Hay Budden Anvil Serial Numbers

Identifying Hay-Budden Anvils

There were several changes made to the Hay-Budden Anvil during their years of operation. I caution and remind everyone that each anvil was built and crafted by hand by a “gang” of men. The materials, forge environment, men and manufacturing processes changed daily and with time. Not every Hay-Budden will be an exact match to the descriptions I provide below.

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Hay-Budden also used a 1-3 digit stamp that is believed to refer to the lot of steel used in its construction so if the 157 is not indicative of the weight it is probably this lot number) Another sign of the Hay-Budden is the 'hourglass shape' of the indentation on the bottom of the anvil, (actually a fairly thin rim that projects down from the. Brad, as I wrote you earlier I believed this anvil to be a Hay-Budden. Last night I reread the Hay-Budden section in Richard Postman's 'Anvils in America', (just published and by far the best work on the subject available!), and I think I found the clincher! 'There is one other diference in those anvils with the 'A' prefix. The number on the. Serial number is 1602. B and 22 could be anything, such as hay budden serial numbers batch number, inspector mark or anvil crew identification. To download HAY BUDDEN SERIAL NUMBERS, click on the Download button. I will eventually build a forge with a firepot, it's hard to get a deep budven with a rivet forge. Some Trenton anvils also. Jul 05, 2011 Hay Budden Anvil. I have a HAY-BUDDEN anvil with a base that I have not been able to find any information on. The anvil is 150 pounds (155 lbs. Per my bathroom scale), serial number 207415. The base is cast and weighs 180 lbs.

1880 Hay-Budden anvil was made of three pieces. The “Top Plate” or “Faceplate” forge welded to Upper Body usually a distinctive visible line is present ½ to ⅝ below the Top Plate surface (depending on size of anvil) where they were joined. These two already joined pieces were then forge welded to the Lower Body or Base to complete the anvil. In the book, “Anvils in America”, 'These early Hay-Budden anvils have three handling holes (square holes actually) with one in the bottom of base (underneath), under Horn in middle of the waist and one under Heel (smaller of the other holes) in the middle of the waist.' The majority of these anvils will also be marked with a number stamped under the Horn and either on the left or right side of the handling hole. The number(s) can also be upsde down on some anvils. In addition, some anvils may have a number(s) stamped on both sides of the handling hole. If no other marks can be found or determined on a anvil but a number is found marked near handling hole under horn THIS INDICATES it to be a Hay-Budden made anvil. No other manufactures of anvils is known to apply a number in this location. These are single digit in the range of 0 to 9 but consistent in size and Font on all the Hay-Budden anvils I have seen to date. The Hay-Budden anvils made during this time may only contain a retailer’s name and weight stamp or both a retailer’s name and Hay-Budden trademark stamp sometimes overlapping with weight stamped in below. The Hay-Budden stamp may also be small fitting within 4 to 5 inches.

Hay Budden Manufacturing Co

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1880 - 1892
Early Hay Budden anvils 1880 - 1892 may not have serial numbers and may be marked with a retailer’s name or logo with no indication it was made by Hay-Budden. The waistline of the early Hay-Budden is narrow or thin with curve from the feet up heel and from under horn down to feet compared to later made anvils. The weight is stamped in waist in US Pounds under retailer’s name. Hay-Budden anvils at this time were made with a forged base made up of wrought iron scraps and plates welded together creating lines that follow the shape of the base. The bottom of the base has a edge width roughly ½ inch wide profiling the base. This edge side toward the interior creates a shoulder set back approximately 1/16 to ⅛ back making a recessed cavity.

1892 - 1995
Still following the description above but in 1892 Hay-Budden was awarded the contact to make the farrier’s anvil for S.D. Kimbark (Originator of the Farriers style anvil). Per Richard Postman’s book,” Anvils in America”, Hay-Budden started applying serial numbers around this time or when Hay-Budden incorporated in October 1893. These serial numbers are located on the left foot face under the horn of the anvil. The “Font” of the numbers and size of the Font has remained consistent across all the anvils from what I seen in person or in photographs.

1900 all things remaining the same as describe above but Hay-Budden widened the waist providing more material under the working surface and no longer did the side profile have the smooth continuous curve under heel and horn down to the base and feet. The waist became thicker giving a more of a block shape to the middle waist area between Heel and Horn.

