Marc1

Off topic ... i would like to try those noise suppressing ear plugs that allow to hear speech. Not cheap though.

No one mentioned peat. Do you get peat in the states?

Yes, the ring of the anvil is attractive and nostalgic for something like the first 2 minutes. All my anvils are dead silent, courtesy of large bolts and clamps to heavy steel tripods. i very much subscribe to the Austrian economic school of thought. Is it that obvious?

i am sure you can clear the hardy hole easy. To me it seems someone prefered to have a flat surface rather than having the hole 'in the way' and so filled it in. Just make sure the edge of the plug is not welded to the face or you could damage it by trying to hammer it out. i would first tap the plug down to make sure it is only jammed in and not welded. What is the weight of the anvil? The stand will not win any beauty contest but seems solid.

PW are very good workhorse. Don't abuse it and it will last 3 more generations. I have two, one is 250# and the other 450#, and there is nothing I can not make on those anvils. The 450 is like a king size bed ... had a previous hard life and the horn and table have a substantial depression, most likely from cold work on it. It does not bother me one bit though The 250 is in much better nick, from being in a garage, hidden under a tarp for 40 years. PW are like an old F100 V8 flat head. Not fancy but will run forever. If you want to buy top range, buy a Refflinghaus. If you want a workhorse that will not break the bank, you can do much worse than a PW PS ... sorry forgot your question ... are they valuable? Probably the wrong question. Define valuable. The value of a good is the rate at which it exchanges for other goods. This rate is usually expressed in money terms as a price. The above is he dictionary definition of how price is formed in a free market. Distance and the lack of free flow of information makes the market less than free and transparent, and that gives lots of variations in price according to location. So a PW can be more 'valuable' in one place than another. Having said that, the term valuable in my view refers more to a subjective appreciation than a cold price assessment. Anvils tend to generate a lot of emotional baggage for some reason, and that tend to distort their real or percieved monetary value. A friend of mine has a PW who belonged to his father who repaired vintage car bumper bars on it cold. The anvil was a large one but was virtually useless with a massive deformation in the face that went 2" deep and 10 inch long. Yet he told me it was priceless and he will never sell it.

One voice of reason. I always shudder at the videos posted from time to time showing appalling working conditions, patronisingly presented as ideal technology to preserve " .... " fill in with fad of the day. Survival technology is always interesting however. Something like "How would you do it if you are stranded on a deserted island situation". A hobby of sort I suppose. Blacksmithing however, is about reproducing what is in your head, by squashing it between your hammer and your anvil. Making fuel is not blacksmithing ... in my personal view.

Rotary DC welders were once the bees knees for professional welders. I saw once and ad for a Lincoln "bullet" 250 amp 415v 3 phase welder and had to buy it. After a very expensive overhaul at the welders repair workshop, i have it in the shop more collecting dust than burning rods. The generator is powered by an electric motor and the machine is very loud. A bit like a high pressure pump. The welds however are fantastic. Here is a photo of one, identical to mine.

There are a lot of opinions and explanations about the late anvil price hike, and the associated marketing gimmicks and fraud attempts by unscrupulous sellers, it is a recurrent topic here and elsewhere. i stumbled upon this little video on anvil prices, and found it could be educational for that one looking for his first anvil. Hope it is ok https://youtu.be/YFv5fOR3xs8

I don't know about making any form of usable charcoal, but we did heat up the workshop with compressed sawdust in a drum, with a hole in the center. It would burn for days. The same can be done with leafs if you compact them in a drum around a pole, then pull the pole out. Not very safe though.

Good going Jen, I know too well how hard it is to build when you have no or little help. Slow and steady does it. I have built, extended, modified and refurbished a bag full of buildings mostly on my own, always very slowly but always with great personal satisfaccion. I am fortunate to be built like a tank, but the years do pile up That shed is more of an anti seismic bunker that you are building. Good grief, it will take 2m of snow on it without a hitch. you will finish before you know it and then you will look back and think ... did I really build that? I know I think back like that and wonder

So not Robert but Paul then?

