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Peter Wright Anvil – help

Posted by bedhead on October 6, 2016 with No Commentsas , , , , , , , ,

As I’ve written, I have a 145# Peter Wright that definitely has some age on it, as well as was more than a paper-weight. After the anvil was cleaned up (thank you Andrew), I noticed a thing or two that was hidden or perhaps just blended into the background.

One of the things I couldn’t previously make out (not that it is easily legible now), was the fact that below the line that has Wright on it, there is a partial line that looks to say Patent. One of the previous owners seemed to make a lot of punches or similar, and liked to test at least some aspect on the body of the anvil. I’m sure Peter Wright fans are probably cringing right now, and believe me, I understand. As far as I can tell, the weight stamps on the side of the anvil have all but been obliterated, and I can’t tell whether there was any indication regarding being made from wrought iron or not.The rebound characteristics more than offset the damage to the anvil’s body, otherwise I’d likely have kept looking for another anvil.

 

A photo of the side of this same anvil, showing the signs of testing tools that were possibly made on this baby.

A photo of the side of this same anvil, showing the signs of testing tools that were possibly made on this baby.

 

There are some letters on the front edge of the foot below the horn (bick), facing in the same direction. There are two capital “E” stamped extremely deep, each a couple of inches from the outside tip of this foot, but on different sides of the anvil center-line. With some of the anvils that have been around for a long time, some of the details can easily hide in dents, scratches, dings or the such, and the darkening/staining resulting from previous rusting, can make it quite difficult to know for sure if what you are seeing is a letter or an intended mark, or just a mark from time. These two stamped letters on the other hand, are absolutely part of the anvil, and just based on the depth of strike, look like they were applied when the body was still at a strong heat.

 

Zoomed out slightly in order to get both of the stamped E's in the frame.

Zoomed out slightly in order to get both of the stamped E’s in the frame.

 

Closeup photo of the front edge of the foot under the bick. Capital E is deeply stamped.

Closeup photo of the front edge of the foot under the bick. Capital E is deeply stamped.

 

I’ve read that some of the Peter Wright anvils that were intended for export, had a Made in England stamp on the body. On the anvils that were sold to customers or businesses in England, is there any chance they might use the capital E in this manner, as a abbreviation as the purchasers would already know where they were made? Heck, I guess it could be as simple as an indicator of who made this specific anvil, so if someone complained they would have a trail back to the slacker. 😉

I would really appreciate anyone’s input in this mystery. If you have a thought, you can either add a comment to this page, or email me direct at LeeLairdWoodworking@gmail.com . Thank each of you for stopping by and checking out the article and site. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

 

Lee Laird

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