Yuppiejr

The 150k BTU version of this thing is a dream with smaller stock, I can fire it up cold and have a bit of 1/2" square or round glowing orange in less than 5 minutes, not much downtime between heats to get it back either once the forge itself is fully warmed up. The shape is limiting if you work with anything but straight stock or smaller pieces though. It's good on gas and doesn't take much adjustment once you get it dialed-in. For the relatively small investment I figure it will probably be in my shop for life, perfect for a portable setup or for smaller projects even if you end up with a larger more complex forge down the road. No power or complex flu/chimney required (though you still need plenty of ventilation like any propane burning device that creates CO).

My 130 lb Peter Wright has visible lines where the forge welds occurred between the face plate & body as well as the middle of the waist when it was manufactured. I was told it's totally normal with later PW anvils when they didn't spend quite as much time on fit and finish, nothing to worry about.

When it comes to anvils, function > looks. I don't think anyone here is trying to bust your chops for the sake of it, myself included, that anvil just looks like it's in good shape and the minor dents/cracks you describe are part of it's history and patina that don't impact how well it will let you move steel. If you hit it with a welder you are likely going to ruin the heat treatment of surrounding areas of the face plate which will negatively impact it's rebound and allow it to crack/break even worse. Give that anvil a good wire brushing and scrub it down with a solution of simple green and then hose it off if you want to take the surface layers of rust and dirt off, then give it a coating of oil or wax to protect it from rust and then hit some hot steel on the face. It's a good size anvil with some honest character and wear all it's own that will serve you for a lifetime of smithing as it sits.

What functional problem are you looking to fix with the anvil by welding up new edges and the face? I'm just having a problem following the logic so I'm trying to understand why you would choose this anvil over others in better condition, only to turn around and propose making cosmetic repairs that could permanently ruin the functional use of the tool. I've seen and worked on anvils in worse shape and they move metal just fine.. have you actually forged anything on it yet? That anvil's not in bad shape at all, rather than risk your whole investment and potentially ruin an anvil that another smith might be able to put to good use (you indicated they are fairly rare in AU as it is) why not just sell it and buy the Soderfors you looked at originally which was in nearly perfect condition?

Pardon my ACME / Roadrunner vs Wile E Coyote reference... I spent too many hours watching TV in my youth. Restoring an old anvil that has been legitimately broken sounds like an interesting project, would make an interesting before-after photo progression if you end up deciding to share. Good luck!

"dropped from a great height"... ACME brand by chance? Question - how is the rebound on the section of plate remaining on that anvil? If it rebounds a 1" ball bearing better than 5" from a 10" drop I'd say leave it alone and use it while you seek out a better anvil to replace it with. Peter - the reason there isn't a lot of information on repairing anvils out there is because the VAST majority of individuals without some serious equipment and experience will do far more damage than good to the anvil by trying to "Fix" them. People who created the forge-welded tool steel plate topped wrought iron anvils were master craftsmen working with specialized LARGE scale equipment to both forge and heat treat the final product. They typically had a lifetime of experience mastering the trade... this isn't a "Youtube quick fix" kind of thing. You've already indicated that your current anvil had good rebound, the face appears flat and there is plenty of good edge to work with. What "problem" are you trying to solve by repairing it given the tremendous risk to it's function and value involved in doing so?

Why is someone (in this case a majority of TV watchers) having a different view than you a "problem?" Try looking at it this way... shows like this are a "gateway" drug that are going to promote an interest in blacksmithing for some viewers that goes beyond the show that got them hooked. PBS may have some great documentaries showing "the work speaking" without the drama, but the audience of people interested in watching is limited... until a new rush of aspiring blacksmiths decides to start seeking out more information on the topic and watches "real" documentaries on blacksmithing, takes a "blacksmithing 101" class and starts reading books on the topic.... someone who may never have discovered the craft learns a true respect for the craft and helps further the legacy. To me the shows are more like a silly salesman who happens to be fronting a really good product... Making a go in small business is a risky proposition, if these shows can both promote the craft of blacksmithing and help a few blacksmiths with exposure + prize money that furthers their success and lets them invest in their craft is it a bad thing for the world? I understand your concerns with the technical inaccuracies and some of the odd/implausible "problems" that come up, I cringed at the whole "this capacitor failed and the part can't be found" bit when I know that Marsh and Ness Electronics are a short drive away... but again, these shows are not intended for people who know about blacksmithing, it's for the sort of viewer that would wander into a Renaissance Fair blacksmith shop to hear the "smack-ping-smack-ping" as every other strike hits the anvil, smell the coal smoke filling the air because of a poorly drafting chimney and hear the hiss of steam as another S-hook made of mild steel lands in the slack tub. Theatrics.

