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. 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. Using a coal-fired forge, anvil and hammer, a smithy could make axles, axes and crowbars as well as hinges for doors, hoops for wooden barrels, wagon wheel rims, pots and nails. The rest of the industry used scrap or "best selected scrap". PW will have serifs on the font, mine is lacking those and has other strange markings, and likely a forgery but it has a hardened face and a wrought body. It was such a ubiquitous emblem of labor that it was incorporated into the Wisconsin state flag in 1848. They used only new high grade wrought iron for the body of their anvils. The question I have is about the material it is made of. The arm & hammer, a dynamic symbol comprised of a muscular male arm grasping a hammer, implying the action of striking an anvil, has been a recognized emblem of labor, skill and the benefits that come from honest hard work for centuries. 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. Dimensions of hardy holes in some of the 260 anvils may vary by up to 1/8'. I know these are cast steel and have heard they are great anvils. Based on the rough calculator of L H - 110 M, that puts it around about 195ish give or take. I told him to leave it alone! An anvil is NOT a precision reference surface. The dimensions are 27.75' x 11' x 4.75' ish. 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. If you put your location in your header, you may may find a member nearby who can help you out, If you take a wire brush to the side of it the numbers, and letters will show up better. The "portability" range where a man can easily move an anvil is 100 to 140 pounds, thus the most common weight anvil. You anvil is marked ENGLAND, so that dates it after 1910. 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. The base has a chip/chunk out of one foot but it's still beautiful! Consider this - in its day, this combination would cost the equivalent of six weeks skilled wages - considering its working heritage it remains a true investment with a unique aesthetic.This is a perfect example of a Peter Wright anvil. The overall patina is gorgeous and the anvil is in good condition for its age. It carries both a 2½ CWT and a '125 kilos' mark so it is later than the base but these two pieces have obviously lived together for a long time. I have posted a photo of my Wilkinson Queens Dudley anvil. The first number is whole hundredweight, or 112 lb increments, the second is quarter-hundredweights, or 28-lb increments, and the last number is straight pounds. The anvil is by John Brooks, considered by some to be the finest London Pattern anvils ever made. On English anvils like Peter Wright, Mousehole, and so on, the weight markings are in the old hundredweight system. Both have the remains of a blue paint here and there - but the base is dated 1943 and bears the (upward arrow) war department mark. I know kilograms are easier on the brain but there is something exquisitely romantic about the origins of these old English weights and measures.Īnyway, back to the anvil and base. Since a hundredweight is 8 stones it increased from 100 to 112 pounds in nfused? Now a 'hundredweight' as it's called is actually 112 pounds in weight but that's only because in 1340 King Edward III changed the weight of a 'stone' from 12½ 'pounds' to 14 pounds. ![]() Before we get into how divine this combination anvil and base is - I guess we should explain what CWT is! It's an old measure of weight. Set a large, flat stone near your forge to serve as an anvil, and get a smaller rock to use as a hammer.
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