Anvils, Swage Blocks, and Mandrels

Hey everybody! I found a nice Austrian style anvil weighing in at about 70-100 kilos, but it doesn't have a horn ( bick/beak ). It's been ripped straight off . . I still cant imagine how . . . It doesn't look that punished to me . .so I guess it must have been a sand infiltration while casting it or something. My questions are. . .Can I somehow put a new bick on it? Will it be cheap to make and attach it? What tools will I need ( if it's possible ) and considering that I already have a 150 kilo main anvil and a 50 kilo spare . .should I just drop the whole thing and scrap it?

:confused:Hello Guys and ladies, I have just purchased a small post anvil from ebay and I AM TRYING TO FIND OUT ANYTHING ABOUT ITS ORIGINS OR HISTORY. Has anyone come across one of these before? Dont know if it is ministry of defence or war department item, this info in the description may just be a red herring. Any help would be greatfully recieved Thanks Ivan (hammerandtongs) IT was DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: square topped anvil block that looks to be unused. Item has no markings or casting marks, came with other old X WD MOD tools that were put away in storage 50 to 65 years ago. All edges are sharp and not marked. A book of matches gives and idear of size. …

Well I want to invite ALL of IFI to come down to Yesteryear Forge for the Blacksmith Guild of Virginia's final monthly meeting of the year. We are going to have a 2 day demo by Bill Epps, and will be raffling off the 500# Euroanvil on Saturday...along with the anvil you will also get a 2 hour tutorial with Bill on Sunday. Here is more info from Blacksmith Guild of Viriginia - Home Monthly Meeting: November 17-18 Bill Epps & Euroanvil Raffle Location: Yesteryear Forge 15421 Five Forks Rd. Amelia VA 23002 Time: 10am-3pm Lunch: provided Please RSVP [email protected] or 434.390.6203 Reminders: Don't forget to bring something for Iron In The Hat!!…

I just purchased my first anvil. It is a Trenton 200lb. The top needs some work. I have heard that weld can be added to pits and dents but I have not been able to find any information on how it is done or which welding rod to use. Any help would appreciated.

55 LB ANVIL FOR SHOP BLACKSMITH FORGE METAL WORKING NEW - (eBay item 200172220318 end time Nov-16-07 09:46:59 PST) Ive been looking for anvils on Ebay and they either seem to go for 20.00 (Im sure not something that is worthwile) or in the 160 or over range. Would this one, a 55 pounder, work for knife-making, etc?

Hey everyone!!! I wanted to let you all know about a cool thing going on here in about a month. Bill Epps will be demonstrating for the Blacksmith Guild of Virginia on November 17th and 18th at Yesteryear Forge in Amelia VA. Also on Saturday the 17th we will be raffling off a brand new 500lbs Euroanvil and a 2 hour tutorial with Bill Epps on the 18th. Tickets are 1.00 only!!!!! You must be present to win the anvil!!! EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO COME AND ENJOY SOME TIME WITH US!!! If you are coming please let me know for food preparation purposes. [email protected] peyton

Fresh purchase, I'd like to know the maker and/or brand if at all possible. It has no markings save for the raised number "15" on the front foot. The face is pretty hard, but the whole thing doesn't "ring" much, if at all. It appears to be cast steel- at least it very much appears to be cast, as there's some slight voids under the horn and on the opposite side at the waist, towards the heel. There doesn't appear to be a seam where a "face" joins the rest of the body, although there's some... something where the face steps down to the horn that either suggests a weld/braze, or possibly where somebody spilled a dab of solder or something. I haven't taken a brush or pic…

I need an answer fast. Early Peter Wright Anvil 135 pounds blacksmith Should I buy this anvil?

on the anvil the beak part which way do you point it when you are working at the anvil the beak to the right or left if you are right handed?

As delivered, my Peter Wright (Photo 1) 140-pounder had clearly seen better days. Beat, chipped, dented, spalled, rusty and probably high cholesterol. One problem was simply that it was missing an easy half-inch off the nose/horn: Photo 2 Probably broken off sometime in it's century-long life, by some klutz with more bicep than brains, or maybe it'd just been knocked off a bench onto a concrete floor. Who knows? I didn't like it for both aesthetic and utilitarian reasons, so it was time to fix it. Unlike the face, the horn was probably pure wrought iron like the rest of the body. Therefore to fix it, we needed nothing fancier than a MIG. Grind the stub clean of …

I've been working on a rather large project, all of which is being beaten out on my 75ish pound anvil. Point is My gas forge heats up my multiple pieces of steel and im moving fairly fast, so there is alot of yellow hot steel on my anvil face. I rested the flat of my knuckles on my anvil and pretty much schorched them.. which is why i'm not still hamering steel right now. So ya, is there a way I can keep it cool? or should I just go slower and take more breaks? or maybe get a bigger anvil. anyway, thanks!