Didn't mouse hole forge put dots between their hundredweight values? Third word is WARRANTED I keep thinking the last word is SOUTHAMPTON? I washed your photo through a few filters and just can't get anything more. Honestly you are going to need to clean up that side of the anvil (a wire brush & some sort of dishsoap)... and then let it dry and try to rub chalk over the area where the letters are stamped so you can photograph it from a few angles to see if anyone can make out any letters... with all those chisel marks and what look like pretty shallow stamps it's going to be really hard to nail down what's stamped there. Maybe hold a bit of thin paper to the side and do a pencil or chalk rubbing and see what that reveals?

Would the time and cost of hardfacing with the Scoody 2110/1105 at $8 a pound really be worth the outcome if the anvil turned out with a flat face but no rebound and little or no resale value once it's been welded on? What about taking that same money and investing it in a larger drop (3-4" diameter/square or larger) of 4140 to make a post anvil with a flat face? You could even weld a bit of square steel tubing to the side (cut flush with the top) for holding hardie tools, etc... plus a couple running sideways to run rods through when you are heat treating it and, longer term, secure it to the stand. Same money in, but in the end you have two usable anvils with the later option which could likely sell for more than you have in to them... or you could end up with one non usable anvil that's worth less than you paid for the anvil plus materials to hardface it.

Appreciate the positive feedback, I had a ton of help from folks here so I'm glad to hear the work may provide some inspiration for someone else looking to build a shop of their own. Some things I'd do differently next time: - The "sandbox" floor trick to level across an uneven space works great, however I'd probably opt to skip the pavers and just use compacted class 3/5 or pour concrete next time. - Digging post holes in the middle of a forest .... not fun. Those roots... and having pine trees around/above a shop if you plan to have a chimney of some sort... hmm. - If you jack up your post spacing the rest of your dimensions are going to be messed up as well, particularly if you are trying to use standard length lumber and avoid extra saw cuts as much as possible. Adds a lot of extra work for the rest of the build... - OSB sheathing does not = structure.... cross bracing is your friend to avoid being crushed by a pile of poorly supported building materials while forging. - Structural design planning in general should have been way more thorough, I was too focused on form/flexibility of the interior layout even though it turned out in the end it added a lot of extra time and complexity to go back and do it right. - Coating posts before dropping them in the ground with concrete will preserve their life. - Primitive is not really the right descriptor.. perhaps "rustic pre-industrial" (no electric, old west/RR building style) would have been a better choice. Some things that worked out really well: - 12x16 is actually a pretty good size for a small one-man shop with some elbow room, it's big enough to give you room to work comfortably if you are efficient with your layout and choice of equipment. It's small enough to be built by a single person of average strength without access to special/heavy equipment using big box sourced lumber. - Sliding doors on opposing sides of the shop plus windows on all 4 walls give you lots of ventilation when combined with normal gable and soffit vents. - Being flexible with design, material choices and timeline so you can shop around for clearance/odd-lot deals on materials is huge if price is a concern. Using a bit of the "Thomas Powers" sourcing approach and letting people know you are looking for materials if they have any leads is also a surprisingly good way to find cheap/free stuff. The $1 per sheet steel roofing/siding from Lowes (along with the roofing screws, trim and some of the post hole concrete), free hackberry lumber from the neighbor and various local construction/craigslist finds really helped me manage the budget, which I still blew up.

I fought with tendinitis in my right arm for almost a year and a half after doing a lot of hardwood flooring installation work off-hours which was being aggravated by my day-job punching keys and moving a mouse around. I tried every treatment I could find including the arm straps, ice/ibuprofen, electric pulse stimulation, etc... The only way I finally got it under control was to move tasks to my other hand as much as possible while it healed (including a left handed computer mouse and learning to run a hammer and screwdriver with my non dominant hand). It is completely awkward at first but the frustration I was having at not being able to use my right arm effectively put things in perspective, so I gutted through it. In hindsight I realized that I probably did a ton of damage while hammering with my thumb on the back of the dead blow hammer and gripping way too tight while hammering in a few thousand feet of engineered hardwood flooring... Same thing with running a knife with your finger extended over the spine of the blade, it's amazing how quickly you can do serious damage to your hands and arms with incorrect technique in almost any repetitive action.

