VaughnT

$50!!!!! That's a definite steal. The anvil looks very good in the pick, though it's missing the tip of the horn. Considering the "discount" you got, I wouldn't bother complaining to the seller, though...... Clean it up and post more photos so we can all drool.

Mighty fine anvil, hoss, and just the perfect weight for general smithing. Enjoy many years with it!

On the stump, my anvil's face comes up to somewhere about halfway into the back of my hand, around 36" overall. The old books will talk about coming up to the knuckle, but I like a higher face so there's no chance of my bending over while working. Easier on the back!

That is some seriously nice work! Whoever did the welds certainly knows their business. I wouldn't worry too much about heat-treat until you see how it takes the hammering. It will be a long, long time before you see any swayback develop. On the tine anvil, it will work better if you stand it on end and use the short face to pound on. Having mass directly under the hammer is what makes the difference.

Multiple-position capable wire cutter.

Ask the seller for better pics so you can make a better judgement on the quality. It sounds pricey to me as I can buy them all day long around here for less. Not much less, but still less. If leg vises are scarce in your parts, it might be worth it. Looks like everything is there, so the only real worry is the screw quality.

Flip it over so you can examine the screw for wear. If it looks good, and you like the overall size, it's with $50. You can't buy a new vise for that cheap and get the kind of quality that you can in an old American-made vise!

You could definitely make them into axes and hatchets. You need to draw out and thin down the part that wraps around to form the eye, but that's relatively easy. Weld that leg to what becomes the cheek of the axe for an asymmetrical weld, then form the rest of the stock into the axe. When you get close to final shape, chisel in a groove for the steel bit and weld her up. I definitely like the idea of using them for bolster plates and other odds and ends around the shop. Were I you, I'd grab as many as possible and save them. If you're work is constantly producing them, you'd have a great trade item.... but if not, you have a great resource for a lot of projects.

Looks like a heavy-duty piece, for sure, but I don't know that it's an anvil. Maybe it's upside down? Do the square holes in the top go all the way through? Never seen anything like it before. Reminds me of a bridge anvil like you sometimes see, but there's no bridge to it. Definitely going to weigh a good bit!!!

I definitely recommend a tripod stand because you never know when you'll want to move the anvil. If you have a large piece of tubular stock, you can use it as a "box" stand and backfill it. If you do use tube stock, even if it's for the legs of a tripod, be sure to fill those tubes with an oil-sand mix to dampen the sound and prevent rusting from the inside out. Definitely worth your time.

Very nice! Are you going to heat the plate up and drift the hole, or file/chisel it square? I would opt for the filework over heating simply because it's generally easier. Either way, you've got a great striking anvil! Definitely looking forward to seeing it turn out!

If you have a chance at a Fisher anvil in Florida, jump on it. They are the best anvils on the market, and not too easy to come across in some regions. Best money I ever spent!

Why isn't your gasser getting hot enough for forge welding? All the pro's that use propane have forges that can forge weld, including making damascus....... so what are you doing different? Too large a chamber? No ITC100? Not enough burners? Too much air in the mix? You might need to change things up a bit, but there's certainly no reason to switch to charcoal or coal.

http://s70.photobucket.com/user/VaughnT/media/Smithing/MVI_0344.mp4.html?sort=3&o=5 Here's a short video I did showing how magnets can cut down the ring of an anvil. After I shot this clip, I set the anvil in a bed of silicone caulk and it got even more quiet. If your anvil is ringing like a church bell, I certainly recommend bedding it in a bit of caulk! Shuts her up like nobody's business!!

Very good work! Looks clean and even - definitely top shelf work.

That is a fantastic offer and just goes to show how good the blacksmithing community is. Were I closer, I'd certainly load up the truck with some beer!

I have that exact same set up in my shop. 120# anvil on a narrow stump. Very wobbly, but I rarely use it and didn't really give it a second thought. My 11yo nephew came for a visit last week and bumped into the anvil while we were working on another project. He weighs less than the anvil, but that didn't stop him from being able to knock it over. Thank the lord that the anvil went the other way because there's no chance either one of us could have caught it. I was too far away and he's too small. He was a bit upset because he thought he'd be in trouble for breaking the anvil loose from the stand! To be honest, when I first built the stump and put the anvil on it, I saw how unstable and bouncy it was. It's easy to say things along the line of "we're grownups." or "we're professionals" or "decades of combined experience." But I can say the same thing. Been working with my hands since I was a kid, and I've got the scars to prove it. There are necessary dangers all throughout are lives. An anvil on a narrow base isn't a necessary danger. It is no different than if the smith is using tongs that don't fit the stock, causing the hot metal to fly through the air. Just trying to catch that anvil when it tipped over would be enough to pull a back muscle and ruin the week. Or, it could have been tipped over and run into the calf of someone standing nearby and not paying attention to it. Lots of not-good things are possible and I'm just as guilty as anyone in that video. Anyhow, saw the video and thought I'd share my experience. Now I'm going back out to the shop and hunt down any more unnecessary dangers!

