Marc1

It's not a matter of blacklisting. There is a market and there is supply and demand. This is how it works and has always worked. Intervention only adds another layer of cost, but will not smarten up the demand. That has to happen all by itself. Meantime it is happy hunting for the amazon sellers who import and sell with a 1000% to 2000% markup. I also cold work steel with a texturing mallet, and use only one anvil for such vile purpose. A cheap unhardened cast steel anvil made for the mines by Doug Slack Foundry. No ill effect after 10 years of this 'abuse'. Eventually the supply of garden decorations will drag down the price of Chinese anvils, or the Chinese may even learn to make decent anvils. They are not stupid.

Thank you for your thoughts folks. We go through this every year, and it is never easier. Bushfires have been part of our landscape for millenia, however lately they have been a sad political football. Photo opportunity for the politicians, podium for the deranged and the lunatic who want to send us back to the caves. The human cost, be it loss of life, assets and lifelong memories can no be replaced. The risk all involved are subject to, the body and soul scars, that never go away. Then you read once again that 50% and probably more are deliberately lit. A few of my family members are in the fire brigade. So far so good. We were at the riverhouse at the peak of the danger yet all we saw was smoke, thankfully. I have all the equipment to fight amber attack, but if the fire goes over the hill behind the house I know that is a battle I can not win. Our escape route is in the boat, and down the river. Family and pets all aboard. Most are not so lucky to have a safe escape route, in fact a lot of fatalities are due to no planing, or criminal negligence by the councils who in their greed allow building in completely unsuitable areas with no escape and surrounded by trees that can not be cleared thanks to the green policies. It is madness yet authorities get away with it time and time again. Only when people in authority will start facing courts and be sentenced for criminal negligence or conspiracy will this lunacy stop. What comes next, as clockwork is the letter from the insurance company stating higher costs due to "acts of God" and the inevitable premium increase.

Those descriptions and perls of wisdom, come from the chinese manufacturer and are cut and paste on the seller site. You can buy anvils in that style on Alibaba for $7 if you buy 25 units, and you can choose among a string of foundries that offer this and different deals. It is a sign of the times. A trade has gone trendy and developed in only one direction, knife making, that requires limited light forging, The question is ... can you actually forge a knife on this cheap ASO? We had such debate many times before. If I had to choose to forge small light object on a rail or other minuscule surface, or on a normal size surface that happens to be soft ... I would chose the ASO every day. $50 vs $500 would convince most beginners for good reason. Is it ideal? No. Is it the right choice? Depends from the buyer. I have seen people buy tools at the $2 dollar shops. Does not faze me one bit ... I like the rugged cast forged iron steel anvil. That must be the best

Yep. Tarp, tiedown, ropes, are permanently added to the recovery hardware. Of course if you have a tarp you are supposed to put it down ON the seat, not after to conceal the cargo

Being a new anvil I assume (guess) that the manufacturer checks the cast for craks using Magnaflux (Magnetic particles inspection or non destructive something or other.) Probably too cheap to afford a proper testing method. We used to test marine crankshaft for cracks using a strong current like the one from a large welder, wrap the DC cable around the piece and then run some fluid loaded with very small steel filings over it. Using UV light or some other green light (It was a long time ago) you could see the crack because the magnetic field created in the shaft was interrupted by the crack and the filing would stand up instead of lay flat giving away the crack. The unintended consequence of this method was that the shaft would be now magnetic. No big deal for crankshafts as far as I know. Now considering our recent conversation about magnetic fields and rebound, this could turn to your advantage if you can magnetize your hammer in a way that you hit the north pole with a north pole. Infinite rebound! Nee only kidding. Don't worry about it. With normal use, as you strike the anvil the steel molecules will suffer disorganisation at each hammer stroke and lose magnetic field. At what rate i don't know, but one way do demagnetise is hitting the object with a hammer because magnetism requires all molecules or at least the majority to be aligned. A hammer stroke will do the opposite

Absolutely, you got it. If you dial the magnetic field just right, you can hit your work and bounce the hammer all the way up and down again effortlessly, demonstrating once more the value of rebound. I believe the magnetic field is synchronised with a timer and a on-off switch like a rotating distribuitor to allow for repeat strikes at different intervals, from slow poco to crazy machinegun Mac

Yes ... electric anvils are great. They have an electro-magnet hovering over the anvil to increase rebound. You can adjust the pull with a dial drilled in the body of the anvil ...

Thor hammers made in the UK and available in OZ through Blackwoods, ebay and others, offers a variety of rawhide and copper face and even a combination of both in different weights from 0.285 kg to 2.8 kg. Hickory handles and replacement face. The hide and even copper can be replaced and there are instructions from Thor as to how to. Not flea market prices, but a tool that will last way past the time you forgot what you paid for it.

Buried? Did she die? or is it some other ritual i am unaware of

Looking again at the last of your new pictures, I think that the anvil was mounted sideways, welded against something. The feet on the same side of the mystery mark seem to indicate welding all on the one side to have it mounted against a structure or similar situation.