What about crafting a cool hand-forged sign for his new workshop? Or perhaps something more practical like a hammer/tong rack or tool-stand that is personalized by you and might fall into the "nice to have when time to build it comes up" category rather than something like tongs or hardie tools that are more of a commodity he's more likely to buy or build on his own?

If a blacksmith does a demo that is mostly entertaining and a little bit informative to grade school children (hello 90 second attention span) being "undignified," or are they playing to an audience in order to promote the craft long term? The shows aren't written and produced to be documentaries for blacksmiths like the stuff on PBS (which also have a vastly smaller audience), they are written to entertain following a fairly specific formula that appeals to the largest possible audience... but still gives a taste of blade-blacksmithing and fabrication techniques to an audience that knows nothing about the craft. If someone wants a specific in-depth overview of forge welding Damascus steel billets I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that most experienced blacksmiths are not using Forged in Fire as their primary "how-to" source for information vs. the advice of a more experienced smith, Youtube or a specialized forum like this... I give credit to anyone who gets in the arena and puts their reputation out there on a show like this, a LOT of trust has to be put in the producers / editors of these shows who could make or break their reputation and business long term. To 'purists' it may seem silly or undignified, but at the end of the day there are probably very few smart business-people who would not jump at an opportunity like this for both the direct paycheck and the huge promotional opportunity the show affords them.

.. add $15 for half a gallon of 3000 degree refractory from Menards, mine's held up since last June and is still going strong.

Nice find, way to win the blacksmith lottery.

Not everyone favors cast steel anvils over the cast iron/tool steel face variety, I've got an American Wrought 96 pounder that will throw the hammer back in your face as hard as any Soderfers without any of the crazy loud ringing. A 1" ball bearing dropped from 10" bounces 9 - 9.5" from any point on the face... best rebounding anvil I've worked on and was priced right due to some edge chipping (and the fact that it wasn't a Peter Wright/Hay Buddin/etc..). I'm guessing he got a much better deal per pound on this one than the Soderfers since it's got more obvious wear and is harder to price without positive maker identification. As long as it rebound tested well and doesn't have any major cracks or bits falling off I might be inclined to do the same thing, smaller anvils are easier to find than big ones in my experience.

There is a US based blacksmithing school out of WA state selling single burner (150k BTU) portable forges on eBay (ID parkerpickensataol) that are similar to the eastern European forges but use heavier gauge steel for the body and a much higher output burner. They come set up to use the same 20 lb propane tank you use with your gas grill. I've been using mine since June of last year and it works great, I just use a couple of fire bricks front and back to keep most of the heat inside and it's both fast and reliable so far. Same basic design as the devil forge, I'd suggest adding a layer of refractory over the kaowool blanket as it can give off some nasty particulate when heated that does bad things to your lungs over time.

Craigslist is probably the easiest / cheapest venue for selling and getting the best price on heavy items like this. If you use eBay there's the complications/cost of shipping something so heavy, the risk of a shady buyer, and the added auction fees plus Paypal fees. Value is relative, heavy anvils in good condition generally command a premium price per pound but have a smaller number of potential buyers due to the cost... it really depends on what the market allows in your area. Best bet is to watch Craigslist and keep track of what people list anvils for and how quickly they disappear (presumably sold) to figure out what your local market will allow. The only negative condition comment I'd have from a valuation standpoint of your anvil is the chisel cuts to the face near the horn.. what a shame to have such a clear abuse of such an otherwise nice tool. Around here anvils aren't particularly rare but demand is high, "real" market value on anvils that don't languish unsold for months is $4-$5 a pound in good-excellent condition that go on Craigslist or well advertised farm auctions. "Working man" examples that are not pristine but functionally adequate go for $2-3 a pound. Not sure on the swage block, that's a big boy at 169 pounds... I'm betting it's worth at least $600-800 based on what I see smaller units going for. They don't seem as common as anvils, but if you don't have a practical use for it my thought is you'd fetch a decent price for it to invest in other tools that would be more useful in your knifemaking like a good 2" belt grinder, etc...

