welding wrought iron by processes other than forge welding is a somewhat difficult proposition. Whoever welded this anvil at the waist seems to have gotten a good weld, with good fusion and no undercut. As I said, I plead ignorance as to the material the body of a Trenton anvil would be made from, but the appearance of the anvil (parting line on the beak or horn of the anvil seems to point to some kind of casting. Possibly, the body was cast from a mild steel or semi-steel to take weld as it did. Interesting bit of detective work to determine how the anvil was made.
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