root

No I know why I don't mind bad luck so much...... Rich

I was going to pay 500 for a 216 Trenton that was a 2 1/2 hour ride one way when I found my Hay Budden 115 locally. Ya I would have liked a bigger anvil but for the price and distance how could I pass it up? Hay B. 15 minutes up the road or a trip to inner city NJ 2 1/2 hours without traffic. Made the wife happy too that I spent less and traveled less. It looks to be in decent shape for a chunk of metal that gets hit with a hammer. How bad do you need/want it? and are you willing to spend the time and money to get it? Will you get your 500 back? I don't mean in money ( that helps) but in satisfaction. In other words, will you buy it and be happy with the purchase. As others have said, If you go offer less, gas ain't free and neither is time (unless you ask my wife) Rich

WOW East coast pickers I paid 150 for my 115 Hay Bud last Wed. in a private deal. Then he told me to go out to the barn and pick a leg vise for 50 bux if I wanted it. So I did. I am going to purchase a small fisher 50 lbs I think for around 2 bux a pound from StuarttheSmith just to have a "real" small anvil. Woulda took the fisher home today but I bought a cannon yesterday. Not a signal maker either. So funds are tight. Nice thing about Pa and the east coast in general. It's old roots in US history. Lots of good stuff laying around. East coast pickers. That anvil with the "SOLD" tag. Are you the one selling them on craigslist? I sent a e-mail and got no response on a anvil. With the same pictures and a mess of anvils for sale. So I kept looking and found a 216 lbs Trenton for 500.00 then the Hay Budden I bought for 150.00 I had every plan on going to get the Trenton this weekend but found the Hay B. last Sunday and picked it up Wed. instead of the Trenton. I just relized that east coast brought a 4 YO thread back to life.....! OOoooppps Rich

Don't worry about the coffee I had stopped and gotten some. Was all my pleasure just being there. I just wish the action shots of you smak'n that knife would have cane out. Rich

Met with StuarttheSmith to see about doing some trading and tool buying. And took this picture while I was there today. Meet the 700Lbs anvil..... I'll be buying a few things next weekend from him and doing a construction job for a really nice forge. Also I learned quit a bit about anvil safety Matter of fact I learned more about blacksmithing in the 45 minutes of hands on with him then I can or could learn out of a book or the internet. Got to watch him in that 45 minutes go from cold forge and stick of 1080 ts, to a Bowie knife forged out. in just 4 heats. All while giving me pointers and tips on how to do it in a way that will produce a knife to be proud of. I look forward to seeing him again next week and picking up the tools and as we discussed, & having a estimate on materials needed to complete the office job this spring when he wants it done. I'm going to discuss the Fisher anvil you showed me with the wife, but I have to see where I am with the money then. I will be getting the other things we talked over though. All in all we were well met and it was a JOY to see a real pro craftsman work his trade like it was second nature. Rich

Yes if you want something to cool slowly dry sand will do it. it will keep whatever metal softer also. works the opposite of quenching. Rich

1946 Atlas, 9 inch throw 46 inch bed. I don't have every cutter/tool for it but I do use every tool I have for it. two steady rests, tail stock, 3 and 4 jaw chucks. all the gears, original owners manual. ( don't laugh it's got some great stuff in there.) and to much to list. After some use. What it came with when I brought it home. Rich

WD&mmlteach thanks looked at the site and printed the application form. Frosty ya been playing with metal in liquid form and red form for about 20 years as a hobby. Hence the need to finally make the move to a real anvil. Hoping I can work out a deal with StuarttheSmith on the forge he presented a pic of in the other thread. would be like to have a pro forge instead of the homemade one's I've made/used over the years. would also give the shop a more classy look. We just have to work out details and such. if nothing else I get to meet a really cool guy and maybe talk him into selling some hardy tools so I don't have to make them. LOL. Rich

Old Iron. Once you figure out what one you want to keep and you want to start putting together a great tool set that you have made. Check out the books " build your own metal shop from scrap" series. BY: David J. Gingery. They can be bought off the web for anywhere from 1.99 & up. if you start with book one it will walk you through everything and you will have a full shop when done. I only have book one " the charcoal foundry" as I either have the other tools already or access to them or such. I only mention this for a few reasons. one you said in your 1st post you are a beginner ( we all were once) two. your short on tools. ( you kinda hinted to that) three. A anvil is about making more tools and such. These books are for people who want to make things and are geared towards cheap do it yourself plans. And for beginners and Pro's alike. These books will allow you to make items that you either cannot afford to purchase or just want to make. Rich