I would say Lincoln or Hobart inverter welder are the way to go, but there are heaps of reviews on other brands too. Search for reviews like "welding champs" or similar pages. As for the voltage difference, to put it in simple terms, the higher the volts, the more power you can deliver. There is no practical difference between 110v and 120v, only a nominal difference. There is however a big difference between 110v and 220v as you probably know. Many of the Lincoln welders sold here, are multi input, meaning they take from 110v to 240v and also 50 or 60 hz. Check what is available in your area. What defines the welder is the Amp output. For small projects 180amp should be plenty. One big difference you must keep in mind is the machine itself. Old buzz boxes are transformers you can have for $50 but they are not the easiest way to weld if you are not experienced. Modern machines have a bag of electronics, they are called inverters and achieve a much more steady output and make welding much easier. Many will also allow for stick, mig and tig welding from the same inverter. Inverters used to be unreliable and the board would go up in smoke at the drop of a hat. Today reputable brands work much better and are more reliable. Let us know what you find. Best of luck

After the letter F and P there is a dot at the right level, however after the first letter the dot seems to be a bit lower and shallower. Strange since that is not lettering that was punched in individually. Probably a close up would help.

i must say that my eyesight is fine, my computer screen is a good size, and the letters read RFP. The R leg is perfectly formed and has the kink in the right place. Not a small nick at all. The "F" does have a vertical cut that seems to make it into an H, but the top horizontal line of the F gives it away. The R however is clearly an R with the side leg proportionate with the rest of the letter and the kink in the right place. In my opinion anyway. May be it was made by Paul's little brother Robert

You were lucky this time TIm. The symbols are very common, check this link out. https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ACYBGNTCelvz-240qgXk_Y5aIqLG6nmWzg:1574228441575&q=alfa+omega&tbm=isch&chips=q:alfa+omega,g_1:symbol:M5sz41z7lUI%3D&usg=AI4_-kTqwt77HZknyhhvDicg4T1wEn4JMQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjVurj4ifjlAhUJfysKHcOoDlQQgIoDKAB6BAgKEAQ&biw=1366&bih=566 I doubt you would be able to make any legal claim.

Whatever happened to that cast steel anvil made by one of the members here? It surely looked the part!

On the topic of dogs and the shop ... I use noise reduction and goggles most of the time, and face mask with the grinder, and welding helmet for obvious reasons. i make sure the dog is not in the shop because I can not protect his hearing or vision, nor can I put a cape on him to stop hot scale falling on him. I rather he looks from the distance and he is happy when i finish work or perhaps do something harmless like painting drilling or hand riveting. Don't see any other way to protect my dog from harm.

I remember posting a personal reflection on one of the blacksmithing groups in facebook on the topic of old vs new anvils some 10 years ago. My point was that old does not mean better. And that anvils do not improve with time, they rather deteriorate as we work on them. Manufacturers of new anvils on the other hand, are improving their product all the time, (generally speaking of course) and today you can buy new anvils that can beat in quality many of the older anvils. The string of abuse and vitriol that I generated with my comment was amazing. From the owner of the group to many of the members, they all took turns to ridicule my comments with "examples" and photos of their most prized 'old' anvils. Clearly it is a touchy subject but based on myths and legends rather than reality. Quality is the only factor to take into account, not age. Give me a german or french anvil over most if not all english anvils, and give me a new Reffy over an older one anytime. And yes, surely there are many examples of old that are better than new. But the reason is not their age but their original quality. An easy life helps too.

Lovely knife ... I can see myself cutting very thin a few slices of Capocollo to put on my sourdough toast . What size is the blade ... and ... do you sell it?

I conjecture that it is old ...

Left handed ... well spotted J.

Ha ha ... also noticed that your southern german anvil has the two little corners at the start of the round horn.

Awesome anvil ... piti you now voided the warranty with the ball bearing test ...

I sure remember as a kid to frown upon made in Japan, just like we do today at made in China. There are different levels of quality in China allegedly 3, but "China" is not a monolithic entity. There are millions of factories big and small and they all have different goals and strategies.

... coyotes have to eat too. I agree ... For me it would be dingoes ... They tear sheeps apart regularly just across the river here.