Anthony San Miguel

Thanks for answering this question for me. It will probably sit there until that one time when it's the only thing that will work. Glad I got it.

Oh, I see what you mean. Thanks for the reply. I bet I can still find some sort of use for that smaller "face". So then what is his brother used for?

I know this isn't really a hammer, but a struck tool of some sort. Does anybody know what it's used for? Some sort of flatter?

​Does anybody know what this hammer is used for? Some sort of peening, maybe? I saw it at the flea market and it was cheap so I had to get it.

Does anybody know what this hammer is used for? I find myself becoming fascinated by hammers now and I picked these up cheap at the flea market. It looks like a miniature of some I've seen at tire shops, but looked useful to me.

Yordo, I have only been pounding on hot steel for about 7 months but I have managed to acquire a whole bunch of good things to use as an anvil including RR track, RR coupler knuckles, some sort of RR connector beam, and a few other things but the one that moved hot steel the fastest was this crusher hammer head that weighs around 65-70 lbs. It is some sort of stainless and has a nice flat area with significant mass underneath it and a nice round area for drawing out and you can flip it over for another useful shape or use the hole for drifting or whatever else. I got it at the scrapyard and I've since seen a few heavier ones. Great starter anvil!

Hello Eyesenish. I can read M&H Armitage Mouse Hole Forge and the weight of 1 0 13. I paid $400 for it. A little more than the $3 a lb I wanted to pay for it but it is rare to find a decent anvil around here for less than $4 a lb. A 120lb American Ross anvil sold on Craigslist the day before yesterday for $500 after just a day and a half.

Hello Arkie. Thanks! I have heard of Mr Postman's book about the history of the Mousehole Forge and I was fascinated by the story of a forge that produced anvils for centuries, even before I got this anvil. Now that I have it, I am going to look for the book! Really curious about the asterisk stamp!

Hello Stan. Yes, I will probably regret not getting it for the rest of my life. The guy I bought my Hay Budden from had a 125lb Mouse Hole Forge anvil and I had to go buy it as a consolation prize because I was so heart broken!

This one was at an auction house here in San Antonio this past Saturday and I went to try and win it. It weighed at least 250lbs, maybe 300. I wanted it really bad but $500 was my limit. Some lucky guy got it for $600 and I'm watching eBay where he will probably put it up for $1200. It was a JEB Austrian anvil that came in a lot from the Czech Republic.

Hello everybody. I picked up this 125lb Mouse Hole Forge anvil yesterday and I'm really excited! It has great rebound, even a little more than my 82lb Hay Budden, which also has good rebound. I have a question that I hope somebody may be able to answer. There is an asterisk looking symbol stamped between the front feet and I'm curious to find out if anybody knows what that symbol represents. Is it standard on all Mouse Hole anvils? The last pic is of my Hay Budden. Thanks for your help!

My lovely 82 lb Hay Budden, and my first "anvil", and several in between. The 65 lb crusher hammer head moves a surprising amount of steel. Keep that in mind if you're in search of an anvil at the scrapyard.

Wow! Thanks! I will try to make it to at least one meet. What are the times of the meets and where can I get more info/directions?

Thank you, 781!

Hello everybody. Just wanted to introduce myself and say thank you for sharing your hard earned knowledge and wisdom here. My name is Anthony and I've been a lurker for about 7 months. I caught the blacksmithing bug after I bought a multi-part program on knife making by stock removal that included a tutorial on forging a RR spike knife and plans for making a firebrick. I am early in my journey but LOVING every minute of it and like everything I decide I like, I've jumped all in. Here are a few pics of my shop. I used to build custom speaker boxes for vehicles in it and that is what all the trophies are from.