RobS

Are you collecting for the print or grabbing them for the wire frame?

Does the Blu need a compressor or is it self contained? If so how big to run the hammer without issues?

You could stick oil pan heaters on the outside of the tank. You could drill into the tank and use a block heater. You could also use a deep fryer heating element set in from the top.

If you are ok with $50 for that 1x30", spend a couple bucks more and get it from a retailer like HarborFreight. It's $54 there. But if it breaks you can at least return/exchange. Will the Craigslist guy do refunds/returns/exchanges? You do see alot of re-sale guys on Craigslist and Ebay. They will post Harbor Frieght items for higher prices, then drop ship from Harbor Freight. They don't even have to carry an inventory. They take a sale/order and then order from HF and have item shipped to buyer and pocket the mark up as profit.

In my area I have started noticing the "regulars" that show up to most all the auctions. Between watching them and eavesdropping, I found out they are pickers/antique dealers. Some have booths at numerous consignment shops. What I can't seem to figure out, is how they are making any money. They bid items up to fleabay prices. How do they make money buying anvils for $5-$6 per/lbs? Craigslist local adds will sit for months at $4-5 per lbs. 4 and 5" post vices bid up to $200+ (missing spring, mount, chipped, rusted solid). Wish I knew where they are reselling. I've been lucky acouple of times at auctions and grabbed anvils for less than $2 /lbs. 5 3/4" post vice for $70.

Because it is the buyers that set the going rate. Less people interested in buying a machine that they probably don't know how to use and don't want to learn to use. Where as a lot of people are seeing more blacksmithing related media and thinking that looks easy, I can do that. And all I need is an anvil and hammer. Also size. Most people can afford the floor space for an anvil and not so much for lathe.

Trenton made anvils for many hardware stores and stamped them with brands for those stores. Lakeside was the Montgomery Ward brand. AIA mentions that many Trentons were double stamped with Trenton and the store brand. Your serial number looks to be 1919 according to AIA.

Most likely no. Anvil shape suggests it was made after 1880's. Civil war was 1861 - 1865. The confederate states were dissolved 1865. This anvil was made at least a couple decades after the war ended. This is probably a badge of a business that bought and used the anvil. A lot of commercial and institutional users often tagged their property.

The top appears warped, better get out the angle grinder and flatten it. You know an anvil is not usable unless the top is flat. Joking. That thing looks amazing. I would love to have one in my shop.

lol +1 to the Skyrim reference.

Just glancing through AiA best guess is early to mid 1800's. Probably between 1830 - 1870, leaning toward the 1830 range. This is just a best guess. I can't see any repair from the photo. By the photo it looks like it has never seen a hammer. Great gift. It's a dandy. The stamping most likely isn't worn. Most all anvil manufacturers had poor stamps most of the time. Barely legible right out of the factory.

Thats a fine ASO. But a "real" wood anvil wood be made from Iron Wood. Neat idea for the kids.

Looks great. My own personal opinion, leaves/branches/"nature" should not look symmetrical. That way it has the wild and natural look to it. The only thing I would have done different is curl the stems in behind the frame to make it look like the branches are growing from something. Instead of looking like branches cut off a tree and stuck on the face of the frame. Nice work.

Here is an excellent read if you are new to anvils. It tells you all about them and how to tell good from bad. Now everyone says cast iron is bad, and it really is. But if you already have it, just use it for now. Keep watching for something better to use as an anvil. A really bad anvil is better than no anvil. That said, you could probably find a chunk of hard steel at a scrap yard that would actually function as an anvil better than a cast iron "anvil". It does not have to look like an anvil to be used as a anvil. And many objects that look nothing like an anvil can be 10x better functionally used as an anvil. Here is a good read about non traditional anvils.

If you stand it up, won't you have to adjust the hydro tank anyway? if you move the pump and hydro to the side, how much of that smaller frame can you chop off the top? It's hard to see it from the pictures. I think it needs a bit of an overhall all over. I know I would not want those hoses at face level when I'm working. Google images for hydraulic hose accidents. Keep a bucket in your lap if you do search it.