Just a bit of a contrast in opinion... If you are trying to focus on learning blacksmithing without an instructor might I suggest considering a ready-made propane forge rather than trying to build one as your first project? I started on a similar path (and am still very new at it) but one of the best decisions I made early-on was to purchase a small gas forge that just needed a quick coat of refractory cement to seal up the Kaowool insulation and I was ready to start forging. Mine came from a US based seller that runs a blacksmithing school in Colorado and cost me less than $200 shipped (via eBay), plus a box of firebricks and some refractory that I picked up at Menards locally. Propane is simple to find and purchase locally compared to blacksmithing coal (not particularly common in the midwest) so that was also a major factor in my choice. Getting it lit and up to heat is a breeze, I can usually start forging within 5 minutes of having it fired-up with smaller size stock. It's also really small and easy to store when not in use, which could come in handy down the road if you ever need a portable setup for demos, etc.. I now have a permanent shop in my backyard but have't found a need for a bigger forge even though the space could easily accommodate one. ABANA publishes their blacksmithing coursework free online and has a number of good videos on their Youtube channel. Loreli Sims "The Backyard Blacksmith" is a good and affordable book that I refer to often that will cover a lot of essential technique skills plus some good information on shop layouts, etc.. Final bit of advice... the idea of re-using existing material rather than buying new steel stock is, in my opinion, another advanced skill (like building your own tools) that should come after you have some experience. Working with "known" hot/cold rolled mild steel in consistent sizes is going to let you focus on technique while following the project examples documented in the Sims book and ABANA curriculum if that's the path you follow. Save the mower blades, leaf springs and railroad spikes for later when you've got a bit of forge time under your belt.

I try not to fall into the "purist" trap but admit I was squirming through some of the more outlandish reality TV drama elements of this show.... That said, I grew up in and around Milwaukee so I probably had unrealistically high expectations for what the show could be. I appreciate the underlying idea that the father is working on both a craft and a business that he can leave to his children some day, and when the show included some forging I found it interesting and informative. Clearly the writers/producers and editors have a formula in mind when they pursue shows like this so something as simple as an empty coal bin or a routine failure of a capacitor can become major sources of drama if played up appropriately. Maybe the show is the catalyst that will cause someone to give blacksmithing a try and help preserve and promote the craft for another generation. For almost a decade I found myself drawn to blacksmithing and made a point to wander into shops all over the world when I traveled (including particularly remarkable shops in Florence, Italy and Antigua, Guatemala) just to watch the smiths work or just soak up the ambiance that is unique in the lair of a craftsman... yet I didn't pick up a hammer and try it myself until I stumbled into a "beginning blacksmithing" Youtube video and thought "why not give it a go" many, many years later.

Question - do you have access to enough i-beam material that you could scrap enough to scrape up $40-$60? I walk through the retail showroom at Discount Steel fairly often and they always good size drops of known hardenable steel (O1, 4140, A2, etc..) in dimensions that would work well for an anvil, usually for 60 cents a pound... A 3"x3" or 4" by 4" section of steel that's a foot or longer that you could harden yourself (search Youtube) would make a wicked post anvil and should be in that price range.

What a nice looking anvil, the face looks flat and the edges are remarkably clean, great weight for a shop anvil... Looks like something that was only lightly used, or very well cared for by a prior owner. Fantastic score, congrats! It shocks me that scrappers haven't picked up on the market demand & value of old anvils... the local yards are paying between 3 and 4 cents a pound so the scrap value of something like this is less than $9 while it would easily fetch $1000 or more on Craigslist or a local antique/used tool shop. Glad this one was rescued before it was shredded and sent off to China to build microwaves or flat panel TV mounts!

At $200 for a 140 pound anvil you are in within the market price range around here for "ugly but perfectly functional" anvils which are kind of ideal for a starting smith. It's RARE to find an anvil in decent shape (typically some edge damage and other signs of wear) around here for less than $3 a pound, and examples in decent to excellent condition 4-6 a pound right on up. It's a tool, and this specific example is a good weight for blacksmithing, has usable edges, a good chunk of flat face to work on, a hardie hole and a horn... all the stuff a prettier anvil is going to include at a higher cost. I'd take one like this over one that's had the face repaired with welding rod any day. Use it, clean it with a wire wheel and protect it as Glen stated above, just avoid hitting it wherever there isn't steel plate along the top particularly right of the Hardie hole or you may lose the entire heel of the anvil.