1908-1925
Major Changes
The anvils made by Hay-Budden during this last period contained all the prior described markings. I would like to say that most of the anvils I have seen in the later years of production have the large Hay-Budden trademark and few retailer names applied.
Hay-Budden changed the manufacturing process during this last period and started successfully producing “Plate-less Anvils” (no top plate) making the entire “Upper” half (top and body) from one piece of forged steel. There is no Top Plate line or seam to be seen or identified.The base remained forged from wrought iron or low carbon steel. The waist area was now narrow and nearly straight with this change in the manufacturing process using blocking dies to form the two pieces. These later made anvils can have a base cavity reaching 2 inches deep. The edge of the base (underside) is wider with 1 to 1 ½ inches width. These anvils have only two handling holes. A handling hole being located in the base center (underside) and the other handling hole located under Horn in waist. Hay-Budden also added numbers on the opposite side of the anvil from the trademark side up in the tapered area of the Heel. These number range from two to three digits in random ordering.
Also note some times letters were stamped in after the serial numbers and/or on end of feet such as 'BB', 'SS' and possible other combinations.
Experimenting with casting steel anvils (more to come at later date on these)

Numbers

I would like to note, once anvils reach the “heavyweight” category exceeding 300 pounds additional handling holes were added per Richard Postman’s book, “Anvils in America”. Per Postman the post 1908 heavyweight anvils had the standard two holes with one located under the Horn and one under the Heel with additional two holes added in the base. These two additional holes were located with one being in the middle of foot face under the Heel and the other hole located in the waist under the Heel (like the 1892-1908 anvils).

Serial Number series of Hay-Budden Anvils per the book Anvils in America:
Approximate dates with a plus or minus two year fluctuation
Year 1892 starting serials, number 1
Year 1917 ending serial numbers with number 250,000
Year 1918 re-started serial numbers with prefix letter “A”, number A1
Year 1925 Hay-Budden ended production and the serial numbers in the range of A57,000

Another sign of the Hay-Budden is the 'hourglass shape' of the indentation on the bottom of the anvil, (actually a fairly thin rim that projects down from the edge of the base and so follows the. Jul 05, 2011 I have a HAY-BUDDEN anvil with a base that I have not been able to find any information on. The anvil is 150 pounds(155 lbs.

So I just picked up a new to me hay budden anvil. 67lbs small farriers anvil. This thing is 100 plus years old and it's still in pretty good shape for its age. They def made things to last back then, and here's proof!

It still has a nice flat face on it, and even tho some of the corners are gone there are enough to work with if I need a good corner. Also hardy and pritchel(sp?) holes on the top as well. In one of the photos you can see where they forge welded the face on to the top of the anvil.

From what I've read they changed to a integrated face around 1909 so that would date this one before then. Serial number can't quite make out on it. If anyone has any info on serial numbers for hay buddens it would be greatly appreciated so I can date this one just so I know. This little guy(for an anvil anyhow) will be perfect for my small setup right now. I'll sti keep and eye out for something bigger but for now i am so damn happy it's crazy! This old girl is going to be put back to work!

Anvil

(Yes it's sitting on my granite countertops, it's on a cutting board and gf isn't home!) Such a proud papa right now. Wanna get this baby out and working again!

Does anybody have a copy of this book? I posted in my other thread that I have been wanting an anvil with a round horn.

I totally forgot that I already had an old round horn anvil in the barn. I dug it out this morning and turns out it is an old Hay Budden, about 80 lbs. It needs a little work but I think I am going to fix it and use it for a while. The reason I was wondering about the book is I understand there is a section that tells the age of anvils by the serial number.

Hay Budden Anvil Identification

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Hay Budden Anvil Serial Numbers

My anvil's number is A34077. I would appreciate it if anyone has the book if they would look that up for me. Draftshoer said: Does anybody have a copy of this book? I posted in my other thread that I have been wanting an anvil with a round horn. I totally forgot that I already had an old round horn anvil in the barn. I dug it out this morning and turns out it is an old Hay Budden, about 80 lbs. It needs a little work but I think I am going to fix it and use it for a while.

Hay Budden Anvil Information

The reason I was wondering about the book is I understand there is a section that tells the age of anvils by the serial number. My anvil's number is A34077. I would appreciate it if anyone has the book if they would look that up for me.i will look it for you over the weekend.