Been looking for a short time. Would like an anvil for my shop. Dont have a forge yet, but found this anvil. The person wants $30 for it. . Its a vulcan and he states; "The anvil measures 13"long 5.5" wide and 8" tall" and in another email: "Length of face 8" width of face 3.25" horn is 5" long Heigth is 6.5" Been reading this site for only a week, great info.

Pacific Machinery and Tool is offering 25 lb bundles of tool steel (H-13, S-7) on Ebay for $25 plus 24.19 shipping. I was interested in hand tools, but they said that the pieces are big. One piece per order, could be up to 2X3x27. These might make good block anvils or anvil tops. Why does a medium piece of steel bedded in concrete make such a good knifemaker's anvil? Wouldn't the concrete crack? It turns out, for hand hammering, not really. A simple calculation of the impulse force shows it to be below the safe compressive strength for concrete, neglecting side friction. What's a good way of heat treating one of these big pieces for either a block or a hard top?…

Where is the best place to buy an anvil. I'm just looking for something not to expensive. I have a gas forge and want to just tinker around with making some knives with old files, cold chisels, and band saw blades. I thought I might get by with using a chunk of railroad tie for an anvil but have not been able to get a chunk. Any suggestions? thanks in asvance for any advice.

Hello, all. I just obtained this HUGE stake anvil and I was wondering if anyone knew of any ways to help try to put an age to it. I've got pictures up at Temporary Stake Anvil page It weighs between 120 and 125lbs, is 24.5 inches tall, 22 inches long from tip of each horn. The top has a 9" face 4" wide and there's a close to 1" squareish hole in one side. Looking at it you can see how the whole anvil was forge welded out of tons of layers and pieces of metal, including some voids in places and a few places like on the leg where you can see a forge weld didnt completely hold. The leg is a nice forged octogon with a little bit of a taper, from 3.5" to 5" at the top wit…

i need help finding a website that sells good but inexpensive anvils, or a way to find anvils in my area. Please help. Maximum budget for two anvils combined: $1000

Hello folks!!!! Looking for some info on a "Wilkinson Patent Anvil" It is 159# looks to be in good shape Any info or advice on its quality / durability of this make, etc? Maybe some history? And a Wells foot operated vise? what is it worth and what are its strong points and uses? Thanks in advance Tim

Hi all! Ive finally found an anvil! My friend Wim found this anvil for me, I collected it from him at the Wheels at the Vaal today. It was great fun to see the smiths working around four forges! Wim will probably post pics later. Im very happy to own this anvil- thanks Wim! Anybody know anything about this make? Its a 90 pound with 3/4 hardy, has the name John BP. Stourbridge stamped on one side. On the other side it has letters-0 3 16

This weekend, I went with my family to a flea market and i found a 90lb anvil for $160 amazing low price. The anvil was in working conditon, I brought 100 dollars with me, and i asked my dad to pay the other 60 and i pay him back. But no. It was a real cheap one to. Ticks me off.....anyone know where you can find some anvils really cheap?

yes yes im quight aware that this would be a large project. but has any of you out there ever forged a anvil. Pictures would be great, know of any ware i could see one made? or simply just tell me im crazy for wanting to ever make one. i will be bringing this up at my next alex bealer blacksmith guild. i would love to be able to forge a 50 to 100 lb colonial anvil, short face, no cutting table or step, short horn, something like 4 by 8 face and 4 in horn maybe 10 tall. i know it would take at least 6 big guys with sledge hammers and a huge anvil to forge on, there is a hand full of younger guys that may be interested in doing this in my gild. i have a few good anvils so i…

A gentleman brought this by for me to look at Saturday: Any idea on its age or origin? Don

I just recently got bit with the desire to start smithing. I wanted to start out cheap so that I could see if it is something that I wanted to do long term. So I've been reading and trolling the internet looking for information. Today when I was out and about I happened upon an old flea market and there I found about a two foot long piece of 'I' Beam and an older push mower deck. I bought both for $10. My plan for the 'I' Beam is to turn it into a makeshift Anvil if possible. If not I'm sure I'll find some use for it down the road. Does anyone here know of any good references for using an 'I' Beam as an anvil? I've seen a ton of documentation for old rail road…

Hi all, can someone help with the ID of this anvil( sorry don't have postmans book yet). All i can make out so far is T.Hili or T.Hill and the hundredweight- 0 3 11. Sean I'll try to take better pics tomorrow.

It looks like this anvil was made to slip over another piece. It does not sit flat on the ground. I picked up this champion forge at the same auction.

i am looking to buy a hay buddenanvil and on the side it has {074} anyone know what this means is it as simple as weight i am going to look at it tonight thanks chuck