So I think I may have stumbled onto a "unicorn" anvil in pursuit of a smaller, more portable cast steel unit for my shop as part of an auction purchase at a nearby small engine shop. As I've done some reading since it seems like this specific example is a particular rarity, as it's got the Columbian logo (as well as a large H embossed on the opposite side) but the word "FULTON" stamped below rather than embossed on the side like the Fulton / Sears units as described on Anvilfire: http://www.anvilfire.com/anvils/donated_056.php The only reference I could find about an anvil like this one was almost 9 years ago in the ABANA forums, and the identification information was provided by Richard Postman himself via Ken Scharabok: http://www.abana.org/resources/discus/messages/273/1742.html?1325488722 " I spoke with Mr. Postman last Sunday and I noted how anvil research is a bit like a large jigsaw puzzle. Sometime you have blocks of information when suddenly one piece ties two of them together. First your anvils is a COLUMBIAN, made by the Columbian Hardware Company of Cleveland, OH. Would date from about 1900-1924. Second is it is stamped below that FULTON. In Anvils in America under FULTON he has: "The name is cast in relief on the side. These anvils were made for Sears Robuck and Company int he 1920s. Producer unknown." On yours the FULTON is stamped in, which, if my guess is right, may have been a very early one, possibly before Columbian Hardware made specific molds for FULTONs. Would be one piece cast steel of very high quality. You may have a one-of-a-kind. " Columbians also have at least M and J on the side opposite their logo. No one knows what the letter stood for. Obviously the markings meant something to them at the time. I spoke with Mr. Postman last evening. He said he suspected Columbian might have made the FULTON. Time period is right, they are also very high quality cast anvils and look like Columbians. Cleveland, OH would have been a fair short train run to Chicago. He just didn't have any confirming information until your photographs. He also thinks Sears placed an order with them for a high-end anvil. Until they were able to get molds made up with FULTON in large raised letters, they simply stamped FULTON under their logo. He has seen literally thousands of anvils and your's is the first to turn up. Now if only someone would find a SAMSON anvil. This anvil matches the unit photographed in the old thread exactly, though that example appears to have been cleaned before it was photographed. Here are photos of the anvil in question: .. I was going to clean it up and put it to work, but before I do anything I want to confirm if this is something I should be treating as a collectible of some historical significance to other blacksmiths (which would mean leaving it alone and trading/selling it so I can get the tool I'm after), or if it's more or less a typical cast steel anvil that is "safe" to use without potentially ruining something of historical and economic value? I don't suppose anyone has unearthed a warehouse full of these anvils in the past 9 years that makes them more common than I think it is? If it's really a rarity I'd also like to have my wife (who's a food blogger and does great photography work) take some high quality photos of it for Mr. Postman, Anvilfire and this forum of course. Opinions / comments / advice appreciated... thanks!

If price is your primary driver you need to hit the spots where fish are but other fishermen are not. I find thrift/antique/pawn shopping tends to yield items that are almost as high priced as new production equivalents, or the items available on eBay.... You might save shipping, but are going to have to pay sales tax instead... plus time and gas getting there and back. Most of the sellers in these venues that don't sell on eBay are setting prices based on sold/closed item data from eBay so I don't find a lot of great deals looking for any blacksmith or traditional carpentry tools in these venues. These guys and gals make a living knowing how to buy cheap and sell items for the maximum return, you have to get pretty lucky to find a significantly better deal than eBay at any of them in my experience. Craigslist is hit and miss, you might get lucky and find someone clearing out a barn/shop/garage that sets a price without doing enough research, but you best be in the car with cash in hand ASAP so another buyer doesn't grab an item before you get there. The Craigslist notification apps that let savy buyers/resellers tag specific search terms like anvil/blacksmith/forge/vise so they get an immediate notification when such an item is listed make it hard to get deals there unless you are REALLY fast and have a flexible schedule. One tip on Craigslist, if you want a post vise, search for "vice"... surprising how many times I've gotten hits that have been languishing for days/weeks without a buyer just because of a simple spelling error... I've bird dogged 4 nice leg vises in the last year under $50 for other smiths just watching for this common misspelling. Garage sales and flea/junk markets seem to yield the best prices, but the assortments are pretty random there's a lot of luck + time + gas involved in finding what you want AND getting a great price. Farm/estate auctions can be a good source as well, but the time commitment is potentially a full day for the item you want and pricing can get out of hand fast. My personal favorite - local/regional online auction web sites - it's far easier to sift through a bunch of auction listings across a specific geographical area via a computer screen vs driving all over. Since the audience is regional (smaller), the sites are less well known, and listings/descriptions can be hit and miss, prices tend to be more reasonable (though don't forget the 10% buyers fees these services usually include). Otherwise I think the Thomas Powers technique applies to pretty much any old/specialized tool you are after... get out and let people know what you are looking for... friends, families, associates... It really works but it requires patience and actually having a network of people that you are in good-graces with.