Weighty Matters:
Anvil collection is rock solid
By Marti Attoun
David Baker will go to almost any length to add to his collection of anvils.
Almost.
"I went to this one sale where an anvil was advertised," he said. "I got there, and didn't see one. Finally, the auctioneer said 'The anvil is at the bottom of the cistern.' All you could see was a horn sticking out."
He's lugged home some 200 anvils, weighing between 100 and 1,400 pounds, from farm sales and pawn shops. He's bought even more tongs and "hardies," the chisels that fit into the square holes on anvils. He houses the collection in what he calls his blacksmith museum: two buildings beside his farmhouse in Wentworth, Mo. He enjoys showing off the collection to interested folks, but doesn't keep regular hours.
David's love for blacksmithing was, uh, forged when he was 17, working for a local smith.
"He paid me 15 cents to turn the forge," David recalled. "Sometimes, I'd turn it fast; sometimes slow, depending on how hot he wanted the metal."
A friend gave him his first anvil. He bought the second, and, voila, a collection was born.
"By now, I know my anvils," he said. "I can stand 20 feet away, and tell whether it's a good anvil or not."
Most of the anvils in his collection were manufactured from 1880 to 1900. They're all solid cast iron with a steel-cast face. Top U.S. manufacturers included Hay-Budden, Trenton, Fisher and Columbian Hardware Co. Other companies, such as Keen Kutter, stamped their names on anvils manufactured by others.