Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-06-26

suit Is n failure. Prompt, energetic, and
skillnl action. not an instant too early or
too late, Is requisite. Every Zimmerman
must be ready. An instant's pause would be
fatal. Ono careless stroke would spoil tho
labor of a week. In the finishing of an an
vii, rs in the conclusion Of u sylloQism, my
variation destroys the whole.
Tho second method OF anvil making is
more cassidy described. Our first method is
by building up twenty pieces of iron into
one. Simple hammering creates the anvil.
10 indlssolubly weld is tho end in view. An
anvil IS made to receive constant blows. Its
parts must be joined, so MS to offer perfect
resistance. Thus have reasoned anvil maxi
ers from tho days Of Tubal Cain. "But
what blows" asked Peter Wright of Dud-
ley, twenty years ago, "lf lateral, you are
right No anvil can stand sideway blows
Anvils, however, receive blows perpcndicu-
larry. The blacksmith always strikes down
ward, aud n downward blow never separates
horizontal weld"
Instead, therefore, Of building nm anvil of
separate pieces Of iron, Peter Wright invent
cd molds OF steel, into which anvils should
be cast in two pieces instead of twenty.
Within these molds the malleablo iron is
forced by heavy blows. In this process cv-
erything depends upon tho strength of the
molds. They are, in fact, dies. If stubborn
enough to resist the tremendous pounding
they have to undergo the anvil produced is
not inferior to the other and older form.
The anvil is finally finished by tomperins.
Though n summary, it is to the onlookor n
portcntous process. Five hundred pounds
OF iron, glowing ut white heat, is not cooled
in moment. Like an angry man, time is
required to reducr its fcrvor. A cataract of
water is turned upon the inilamed mass of
iron; kissing and boiling, the liquid flies of
in clouds Of steam; dense mist fills the at-
mosphcre, hiding every object from view /,
and in the nick of timo the anvil, lifled by
steam clamps, is swung from the waterfall
to the bath, whore, plunged beneath the sur
face the fussy, suffering metal is cooled to
temper that renders it ever afterward
proof against all provocation.
Anvils thus made, where no fault has oc-
Cured during the process, will stand contu-
rieS of fair usage. Unlike tho revolution
that changes the nature of shafting, and
turns fibrous into crystalline condition,
blows upon an anvil serve rather to strength
en- its power OF resistance.
The smallest anvils, called bickcrns, are
mostly made Of steel, but their shape is much
varied to answer the numerous varieties of
small articles TO be made upon them. Those
we have described, whether for receiving
blows from the hand sledge or tho heavy
pounding of tho tilt hammer, arc of uniform
and simple shape. Like the face of ham,
mer, an anvil is n truncated quadrangular
pyramid The center OF every anvil is n
table" longer than it is wide. A good anvil.
when struck. makes the hammer rebound,
producing clear, silvery sound.
There are anvis of cast iron made in this
country. They are much cheaper in price,
and when well covered with steel possess
most of the advantages of the welded anvil.
Their manufacture is by the curious process
of first forming the steel covering and pour
ing the molten metal into il.