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I Forge Iron

rjones

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  1. The one I have now is flat between the hardie and pritchel holes and that's all I care about. A friend gave me a 2' x 3' x 1" steel plate table I can use for straightening etc. I don't know how Ridgid does it but I think they're cutting every corner they can. Mr. Peddinghaus must be spinning like a top.
  2. I don't want to say who the dealers were because first of all there aren't that many and I probably will have to purchase something from one or both of them sometime in the future simply because they are the only ones who have what I need and I also believe everyone deserves the benefit of a doubt. Second thing is I just wanted to let people know that you should check what you buy if you can. If you agree with this guy http://www.beautifuliron.com/gs_anvils.htm about how an anvil's surface should be flat then you should make it clear to the person you purchase it from what you want and ask about it. They must have some kind of floating grinding machine. I think when they quench it during heat treatment it draws more at the heal because it's thinner, like a katana. I wish I knew more about induction heat treatment. My daughter and her husband were living in my shop for a while and painted the walls different colors. She has a colorful personality I bought the bellows from a guy at a blacksmith's gathering. Got it for $50. I'm trying to set shop up to work with or without electricity. The guy I bought it from said it worked. I have a Centaur PB50 blower I will be using with the coal forge I'm building. My old one rusted out (ten years of rain leaking down the flu) I think bellows will work just as good as hand crank it just takes up more room and more muscle. I would like to throw in a plug for Centaur Forge. They stand behind their product and I trust them.
  3. This is what I had on my phone. It is a peddinghaus anvil. The stamp is deeper on the new one. The border is prominent. I don't remember if I could even see it on the 1st one.
  4. I don't really want to say which dealer it was but you would be very surprised. I've spent the last two months shopping for and buying my anvil; arguing with the dealer about what you see in the photos; returning it (100 mi round trip); looking at other brands of anvils; finally deciding to gamble on buying another one; and now I have my #12 and it's flat between the holes. I'm reasonably happy. I ordered it from link removed because I don't trust the dealers. I've only dealt with three of them and two have treated me as if I had sucker tattooed on my forehead. While shopping for an anvil I visited another dealer in my region and looked at one of his hofi style hammers. The next day I called and ordered one. I want go into the details but comparatively speaking the face of that hammer was more deformed than the anvil. I couldn't believe it. I paid $110 for a hammer I had to send back or fix myself. I know you're probably thinking everyone knows you have to dress the face of your hammer. No, it wasn't just dressing I had to do. I'll leave it at that. When I called link removed they said they didn't have an anvil in stock but Ridgid would ship one straight to me from the plant. I knew then at least if I got a bad one again it would just be Ridgid to deal with. You need to check prices again. All the dealers are more than link removed was. The pictures I posted were still on my phone. I think I have some of the other side with the Ridgid stamp on it in my computer. Probably have some of the top too. I was really proud of it when I first got it home. By the way, I have enough pictures and emails from both the dealer and Ridgid to prove everything I've written in these posts. I could care less if you believe it or not. I do however care about someone like me that finally decides to take the big step and plunk down the hard earned cash for what he believes to be a good quality anvil and winds up getting what I got. I'll post the pictures but I won't say anything else about it.
  5. I'm pretty sure they are grinding marks and for $1800 someone at Peddinghaus should have used the flapper wheel. Do you really believe the picture Ridgid uses in the descriptions on the web sites is some kind of fake anvil made out of plastic or material other than steel? The picture may have been touched up electronically or the anvil may have been cleaned up for the picture but I think it's safe to say it's a real anvil. I never said it had a depression. It had a peak in the middle (between the hardie and the pritchel holes) I will try to attach some photos with a two foot level on top of it which will prove that it's warped...probably from the heat treating process. I say had because I did return the first one to the dealer I purchased it from who claimed they were "all that way" but was kind enough to refund my money. I ordered another one from link removed. My new anvil was shipped directly from the Ridgid warehouse. It has the same sloppy workmanship as the first one but at least it's flat between the holes. I don't think you could get one that doesn't drop between the pritchel hole and the tip of the flat horn. It only has undercut in the corners of the weld. One side looks pretty good but the other side has what is called improper build up. The surface of a weld should be flush or a little above flush with the base metal. I know you'll probably say it doesn't affect the performance of the anvil. Well maybe it does maybe it doesn't. If the surface of a weld isn't properly done it makes what's underneath suspect. Like I said in my first post. I love my anvil. The thing is I've learned that just being German doesn't always guarantee good craftsmanship. The only reason I posted my opinion to start with was because some of the other posts I read on here seemed to be either misleading or biased. Maybe after a few years I'll refuse to admit anything is wrong with the way my anvil was manufactured. Maybe my case is rare but I think Ridgid needs to improve their quality control and understand they can't ride the Peddinghaus name forever.
  6. I recently purchased a Ridgid Peddinghaus #12 anvil and would like to warn anyone who is planning to buy one. If you, like I did expect impeccable German craftsmanship forget it. Don't expect your anvil to look like the pictures. From the tip of the round horn to the tip of the flat horn the workmanship is second rate. The round horn is rough ground and has flat areas on it. I think a twelve year old with about an hour of training could do a better job of grinding. The hardie hole is sloppy. My 1" hardie wobbles around in it. Don't expect the surface to be flat. The middle can have as much as 10mm height difference between it and the tip of the flat horn. The weld at the waist may look good to some people and it doesn't make any difference for an anvil but the undercut is ridiculous. Overall it's just plain shoddy work on a good piece of steel. It's not that I don't like it. I don't know what it is but working on it feels right. My hammer has found it's mate. What can I say, I love my anvil. If you're a little OCD I wouldn't buy a peddinghaus. There are cast steel anvils that are probably just as good. Just my two cents worth.
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