Pulsepushthepopulace

face = 13.75" x 4.25" height= 11"

Tomorrow, I'm taking a look at this anvil... Owner purchased it in a garage sale as a barn ornament. I'm definitely interested in it, as its condition seems to be excellent... Are there any discernable characteristics that could identify it? Some of you gents are also able to work the weight through dimensions... just wondering how heavy it might be, and if anybody could guess whom manufactured it... wrought with forged steel plate is a given....

Toni Soprano used piano wire.. I imagine its a thicker version of guitar string... high carbon as well...

I hope you weren't charged money for said parts that never came...??? I would lump that into the category of stealing...

lol, my car salesmen dissertation... yes... there is a lot of games you learn selling cars for a couple of months... Some things were logical approaches to making the deal... Others were strategies on how to remain in control, while acting out the complete opposite...

I would say that it's good practice to see what the seller wants for it. Then, as you look it over, in person, do a rebound test, inspect for cracks, all the while keeping in the back of your mind what you want to pay, and what youd be willing to pay.... It sounds crappy, but there are certain things that automatically detract from it's value, especially broken backs, horns, heels... Yes, it might add character, but those are all crucial areas to the overall forging operation... Present the offer (price you want to pay... "would you take $$$ amount?"... Complement the product "it's beautiful, but" then explain your reasoning for that number... I've found that when I buy bikes, everybody's got a one of a kind custom yadda yadda, and there's not a single one like it... Sorry charlie, I realize that you're proud of the money YOU spent, but I don't pay other people to decorate my house, and I'm definitely not inheriting the bill for your 5 thousand dolar paint job and chrome bits... Anvils are different, but the same in many ways... I'm not going to pay antique prices for something that has substantial signs of wear, if it were flawless and never seen a heat, then maybe... From there, if the seller is not comfortable with that price, ease into that realm of what you're willing to pay... Don't surpass it. Make it a promise to yourself that you don't cross that point of too much... The all encompassing tactic here is for you both to walk away from the deal feeling good about it... Don't be afraid to walk away... I usually put what I'm "want to pay" in my right front pocket, and the suplemental "willing to pay" divided in half; one half in your front pocket the other half in your wallet... nothing else on hand.... if you start meandering towards the "willing to pay", excuse yourself and take a second to recount your money... There is a strange psychological satisfaction that a seller gets out of this... It presents a feeling of closure because tangible cash is there... It's a subliminal signal, when you reach into your second pocket that he's on the winning end of the barter gamel... come back and mention that this is all you got, hinting at how he plays hardball... Usually this wraps it up... now you're at the halfway point of wanting and willing... which aint bad... If he wants more; tell him you have to go scour the glove box or make a few calls... If you're unsure about it? tell him you'll be back in 15... take a drive... think about it, ask yourself if you're satisfied... come back and make your final offer, or simply wish him the best, shake his/her hand and leave... This is crucial, sometimes they'll stop you and say they'll take what you got (left and right front pocket...)

Just last week this topic was presented... Current thread with the exact same question... http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/31053-any-details-on-how-the-plate-was-welded-to-fisher-norris-anvils/

I will say that it's definite sign that the state of the economy isn't as horrible as we're led to believe by the media. I also believe that there is a lot of validity in your thought process. People are starting to see the value of anvils, and saturating the market... Societies tunnelvision adheres to the value of the dollar as opposed to some lifeless lump of wrought iron and steel that's been in the barn unused for 30+ years... I've been using the TPAAAT in this semester's classroom introductions, where while introducing myself to class state that I'm in pursuit of an anvil... My second class introduction today, and someone piped up with a "Aren't anvils worth like... 500 dollars???", and then another piggybacked on that, then another... So, even within the nether-regions of USF, people see the value of anvils... If the market becomes saturated, prices will fall due to demand (not a very big population of us even when accounting for collectors).... common people aren't going to sit on these things for another 30 years, they will just succumb to being johnny-come-lately's and get what $$ they can out of their anvils... WE WIN!!!

Just to make the CL listings easier to skim over, I use http://www.statewidelist.com/index.cfm to do a quick search of the state, everyday, if not twice a day.

What exactly is your budget? It takes time... took me 8 months to find my 110 Fisher, and it's well worth the weight... Just a promising, notion, check ebays completed listings nearest your area... That's proof that they are there... You'll find that just talking about smithing with co-workers will bring you leads... Just this week, anvils came up in conversation with a co-worker of mine, apparently his father that recently passed, used to make historically accurate replicas... His smithy has 5 anvils, with apparently 2 of them being larger 250+ anvils. He said if he can get up there in the next few months, that he'll lug them back here to FL, and just let me have them... Fingers CrossedXX.

Excited man, link us to the thread with the pics!!!

Link removed at the request of Anvilfire A very helpful bit of information from Anvilfire on DIY Anvils....

You could always use a forklift fork drop... 4140, and homogeneously weld it to the top... Then again, you'd make one heck of a shelf... furthermore get a chance to re-work your horn to the size/shape you wanted...

I would not cut into the form, it's pointless work. I would take a plate, thickness depending on how deep you want the church window cut it to shape, and then weld it to the 4" thick plate, radius the edges along with the weld deposit, and it will look as if it were one homogenous piece...

