Jewlers Anvil?

[Lostmind]

This appears to be nickel plated brass, it's had some hard use , but the horn seems ok.
Question is , do they still make them of brass and nickel plate?
Date guess?
It's about 4 1/2" , that's a 12 ruler.

[Lewill2]

I don't see a vise but you do have a nice little anvil. 

[Chillylulu]

And yes they do. Try Pepe tools or Eurotools.  Most are now cheap and made in India. 

There is a good maker in England, I use Fretz tools for my main forming tools. They are stainless steel.  Good stuff and way too pricey.

Chilly.

[Lostmind]

I don't see a vise but you do have a nice little anvil. 

Thanks , I corrected it. I just got through looking at a photo of a vise. My brain gets clogged up sometimes.

[Branson]

I doubt this is a jeweler's anvil in the extreme.  Thousands of little anvils have been made over a long period of time as curios and paper weights.  One I purchased is a brass curio from Gretna Green, another is nickel plated Britannia metal, labled "Industry," and a third is unmarked, cast in brass.  I have several, and a blacksmith friend of mine is an avid collector of these.

The one in the photo has no means for attaching it to a bench; it appears to be simply a small miniature of a London pattern anvil, which would have been bound to a stump with iron straps.  Another clue, it seems to me is that it is brass, and that it has been plated.  The actual jeweler's anvil that I have is made of steel.  It's hard to imagine a brass anvil made for use, little say one that has been nickel plated.  How long would the plating last on  the working surfaces?

But it is a beautiful little anvil, very perfect in its dimensions.  Just not suitable for use IMO.

[mrchuck]

At our local week-end swap meet that have permanent spaces, there is one that has several of these tiny vises. I have thought about buying them, but do not know what their value would be.
This thread may help me decide.

[Chillylulu]

Branson is probably right about it being a sample anvil. I have one from "Anvil" fittings thst says "Anvil" on its side.

I have a couple of corrections though:

Jewelers bench anvils do not attach to anything. In fact many don't even look like what you would consider an anvil at all.  I have more than a few jewelers anvils on my bench. Only one or two look like a traditional anvil. Brass would work fine. Brittania metal would not.



As far as usefulness, I think it is relative.  A silversmith will grab anything to use as a stake. Jeweler size tools would be considered miniature by most. If our own Ralph "Art Raphael" were to make some 1/4 replicas of blacksmiths stakes they would still be more than twice as big as my jewelers stakes. They all have similar patterns,  too.  I have four sizes of essentially the same hammers that I use regularly for smithing. Two larger sizes are silversmithing. The smallest is branded "precisionsmith" by Bill Fretz. The next to smallest are my jewelers hammers.  All four sizes would be considered small by blacksmiths. I have a set of blacksmith hammers also and I have started buying farriers hammers recently.

I think your best bet is to consider size. The sample anvil I have is ~2" long, stem to stern. Maybe if we compare we can find a trend. Branson, How big are your sample anvils?

Jewelers bench anvils are generally in the 3"-4" range, and stakes are ~2"-3" long.

Bottom line is this - If you have a sample anvil that you want to keep as such, don't let a jeweler use it. It will become a jewelers anvil.

Chilly

[Lostmind]

Chilly , it's obvious the one I have was used , and often. The fellow I got it from told me it was from a Jeweler,
I wanted some other items and this was part of the deal. I have a cast iron one marked China , and I sold you
a cast iron one about this same size. But not this quality
I have had sample anvils that were give aways , but they were smaller.
Make for a neat collection.

[oldgoaly]

Many foundry classes had  anvil patterns for students to cast. When my good neighbor saw one I had did I gave it to him, then cast every size we could find. Made one with his name on it. Thanks goodness his name was on 7 letters in total. Waxing letters on to a pattern isn't one of my strength's.   

[Branson]

Hmmm... My working jeweler's anvil is like the one in the bottom picture though the base is somewhat heavier, and is further, attached to a 3 1/2 inch diameter lead disk that is  5/8 inch thick.  It's a nice little bihorn and it doesn't bounce or tip over in use.  The Gretna Green souvenir anvil is 3 1/4 long, and  1 9/16 high.  The Britannia metal anvil is roughly the same size, and I think there's another brass miniature around here some place, but I don't see it offhand.

Miniature anvils like these were often made as paper weights, and as advertising pieces.  Yes, and school shop projects as well.

I still think that the nickel plating means that lost mind's mini anvil was not made as a user, but as a curio or display only piece.

[Charles Garrett]

I have had many small anvils such as shown with many with adds and names , also no markings.  Quite desireable collectors item, Value varies all over the lot.  In our foundry class at Purdue we made bunchs marked Purdue  on side.  Chuck  Garrett