It is not in Anvils in America but I am fairly certain Richard Postman told me Peter Wright did start putting serial numbers on their late production anvils. Just click on my name and send as an attachment. If you do this I'd like to see a photograph of markings. What is left in depressions sometimes make stampings very easy to make out. About 1910 they added ENGLAND under PATENT.Ī way to help bring out lettering is to lay on side and dust with flour. Then SOLID WROUGHT in a circle usually with the middle weight number stamped in it. You may have a very early PW since in 1860 on their typical logo was (stacked): PETER WRIGHT PATENT. A classic sign of a post-1860 PW are small ledges on the front and back feet. Might be an inspector mark or perhaps it meant it was approved for export. Occasionally stamps were put on upside down. Perhaps when someone did your's they simply forgot where to put the SOLID WROUGHT circle or the weight. If ENGLAND is added, then late 1880 to early 1900s. If it just says PETER WRIGHT PATENT, then likely 1860-late 1880s. "It is difficult to age a PW after 1860 when they went to the now classic London pattern. I don't remember where I found the following so I can't give credit where credit is due, but this is something I found when trying to look it up. There a very small amount of sway that's perceptible with a straight edge. Good rebound except for the heel which also has two divots that appear to be from a torch. I got my 194 lb PW by watching the Pittsburgh craigslist as I had a friend offer to bring anything I found down on a moving truck to Texas. I was hunting for lighter anvils to carry when I teach, paid US$150 two years ago *mint* face and horn, one foot had the end broken off-no impact on it's use! Funny that our wives ended up making the transfer at the university (actually my wife asked a passing student to move it for her.) The 112 I picked up off of Craigslist in Albuquerque. Didn't take long or long for me to figure it out.sneaksie apprentice my precious!) Sure hope he liked the vice because I love the anvil and took it with me to be the "larger" anvil in my down south small portable set up. The next time our friend was over at my shop he snuck it in and waited for me to notice. My second 165# one was traded for a wilton cadet vise and some boot with a gentleman on this board and took nearly a year for blacksmith's mail to deliver it to my shop: (My apprentice picked it up on his way to California and then finally took it to a large SCA event which a friend local to me was attending. My fiancee told me that he remarked to his friend "He's more of a man than he looks!") (What I remember about this one is the seller asking me how I was going to get it to my car-so I picked it up abnd carried it over. My first 165# was bought at a yard sale for US$100 about 30 years ago-my wife to be told me I should get it and we celebrate 30th anniversary this summer.Face had been re done by someone who knew their business. This is a system using 112 pounds as the primary unit, then quarter hundredweights (28 pounds or two stone), and common pounds for parts of a hundred weight below 1/4.I own 3 Peter Wrights, 2 around 165# and 1 around 112#. This is something overlooked by crooks making forgeries of Peter Wright tools (buyer beware). The serifs on the hand cut letter dies are very clear. Scott caught them very well in the photograph. The markings on this anvil are clear and crisp. PETER WRIGHT, PATENT, Solid Wrought, 1 0 18 It was compensation for what was inevitably going to happen. The crown was often 1/16" or more high in the center and was definitely NOT a flat surface. Peter Wright addressed the sway problem in later years by crowning their anvils and sloping the horn upward. This scrap would often have steel and cast iron bits in it as well as not being so laminar as is good new wrought iron. The rest of the industry used scrap or "best selected scrap". They used only new high grade wrought iron for the body of their anvils. The reason for this was in their advertisements. While Peter Wrights are one of the better made more popular anvils of their time they also become swayed more than other anvils. If you have to put a straight edge on the anvil to see the sway, there is none. It is not a granite flat or a milling machine table. I told him to leave it alone! An anvil is NOT a precision reference surface. Scott asked me about machining the sway (1/16" on one side and 1/32" on the other (1.6 and 0.8 mm). While bigger is better it is also nice to be able to move your tools when needed. The "portability" range where a man can easily move an anvil is 100 to 140 pounds, thus the most common weight anvil. The weight is in the very common portable anvil range used by farriers, farmers and in small shops. It is in very good condition with minor edge chipping, a little sway, the original finish and no signs of repair. This is a perfect example of a Peter Wright anvil.
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