Anvil? Hardie? learn me the names please

[skipskip]

I found this  in a barn cleanout.

I assume  it's older, possibly homemade?

pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skipskip/sets/72157627976295062/

Was this used as-is? or in an anvil?

what is the correct  name for it?

what kinds of things did you do with it?


How do I get it out of the RR tie? or should I leave it in?

thanks

Skip

[scottg]

 Stake anvil.
 I was going to say beakhorn for sheet metal, but on second look its too small, and way too thick for that.
Its shaped just like a jeweler's stake anvil, or a clockmaker's (next bigger size),  but on steroids.
 
 A really desirable large stake anvil!
 Killer score!! I'm drooling
  yours Scott 

[64longstep/Brian]

Yeah it looks to be a blacksmith made stake anvil. My guess would be that it could have been used by a coppersmith or a tinsmith.
You would have to split the RR tie to get it out...

[1930]

If it is for sale ( minus the wood ) let me know how much, thanks jhason2@yahoo.com

[keykeeper]

yep, definitely a stake anvil. Looks like it has a pritchel hole for punching operations.

here's some info about them http://www.anvilfire.com/anvils/af_anvils_025.php

You could probably get it out of that block with a little ingenuity. Douse the area where it is stuck in with a light oil that will penetrate the wood. Wrap a short chain around the stake under the horn and flat face sides. Find a heavy bumper jack or high lift jack to hook onto the chain. Put some even pulling pressure on it with the base of the jack resting beside the shank. May take a little while, but those stakes are generally tapered to fit a stake plate so they easily pop out with a light tap.

Of course, I'm sure someone else here will be along to tell me I'm all wrong about this, they usually do! I'm amazed I can even tie my own shoes, the way certain people usually put down any advice I give on here.

Only thing holding it in is probably the friction fit/shrinkage of the wood.

Or, split the wood, as longstep said!!

Good luck!

[anglesmith]

Skipskip,
To partly answer your question as to how these type of "tinman's" tools were used, they never normaly made to go into a anvil hardie hole (which is parallel) but into a tapered bench plate, these plates varied from single to multi holed. A look a DIXON cat.. shows a great range in the size of  stakes and bick irons, from jewelry/silversmithing  to general sheetmetal/tinmans tools. A blacksmith's made bick could be anything at all depending on the whim of the maker. Splitting it out might reveal a sharp tapered point designed to be hammered into a wooden block?
Graeme

[anglesmith]

Keykeeper,
Great link to Anvilfire, certainly makes it clear  the great range of types and sizes of stakes, shows tapers and bench plate also.Thanks for posting link.
I agree with you that splitting is the last resort and a bit ingenuity will most likely get it out! It will be a very useful tool, much more so out of the block.
Graeme

[Stoney]

I agree all of the Blacksmith Bick Irons, I have seen, have a shoulder stop to hold it off the anvil face or to keep it from sliding down in the post vice.

[rusty]

Ah, ye young ones...

A bit of oil on the wood will help the rust, but I think it would take quite a while to soak all the way through. Never tried that tho, so it may well work.

What I would do is take it out the same way it was put in, but in reverse. Tie a rope to the anvil part, suspend it so the block is an inch off the ground or so, and sledgehammer the *block*, the inertia of the anvil will make it tend to stay in place while the block of wood creeps down....

Or you could just get the marshmellows out and have a big campfire. You would probably have to quench the anvil after tho ; P


Keykeeper: It is far too easy to pull your chain LOL~!

[Branson]

>I found this  in a barn cleanout.

Lucky dog!

>Was this used as-is? or in an anvil?

Used as is.  Unlike an anvil beak,  A stake anvil has a dedicated spot, or stump

>what kinds of things did you do with it?

Smaller or lighter work or finer stuff -- work that wouldn't be convenient to do on a big anvil.   Note what others have said here.  Tinsmiths. clockmakers, silver smiths... Somebody should have said gunsmiths, too. 

Your's looks like a more general pattern.  Dimensionally, it looks a lot like the stake anvils supplied to ordnance artificers during the Civil War (and before and after).   I haven't figured out yet just what the ordnance artificers did, but they got more toys than the artificers in the field.

Once I came within 18 seconds of winning a US marked stake anvil on eBay...

>How do I get it out of the RR tie? or should I leave it in?

I'm the impatient sort, Skip.  I can't see a good reason for preserving a RXR tie, so I'd just put a wedge on line with the stake and smack it with a big sledge hammer.

[keykeeper]

Ah, ye young ones...

A bit of oil on the wood will help the rust, but I think it would take quite a while to soak all the way through. Never tried that tho, so it may well work.

What I would do is take it out the same way it was put in, but in reverse. Tie a rope to the anvil part, suspend it so the block is an inch off the ground or so, and sledgehammer the *block*, the inertia of the anvil will make it tend to stay in place while the block of wood creeps down....

Or you could just get the marshmellows out and have a big campfire. You would probably have to quench the anvil after tho ; P


Keykeeper: It is far too easy to pull your chain LOL~!

The only reason I mention a light oil is to get the wood to swell, on second thought I'm thinking boiling water would do a better job.

Rusty: tweren't you, my good man! You're aren't condescending like the offender I was thinking of!