Well that looks much better than the first picture. It is old, has the waist weld ... it had extensive damage and part of the plate was replaced. How well is hard to say. Can you drop a hammer on the surface and tell if the plate is sound?

Great work and so cheap! How does it work to build a barn in your corner of the woods? You just do it, or do you have to go to the local mafia ... sorry council, and put plans in, and pay for permits, and environmental impact study, and arborist inspection, and frog and worms ptsd tax etc? Jenny, how do you turn locust into timber? Black magic?

From that single solitary photo, all I can venture is that, a) it had the face plate replaced, b) it must have had some sort of unusual fastening on that blown up leg, and c) perhaps it had something else welded to the side and then removed. (mostly guess) As long as the faceplate is firmly attached and it does not sound hollow when you tap on it with the hammer, that is all it counts. Use it as it is and don't try to change it. Perhaps the only exception is that busted foot. You could fit a piece of steel in the wound and weld it all shut and grind it into shape with a flap disc. Purely cosmetic and welding there will not harm the top. If when you hit the top it goes cloppety clop, meaning the plate is loose ... well ... it is possible to fix it but most likely not worth the effort. You could try some anvil repair workshop I hear you have from time to time. Will need to figure out where and when. Hope you don't need it.

Best of luck tomorrow ... by the way, how fat is the fat cottonwood?

Must wear them out. It worked! I am tired

Nice gun, but not very practical for civilian life. Get a 6.5 Swedish Mauser if you like historical guns and try your hand a long distance shooting. For resale and collector value, I wouldn't know, but it seems your gun is worth more than the PW. It certainly is more rare. Your decision I suppose. I still would offer the other Ak. May be throw in something else you have kicking around, like an old hammer and a bag of coal

Chewy is camera shy Unless he is dressed up for the occasion.

PW anvils are good, but certainly not a rarity. Probably the most common old anvil around. They are great to work on. I have a 275# and a 450#, both veterans of many hand to hand encounters. As for your barter ...from your story i can sense some eagerness from the anvil owner's side. Can you offer the 'other' gun instead of the nice one? Does not harm to try. What sort of gun is it that costs that much?

if you make scrolls or big rings, the smooth transition is very useful As for riding ... Riding backwards, seems to bring some unforeseen difficulties. PS I am surprised no one questions the utility of the shelf. That one comes up every time, from the london pattern supporters

Yep ... only a few month ago i was looking at the collection of anvils that I don't use and thought why not flog them all and buy just one Reffi around the 200 k mark., definitely model 58 Upsetting block on the same side as the shelf ... to me it gives stability when using the shelf ... but may be it is just an intellectual exercise. As for the topic at hand, northern style horn is a cone, perfectly round and applied ... or appearing to be applied to the side of the body.A very flat and vertical side of the body. The face of the anvil finishes where the cone starts, in a very definite fashion. In fact there is a small step even in the center line. Southern pattern cone is not conical. The face continues over the horn and the horn has a distinct flat area that gets narrower until it finishes half way up the cone. it's like someone took a northern pattern and milled it down to extend the face onto the cone. Yes, most have the corners of the body ground back as an extension of the horn onto the body, but ... apparently some did not bother doing that. Swedish anvils are great. I believe the Hofi anvil to be more like a swedish than a souther german, but hei. It's all academic or anecdotic and for entertainment purposes only Narrow anvil can be nice or can be a curse. Depend of what you do. I like real estate on the anvil. wide long area to mash at my heart content ... Did anyone mention rebound

it is for safety reasons, Hardy away from you hammer is safer. As for Nth vs Sth style, the smooth transition of the horn is not always as smooth as Refflinghaus makes it today. Check the website anvils 4 sale and they have a few old and alleged southern anvils with the same smooth transition yet a small corner step just like the one in the photo on the other thread. They even have an old Refflinghaus also allegedly southern, that looks like a hybrid with a london pattern.

Yes, press is good for damascus or welding, much more controlled than a hammer. dead or alive. The idea of a dead blow ... more semantics than anything else ... is to achieve a stroke that goes all in the work and were nothing bounces back due to elastic forces. A hammer that has some plasticity to it, be it lead, titanium pellets or what have you, will most likely achieve that,As for the difference between this hypothetical dead blow, and an actual hammer blow with an ordinary rounding hammer or similar ... who knows if there is any. A bit like the anvil rebound d d d. Oops, I missed and hit the anvil

May be from Monaco?

Yeeea ... but ... that one is an in between. ( probably from Cologne ) The shoulders are way too small, and the top has a wide continuation onto the horn. If you grind the two little corners off, you have a souther pattern. No not suggesting to do that ... A northern pattern has a perfectly conical horn that is placed on a flat face on the side of the body. Or so i think anyway

If rebound had any value, welding with a press should be very difficult.