Subject: Where can I find an Anvil?

From: [email-masked] (Ken Smith)
Date: 5 Feb 1995 23:27:05 GMT

Does anyone know of any good sources for Anvils? I am looking to start
trying my hand at some blacksmithing projects, but seem to be running
into difficulty finding an anvil.  Also, what would be considered a fair 
price/pound for an anvil in good condition?

Thanks

Ken Smith

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From: [email-masked] (RPCoyle)
Date: 7 Feb 1995 21:35:53 -0500

Harbor Freight Tools has 50 lb anvils for about 26$. I got one there on
sale last month. It's about the cheapest I've seen. I saw a couple at the
local drive in swap meet that were bigger but they wanted the price of an
antique for it so I passed. 
                                                    good luck... 
Bob Coyle    Email([email-masked])

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From: [email-masked] (John Beaton)
Date: 8 Feb 1995 22:05:47 GMT

>price/pound for an anvil in good condition?

Dear KS

Adds appear regularly in The Anvil, a magazine for farriers, primarily.  One of your replys suggested the anvils available from  Harbor Freight. These are, if not the most useless of anvils, certainly ugliest, and possibly dangerous.

Cheers,

JB

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From: [email-masked] (Philippe Habib)
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 1995 18:02:44 GMT

>Adds appear regularly in The Anvil, a magazine for farriers, primarily.  One of your replys suggested the anvils available from  Harbor Freight. These are, if not the most useless of anvils, certain…

Can you explain what makes an anvil useless or dangerous?  What can 
go wrong with an anvil and what is the difference between a good one and
a bad one?

Thanks.

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From: [email-masked] (K.F.Kinsey)
Date: 9 Feb 1995 19:07:22 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (John

> >price/pound for an anvil in good condition?

In these parts (the north east) they used to run about 1$/lb, but I haven't
priced any lately. The craft interest has faded and the prices may have
come down a bit. Flea markets, junky antique shops, farm auctions etc etc
are your best bet. The old ones generally were better quality than anything
new I have seen. And a heck of a lot cheaper for what you get. Only problem
is that most of them were abused--looks like people smashed rocks on them.
They are all around, unless you want one, as you have discovered.

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From: [email-masked] (william thomas powers)
Date: 9 Feb 1995 17:43:25 -0500

>go wrong with an anvil and what is the difference between a good one and

What makes an anvil useless is when its softer than the stuff you are
trying to beat on it.  I once had my 195# anvil stolen two days before
I was to demonstrate at a local museum. Desperate I bought a 100 kilo
"Buffalo" anvil from Taiwan at a local hardware store. It had a nasty
thick paint job; an awful excuse for a horn; and it wasn't *cheap*.
I found that cherry red 5160 steel would dent the surface. (Remember
every dent on the face of the anvil will show up on every piece you work
on it until you re-surface it!)  I moved that anvil for years as I just
couldn't sell it to some unsuspecting proto-smith.  I finally traded it
to someone who had to listen to my entire rant before I would agree to 
part with it--at about a 50% loss on the deal.

What makes an anvil dangerous is when it has been mis-tempered or mistreated
and it spalls nasty jagged chunks of steel at high speed. Also; when the
face is so out of plane that when you hit your work--it tries to jump
out of the tongs.  (wilelm's laws of smithing: "When gravity wants your piece,
let it have it! It is rude to try to interpose your skin between a red hot
piece of steel and the earth it is trying to reach."  and the classic, "Hold
the cold end and hit the top end",....yes I do teach newfolk, how did you
guess?)

Thomas
Columbus Ohio

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From: [email-masked] (william thomas powers)
Date: 9 Feb 1995 17:47:10 -0500

and the classic, "Hold the cold end and hit the *HOT* end",....yes I do
teach newfolk, how did you guess?)		^^^^^(I'm better with a hammer
						      than a keyboard.)

Thomas
Columbus Ohio

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From: [email-masked] (Newton9120)
Date: 9 Feb 1995 23:06:53 -0500

A full line of blacksmithing equipment including anvils and forges is
available from:

Cumberland General Store
Route 3
Crossville, TN 39555
(800) 334-4640

I'm not sure of their prices or service but they have a great catalogue of
old time merchandise.

Jeff Dean
Newton [email-masked]

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From: "Mark Williams (Hoge) 1896" <[email-masked]>
Date: 10 Feb 1995 20:28:31 GMT

> Adds appear regularly in The Anvil, a magazine for farriers, primarily.  One of your replys suggested the anvils available from  Harbor Freight. These are, if not the most useless of anvils, certai…
You might try contacting ABANA in Nashville, Indiana 812-988-6919 and
ask for a chapter in your area. The local blacksmiths would have a better idea 
of sources. A reasonable cost is $1.50 per pound.

Peace,
Mark Williams

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 14 Feb 1995 03:38:41 GMT

>go wrong with an anvil and what is the difference between a good one and

You want a wrought-iron anvil or a wrought-iron top welded onto a cast iron
base.  Hammer welded.  It should be at least 90 lbs (preferably 250} and must have
 a hardy and
a pritchel.  A good anvil has a beautiful bell-like ring when struck.  The base
is important too.  A section of tree trunk is traditional.  Fasten the anvil with
some LARGE bent over spikes.

Gary Pewitt     N9ZSV     [email-masked]
I'm from the government, I'm here to help you.

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From: [email-masked] (Steve Hampson)
Date: 17 Feb 1995 22:12:26 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>
[email-masked] (william thomas powers) writes:

> The face should be *tool steel*.  Wrought Iron is preferred for the base
> but some good anvils were made with a tool steel face welded to a cast iron 
> base; but they were not "hammer welded" the tool steel slab was heated to 
> about welding temperature and placed in the mold and molten cast iron was
> poured on top of it.  I think the Fisher brand of anvils were made this way.

There was a fascinating article in ABANA's Anvil's Ring several years
ago that described a German anvil shop in text and photos.  This shop
built the base of the anvil from random chunks of wrought iron, forge
welded together.  The work was heated in a large, floor level forge
about 6' square and was welded together by several workers with sledge
hammers.  The face was a piece of tool steel that was drawn to the
correct shape on a water powered hammer and then forge welded to the
top.  The finished anvil was hardened by heating in the forge and
quenched by diverting a stream through a large tube directly into the
forge!  This is from memory.  If any one wants more details, I'll look
up the article.

> The  base is important too.  A section of tree trunk is traditional.  Fasten
> the anvil with some LARGE bent over spikes.

While spikes or staples will work, they tend to come loose over time. 
A better method is to bolt it down.  A good way to do this is to form
two "V" shaped pieces of rod with threaded ends.  The bottom of the "V"
is bolted low on the  stump along the sides of the anvil in such a way
that the threaded portion can pass through a plate that crosses the
feet under the horn and heel of the anvil.  I believe there is a
picture in one of Roy Underhill's books.

--
Steve Hampson                           
Blue Sky Research
534 SW 3rd Ave
Portland, OR 97204
503-222-9571
503-222-1643 fax