found this stake anvil

[JT]

I found this anvil that was said to be used with shoeing horses .. looks like a stake anvil. does this look to be home made ??  or foundry made ?? anyone have thoughts on this one ?? JT

[Charles R. Stevens]

It looks to be fabricated from two pieces of square stock, and with the long horn way off from the sweet pot over the leg it certainly is a scrolling anvil. Lacking a pritchel hole or a hardy I would say that it would be difficult to forge shoes as part of the process involves cuttin the stock to length and punching nail holes. As to shaping led shoes I would say yes, a functional anvil. The use of an anvil dog and bolster plat would solve the other problems as would a bit of machine work. A hardy in the front and a pritchel or two in the back perhaps. 

It dose appear to be a pritchel hole in the plate it rests in, and would work well with long head stamp and pritchel

The mushroomed edges indicate to me a soft anvil with some mileage. I would not be surprised if it i dead wasn’t used to shape shoes.

[MC Hammer]

It strikes (pun intended) me as something that maybe was used on the battlefield or as a traveling anvil.  I think it would serve well as something used in that manner.  I must admit I've never seen one like that.  Thanks for sharing.

[JT]

thanks !! both a couple interesting observations ... JT

[ThomasPowers]

Well it's definitely NOT the ACW mountain howitzer anvil.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Wonder if it's a later version to go along with the pack forges?

[ThomasPowers]

Well David wrote the book; perhaps he could say.  I don't see it likely to have differing ones for the same task though.

[Hotshoein4 (Mark)]

You could certainly make horseshoes and shoe horses off that anvil. Never seen a shoeing anvil like that, but it would work no problem! Wouldn't be anything I'd keep with me in my shoeing rig though. 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

I don't see it likely to have differing ones for the same task though.

Knowing the military like I do, it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't have different anvils for every branch of the service and application.

[JT]

I found this anvil to be interesting but wasn't sure about the story that was given.. I also find all your replies interesting and informative .. I never thought about the possible military aspect of it... that sort of intrigues me even more.. any and all thoughts are appreciated .. I decided I couldn't resist it for $165.00 so I ended up buying it..   JT

[ThomasPowers]

I think every anvil I have seen that has been used for shoeing has distinctive edge damage to it. Which that one does not.

[MotoMike]

Quote

Looks like a display in an art museum

 

 

[Charles R. Stevens]

I see what appears to be a dressed electric weld were the leg was attached. One would assume if it is a forge weld then smiths would have been involved and they would have placed the stake closer to the horn, avoiding the off center deign of the anvil. Despite the clean lines of the anvil the off set and the mushrooming just give me the impression of a shop built anvil. Usable for sure.

[Rojo Pedro]

Nice anvil