First can we get less pictures of the chips and more pictures that actually matter. Like the bottom, front foot, both sides, rear, under the heel. The damage is not that bad. The main area of the anvil you most likely will be/should be using is over the sweet spot (over the largest area of mass). You shouldn't need to be hammering on the heel edges, unless you have some odd shaped piece of steel that needs to hang under the spot your working. Anvils do not/should not have razor sharp 90 deg edges. You want edges to move steel when you hammer not cut the steel. As for the little bit of sway in the face, it is fine. Forging is not machining. When you are forging something flat you are not worrying about 0.001" of run out. If anvils were required to have perfectly flat faces, they would have to be machined every few years. That means there wouldn't be any 100+ year old anvils left--they would be just a pile of dust on the machine shop floor. Have you noticed every blacksmiths tool in a smithy has basically no straight lines. The tools all have curves and shapes (exception of a "flatter"). Swage blocks are made of multiple shapes. Point is, unless the anvil looks like a saddle, it is fine. Even then it would still have a use in the shop. The most I would do to that anvil is possibly knock some of the "SHARP" edges off the chips and radius them a tiny bit so they don't continue to chip or possibly crack.

Middle anvil looks like a Columbian. The later Hay Buddens, after 1908, were solid forged steel top half. Someone more informed may be able to clarify, but I think Hay Budden also did some solid one piece cast steel. I believe they had a "SS" with the serial number.

150 lbs. is plenty of anvil for the most of us hobbyist. If you are working material that requires a bigger anvil, you would probably be better off with mechanical assistance anyway (power hammer, press, etc.) Other style -- Church windows are gorgeous. You can do almost anything on almost any style, so this really a matter of personal taste. With that said, I like the short and stout, beefy look of continental and earlier London. Lots of mass under most of the face. Cast steel - is probably the best, although I have never touched one. They all work as long as they are not being abused. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was only a couple months ago I was looking for my first anvil. At first I felt the same way as those you're referring to. The new anvils prices are a shocker for someone with limited means just looking to start up a hobby. Then you move on to looking for older "antique" anvils. But you don't know exactly where to look at first. Classifieds, yard sales, flea markets are the default. But many people seem to think if they can't find it on the internet for their area, then "there is none in my area." So then you move on to Fleabay. There are all the anvils. But wait, those prices are sky high also, plus shipping is out of my price range. Here is where you either decide if you really want a "real anvil" (sarcasim) or not. You have to start putting some effort into the hunt now. You start leaving your neighborhood and hitting the flea markets, 2nd hand stores, estate auctions, internet classifieds further than 10miles from your house. The effort is the issue. My first "real" anvil was an internet find that I had to drive 120 miles to go look at. The next 3 anvils were from sales over an hour drive from home. But I got decent tools, for reasonable rates. It just took a little bit of effort. Patients is the next part of it. You might not find a reasonable anvil the first week you decide you want one. Took me a month to find my first. Now I know where to look, they seem to pop up a few times a month.

Yes looks like a Peter Wright. No "England" stamp so it's pre 1907? (can't remember right now).\ I can't make out the first number of the weight from the pics. If its a 1 then the stamp weight is 123lbs. If it's a 2 then its 235lbs.

I would leave it for now. You can still wedge hardy tools in it. Although an offset hardy may work better. You can (without modification) still use the hole for drifting and punching. It is a bit of an eye sore, but still has uses.

It is a bit high for my area and my wallet. But looking at the "average" asking prices from online, it maybe close enough to throw out a lower offer. If you were to shop for those items on the online auction site, you are looking at... anvil - $5/lbs = 540 + shipping hardy tools $25/each x 6 = $150 + shipping vise $50 at a yard sale? = $50 You're looking at about $740 + at the average asking prices. If all you want/need is an anvil, maybe keep looking. If you wait and keep watching for local estate sales, flea markets, etc. you may find all these items for a much lower price. I would expect to see the anvil for $300 max at a local auction/estate sale. The hardy tools $5 to $20 each depending on if the professional pickers are there. And $20-50 for a bench vise, or $50 - 200 for a nice post vise.

That is very cool. Leather rings for the base?

Never be afraid to walkway from a purchase. That goes for anvils as well as everything else in life. If your gut tells you something isn't right, listen to it. It will keep eating away at you if you don't. There have been 2 anvils I thought I would like to have. But when the price didn't feel okay, I walked away and let them go. I did not regret it on the drives home and I still don't. By market standards they were fair to average prices and good condition. They were just more than I felt comfortable paying at the times. 120lb trenton $400; 73lb trenton $300. Anvils are everywhere just waiting to be found. Just start asking around.

Millhand, You won that shop on Eb*y? Was that 3 day trip to Connecticut? If it was, you got a heck of a deal, even with the travel. I was ready to bid if it would have stayed in my range, but didnt have the liquid to go higher than half what it sold for. Great score, congratulations.