My very first anvil was a birthday present from Pops. Neither of us new what made a good anvil, but he knew enough to look for size, face quality, etc. Never could find markings on it, but looked like a Wright and weighed over 150. I was thoroughly pleased and hated to get rid of it. My second anvil was a 120lb Wilkinson that a friend inherited from his father. Was in the family for generations and he let me have it for a song. I promised to make him a knife in partial trade, but I haven't gotten around to that, yet. My bladesmithing skills are sadly lacking! Third anvil was a 300lb Fisher I got off ebay. Even with shipping costs, I was able to get it from Massachusetts to SC for less than $3/lb. That's a very good price for a large anvil, and you absolutely never see Fisher anvils around these parts. Almost new condition and plenty big.... that's a definite win! Fourth anvil is a Soderfors 66lb cast steel job. Small and light, maybe too light for some uses. But, I got it locally simply by asking folks I ran across. Doesn't hurt that I got it for a very sweet price, too, and can pass it on to a new smith without feeling too bad about it.

I'll not lambast the fellow. The repair gives him a hole for hardies, and there's no rule saying that the shaft of a bottom tool has to be solid, or square. He could weld on a shank of 1/8" stock that's as wide as the hole is long and that would prevent the tool from jumping around. And I'm sure the anvil's ring is certainly a good deal less than it once was!

Wow! A mint condition Fisher and a slew of tools... for only $200?!?! Definitely a great deal! I'm completely jealous of your good fortune!

I don't see anything wrong with that. By leaving the air inlet stubbed up like that, you'll have less clinker clogging it - so that's a good thing. The boiler plate is very durable and should last you a few years, to say the least. The only thing I might change, and it's solely based on location and need, is the brickwork legs. Being outside of the heat zone, you can make the legs from pressure-treated lumber and it will still work. Might want to put some wheels on it so it's more movable, too. Again, though, that's entirely up to the individual needs. That table top will be a great general size. I'm a bit jealous!

I'd say that anything under 50# is "small" and really not worth my time. I might buy one if it was as-new or really cheap, but I'm not on the look out for something in that size range because you're getting into the territory of any large chunk of steel that can also be used as an anvil. Why buy a 20# london-pattern anvil when I can buy a 20# sledge hammer that will work perfectly as a post anvil? Anvils north of the 50# mark are serviceable anvils that can be used for general beginner smithing of all types, and they are, again to me, more valuable. If it goes north of 150#, the value starts diminishing because they are harder to move and would require serious shipping costs. This isn't to say that I would walk away from a 300# anvil, but that I would take all the factors into consideration. They are a bear to move around the shop, and unless I can drive to pick it up, the costs of having it shipped can really drive the price up. A 300# anvil is not measurably "better" than a 120# anvil that is very solidly mounted, so....

I wouldn't wait a minute! Definitely a Fisher anvil, and it looks like it's never been worked on. You just don't see those available much and it would be well worth a special trip over there just to get it from him. The weight mark should be on the front foot, under the horn. It might only be two numbers (15 meaning 150lb), but it's gonna be a wonderful addition to your shop!

Looks decent, though I would remind you that nothing about the forge needs to be metal other than the pot and table. The legs and support structure can very easily be made from pressure-treated lumber scraps that you find at construction sites! 30x40 is a good general table size, though I might like a few inches longer just for storage room. A lot depends on what you plan on making and where you plan on using the forge. If you have an open-air outside area, I wouldn't worry too much about a hood and chimney unless you don't have any shade. If that's the case, I'd definitely want a hood so I could see the truer color of the hot metal. The chimney is certainly nice for getting a bunch of the smoke up and away from you even if you are working outside.

A long forge like this can be quite handy for a few projects, but like the photo shows, they are quickly built and don't need to be fancy. The majority of forge work doesn't require anything that long, but it's good to have the idea in mind for those times when it would be beneficial.