PM sent Stuart. Look at that old iron ya already got interest in the PW. Rich

I'd Keep both if you didn't have to much into the pair. But I buy tools to use not sell. Then again, if you can make a decent profit and keep the better of the two to get going with more items you need. If you won't regret selling one, by all means sell and expand. See my ghetto forge in my 1st post about my 1st "real" anvil. if you can get going like that and make some money that to might let you keep both. the stainless BBQ was left by a tenant the shop vac I already had all I buy is charcoal. and now I'm going to be building a "real" forge to match my anvil. But I already have torches, mig, ghetto forge and whole pile of other tools over the years to get me started on a "real" forge. Most importantly buy good tools, they last longer. The trick with tools is only buy what you need/use and don't buy all at once. took me 35 years to finally buy a saws all since I never needed one until one day. And it was a must for the job, so I bought it. Now I use it all the time. Rich

I'd Keep both if you didn't have to much into the pair. But I buy tools to use not sell. Then again, if you can make a decent profit and keep the better of the two to get going with more items you need. If you won't regret selling one, by all means sell and expand. See my ghetto forge in my 1st post about my 1st "real" anvil. if you can get going like that and make some money that to might let you keep both. the stainless BBQ was left by a tenant the shop vac I already had all I buy is charcoal. and now I'm going to be building a "real" forge to match my anvil. But I already have torches, mig, ghetto forge and whole pile of other tools over the years to get me started on a "real" forge. Most importantly buy good tools, they last longer. The trick with tools is only buy what you need/use and don't buy all at once. took me 35 years to finally buy a saws all since I never needed one until one day. And it was a must for the job, so I bought it. Now I use it all the time. Rich

I know I've been by your place many times Stuart. I think accept for the way we earn a living we are a lot alike. the way you said in your video " it can always be better" I drive my wife nuts with saying that. She'll say that came out great or something like that. and I say it could be better. Like I said Ill have to get up there when it warms up there are tools I need and either have to make or buy for this anvil. Other then one pair of tongs and other minor things I don't have much. I even have a ghetto furnace powered with a shop vac. Here are some pix. 1st is 300 lbs wheel weights refined down to ingots that totaled 200 usable Lbs of usable for reloading. next pic is copper pipe mixed in with the zinc from the WW to make Brass. Finished products Brass I have more pix of tin soldiers I cast up that week also as I have a few of those molds, but I sure don't want to photo bomb the site. There is a lot of work to do with the brass yet, as you can see from the ingot I wasn't able to degas it right. I'm working on that. that and all that pipe and zinc yeilded on ingot. As you can see I am far from full time. My plan this spring is to get something better setup now that I have a "real" anvil. something more permanent in the way of a forge. Something with a roof and such. A building dedicated to Fire and TROS ( the riddle of steel) the other shops in the back yard are already full of other tools. I'll be looking you up real soon to meet if you do not mind Stuart. Rich

Stuartthesmith my wife is a Montrose meteor She was raised these. I lived in Susquehanna Pa until 2010 Well familiar with the area. I work in Tunkhannock at Tyler And go to Franklin hill Rd. across from Heplers to target shoot. SoI guess we are both chew'n the same dirt! I'll have to bounce up there and see what ya have for sale when the weather is warming if you have hrs. or such. Rich PS: thanks all for the welcome.

OK you asked for pix of the post vise so here ya go..... Ya know I brought the anvil right into the house when I got it home. then drug it back out for pix then back in. Wife says to me. I know how excited you are with your new tools, but you don't need to carry it around with you everywhere you go! Made me laugh. And yes, I already gave the smallest RR anvil to my 5 year old son. Rich

Hello all my 1st post here. I just brought home my 1st "real" anvil a 115 lbs HAY BUDDEN. included are some pix It came with a monster post vise also. total cost was 200.00 USD. Now I can quit using the two RR anvils and the ASO from HF. I finally scored a real one. Both the anvil and post vise are in excellent condition. with only slight wear shown in the pix on the anvil. Now for the introduction. A little about my self. I do some casting, own a 1946 atlas metal lathe 9 inch throw 46 inch bed complete, to much tooling to list. pro cutting rig. cheapo mig ( looking for a nice arc this summer) I like to make and fix things. I work in the medical field in hemodialysis. Got a great background in tools and safety, as a child as my parents owned a construction company. I'm from Seattle but currently live in Scranton Pa. 43 YO with 4 kids and a better then great wife. Have done some why lee coyote ( no pun intended) smithing over the years both metal and gun work. Looking forward to using the new anvil. I know I got a great deal on this Hay Budden and post vise just figured I'd share and show some pix of it. I found the anvil 5 days after I started looking. Now if the weather would just warm up I can smack some metal. Rich