Bo T

It looks like a smaller anvil. As a user it not worth much. It might have some historical value.

Currently, I've seen good anvils in good shape go for $3 - $4 per #. Good, new cast anvils (ductile iron and steel) go for about $5 per pound.

Thanks.

How does one go about sharpening a file?

I've seen a picture of one on CL in Cd'A Idaho. The mark appears to be stamped with a circle inside of a triangle.

I'm not sure how well the spring clamps will work, but the rest should work well. I'd bolt the whole apparatus down to a solid surface at the right height and give it a try. I am not sure about the hardness of the base plate, but most smiths that I've encountered use the top of the rail as the main anvil.

I paid a little over $300 for a Hay Budden that weighed a little less than 100#. That seems to the going rate around here. There weren't any added expenses except maybe a half hour of my time. The MacBell looks to be in better shape. Right now there appears to be a lack of good anvils for sale in the PNW. You might look at what new farriers anvils in the same weight range are going for.

If you are referring to the one on CL around Portland Oregon, I would not pay the price listed for it and the stand. It appears to be cast and in good shape. If I needed an anvil and it had good rebound - $450.

Could the anvil have been in a fire? Undamaged with good rebound $300 - $400 around here.

I guess 378#

I made a tool for popping off the hubcaps on my truck and a bunch of tent stakes for car camping. If I can find some #5 I am going to make some larger stakes for holding down a canopy (12 x12). Seems to be a good cost/benefit for these simple projects.

The anvil appears to have a thin top plate. I'd agree that $300 - $500 from what I have seen.

I'm thinking they just ate the sugar. Wouldn't charcoal be the most efficient at case hardening?

The nut that I am using is a brass standard compression nut for 5/16" tubing with 1/2" x 24 tpi UNS threads. The 9/16" is the wrench or socket that fits the nut. The threads are not perfect so using brass is important to keep from dinging up the threads on the shaft. Good luck.

Patrick, I tightened the 9/16" brass compression nut on as far as I was able then backed the 3/4" nut up against it and tightened the two against each other as best I could. I used my large ratchet and 3/4" socket the hold the nut with the ratchet braced against my hip when I used the impact wrench. Even so the brass gear was moving back and forth 5 or 10 degrees.

Went ahead and pulled the cone and put the regular nut and jam nut on. Didn't work, I could only put 30-40 lbs of torque on the nut before the jam nut started backing off.. Don't have power to my shop so I had to charge and lug the compressor out (to much of a voltage drop with the extension cord that I have). Held the jam nuts tight and gave it a couple of hits with the air gun and just about the time the pressure dropped to low - the nut came loose. Which made my day. Anyway. pulled the fan and fan shroud and after fighting for a while got the grease cup off. If you use jam nuts don't take them off as the next nut might be stuck as well. Anyway off to buy a lottery ticket.

I just bought a 94# Hay Budden in very good condition for $325. I was able to pick it up on the way home. 0 travel expenses. 1/2 hour of time. If there are any hammer-ins around you might figure on going. The last one I went to had a 160-180# Peter Wright with a nice stand (VG) and really good rebound for $550. This seems to be the going prices around here for vintage anvils in very good condition.

Patrick, You are stalled at exactly the same point that I am. I'll try a jam nut on the rear of the shaft. I have to remove the cone in back to get enough threads to lock the nuts. I'll let you know how it goes.

One bladesmith uses iirc a 4"x4" cutoff set in concrete. I think it is 4140 and has some length to it. He set it on end and put a different radius on each edge. I think he also set it higher than his regular anvil due to the type of work he was using it for. Heat treating a large piece of steel like this involves quite a bit of work but is certainly doable. Good Luck.

Dang it, that is too easy:( I'll give it a try tomorrow. Doesn't the fan need to be removed to service/repair the front bearings? Making sure that the rear ones are adjusted properly.

From my understanding, you should be able to work your metal, successfully across a wide range of temperatures. Put a near perfect piece of steel in the coils and note the time it takes to get it to the high forging temperature. If you run them at this time interval then hopefully, you will still get the less than perfect pieces to the lower forging temperature or above.

Yea. I've read a lot and have been paying attention to those "what not to do" suggestions. I.e. don't lock the brass gears to remove the fan nut. But, I may need to pull the gears to get to the front bearings. If I cannot get the fan nut off then I may have to clamp the worm gear shaft just behind the front bearings to get enough leverage to remove the fan nut. But that is in case my other efforts fail. I have a list of reference material that I am going to get and one includes DVDs on the Champion.

My first anvil is an 8# sledge head set in concrete. Knowing what I do now I would have skipped that step and moved directly to a good anvil. It works, but not as well as a better anvil. You can work on a flat piece of steel, but the bottom hardy is a useful tool and it needs a hardy hole. The money you spend now on a good used anvil has a good chance of being returned if you sell it (as long as you don't ruin the anvil). Just imo.

OOPs! I've already pulled the washer and cone (and dropped several bearings). I've noted how the gears bind when the worm isn't aligned. I'll clean and grease the bearings and set the worm gear in position, then retighten the rear cone. I've discovered that the compression nut for 5/16" tubing has 1/2-24 threads. Hopefully, that will work as a jam nut and allow me to loosen the fan nut. From what I have read, I am pretty sure the play and vibration is due to the front bearings/races/cones needing work.

I cleaned them up and put some penetrating oil around the cup. I used a channel lock set to the right size. I had a little problem with one cup but it came loose after a while. I'm still stymied by the fan nut. I tried some epoxy on the rear threads to try and hold the rear nut but it wouldn't hold. I'm gonna order a 1/2 x 24 tpi nut for the next try. A pipe wrench should work fine. Let me know how it works out.