Thread: Anvil make and material identification?

Maybe not the best place to ask but worth asking... I know there are a couple metalworker around here I'm wondering whether it's made of cast steel or cast iron... the seller told me it's a 126lbs anvil made from "ductile steel" (only heard of ductile iron) in Canada by some foundry but I can't really try it since he's quite far.

Bummer that you can't inspect it first hand. You would be able to tell easily firsthand be carefully checking for rebound (steel anvil) or lack thereof (cast iron).

I have a smaller cast steel anvil at home, I can look at the sides and see if it looks similar. I don't recall mine having so many pockets in the surface. Nice looking anvil, though.

Chris L

Yea it's definitely difficult to determine visually and with all that surface rust! At least just knocking on it with a hammer and hearing the ring could be a good pointer. But thanks for taking the time to compare it.

If it's cast steel... would definitely be worth it... cast iron not so. :/ I'll try to schedule a little testing with the seller and report back.

There is probably little doubt it being steel, but there is no hardened face