Subject: Re: Anvils and more Anvils.

From: George Hacking <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 29 Feb 1996 00:39:22 -0600

How could anyone stay in business selling anvils that were hard to beat?

At 01:45 PM 2/12/96 -0600, you wrote:
>>From The American Blacksmith, September 1914.  History of Development of 
>the Anvil--1, by James Cran.  Evidently he had just visited the Mouse Hole 
>Forge in Sheffield, England and the Peter Wright Forge in Dudley, England.
>
>For he states, "The present owners [of of the Mouse Hole Forge], Brooks & 
>Cooper, have run the works for upwards of 38 years, and are still making 
>anvils that are hard to beat ... and they operate their forge to this day 
>with no other power than that developoed by an old-fashioned water wheel.
> 
>The same old-fashioned helve hammer, or 'metal helve' as 
>it is locally termed, is still doing duty and is operated by the already 
>mentioned water wheel. The building itself, with its old-fashonied solid 
>stone walls and low arched windows and doorways, shows but slight signs 
>of the ravages usually worked by time, and are apparently good, barring 
>misfortune, for centuries to come.
> 
>Originally the Mouse Hole anvil was made up of 6 pieces by the building up 
>process. The corners of the base or feet, the horn and tail or heel was 
>welded on to a centerpiece.  After this the steel face was welded on in 
>sections, trimmed and finished to the desired shape by hand tools.  The 
>face was then ground and hardened and, after hardening, the face was 
>again ground and finished."
>
>I have a Wilkinspon anvil, made in Dudley. It is a six piece anvil, the 
>horn and tail have been broken off, but it is  clear that they have been 
>forged on to the centerpiece as have the corners of the 
>feet.
>
>More next time.
>
>Page.
>
>[email-masked]
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