If the Fisher had a rebirth, even if it were a modernized cast steel form, I would be first in line at your front door... I know I haven't been around long in the smithing world, but there's just something about my Fisher that warms my soul, I've already promised myself that I would never get rid of it. So proud to own one, and am amazed by the rebound qualities it produces... Magic... I'm budgeting my way into dropping some money on a bigger anvil here shortly, I wouldn't think twice if a Fisher made itself available... not even a flinch.

I think in the long run could be promising considering todays technological advancements with robotics, and sensory equipment... The issue that chews in the back of my mind is, there's just too much R&D involved. You and I might see mediocre as something to improve upon, but an Chinese investor/manufacturer might see it as "mediocre= good enough lets ship 100,000 to the states"... In all honesty, if they made something a smidgen better than the grey-iron junk contracted out to harbor freight, they would own the majority of the market in no-time. As most people don't really utilize the anvil as we do, and really don't care about the "smithing quality" it lacks. The key here is oversight. That someone at the top, whom serves as a liaison of comfort to the American smiths, making sure standards are enforced and that a "quality final product" is held at the highest priority. Individuals like Steve McGrew (Incandescent Ironworks) probably busted chops on the daily, making sure his product met the standard... I bet he worked his tail off establishing that relationship, and worked harder trying to maintain it. Steel is just a better medium, less of a chore to get right, and even if they have issues with heat treatment, it's still a lump of something you can work hot stuff on, as exemplified by that Harbor Freight russian steel duckbill platypus... I'm down to be a beta tester regardless... I'm a calls em like I see's em type of reviewer, and I would fork up some $$$ at first dibs... ;)

Now...Now... Let's not derail this thread with political notions; China is a flourishing economy, due to our own societal failures... Anvils.....

I still say it's Magic... I believe this... I imagine a Metallurgical Engineer could reverse engineer the process through sampling the structural integrity of an existing fisher.

Now I read it... You have my full attention... Looking forward to the review... I'm personally not on the name kick...Just the counterfeit kick... I'll just say that if it mimics the Fisher pattern or they put a hawk instead of an eagle *lol, I'd be a terp'd... If they can mimic the processin a german pattern, and they make it in sizes; Big, Huge, and Monstrosity- aka "Dhonghee Kong"... Then I look forward to it...

I'll second the notion that there are a great number of fantastic products outsourced to china; Carrilo Rods and Pistons, Wiseco pistons, a great lot of Harley Davidson internals (not that great imhO), Garret Turbochargers, and countless more products revered for quality. That being said; If steel is so abundant, why mess with the painstaking process of mimicking the Fisher Recipe? Sounds like a bag of worms to me... A QC'd cast steel anvil, properly done, would get a lot more attention, and bring a better asking price... You would save money in the long run, and you could reap the rewards of being the guy who made it happen... Just my logic stirring.

The Chinese pride themselves on counterfeiting, considering their manufacturing standards are becoming increasingly better, we might be seeing some sooner rather than later. Products usually start out as marginally poor, and then get increasingly better as they trouble shoot the issues. I'd recommend anyone trying to recreate the Fisher, namely China -> *** Don't*** .... You'll go for broke trying to counterfeit the Fisher, and I, along with a great many other Fisher owners, would personally go to great lengths to boycott it's sale in the U.S. with rude reviews "IF" you made one... I'm not anti-China, just take great pride in the history of my country, and the Fisher I've been beating on for the past couple of weeks... Your investment would see better return if you were to do a cast steel or forged steel anvil. With quality control and oversight, you could produce a great anvil, and own a slice of the new anvil market in the U.S... The Rhino is a great example of a successfully manufactured anvil that for it's first few years came from China.

Foster... Steel plate forged onto wrought Iron body...

Shader to be specific... picture 5 to 12 needles breaking the skin @ once... color or black... I have a phoenix on my left side, and in order for the artist to make the tail feathers "realistic", he took a big shader needle and ran it outward of the feather vain to make the fletching... The feathers themselves were 3 hours of pure bliss...

Sorry for the thread jacking, honestly had zero intent... You could always run a couple beads of weld around the seat... Just enough to tang it out, like a blade... The hardy tool itself looks professional, as opposed to something jerry rigged like mine... Also thank you for the information regarding the curved hot cutter for flat-stock, first time I'd ever heard that ingenious bit of information...

Cheaters buy hardies... :D Had I had a helper to hold the piece in place, or confidence in forge welding, I'd have done it the correct way... I'm just not their yet, but soon... I read on here that it's good practice to try forge welding every time you fire up the forge. I have a great gaggle of attempts hanging out in my scrap bucket.. lol I brought it up to non-magnetic heat and quenched it as well, and my files dance over it, so it should be efficient and long lasting... The guillotine type tool wouldn't be too difficult either... Some heavy channel, springs, and another matching piece, and whalla!!! I'd like to take Thank you for the positive complements, I'm flying by the seat of my pants until I can get some real instruction from Mr. Cole in Nokomis... Figure the more tools I have available, the better... a majority of the members here have loads of hammers, tooling, swages, and more laying around in their shop pictures... I've developed tool envy, what can I say? lol