RobS

I'm not sure about your crank, but our cranks are only heat treated at the journals where the rod and main bearings ride. The counter weight sections are usually left as received from the casting supplier. That remaining part of the rod journal on your face is probably the hardest part of the face. I would not grind that off.

Depends a lot on where you are from. Here in north-eastern US. The average asking price for anvils is usually 4-6 per pound, no matter what make and condition. That said, the sellers will usually take a lower price after about a month or two. The average buying price here tends to be around 3-5 per pound. I would say you did not get a "deal", but you did not get taken either. You paid the average price for a nice, big, good brand anvil. Your anvil looks to be in great shape. It is a good size too, for a hobby shop anvil. If you ever get into doing demos or traveling, you can always look for a 2nd smaller anvil. This one should last your lifetime and your children's. Enjoy it. It's yours now anyway.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing (wanting to see the bottom). I'm kind of up in the air about grinding the welds off. It was bought as just a beater shop anvil and it is pretty solid as it sits. But I'm the curious type, so I will probably grind off the welds this weekend. As for the dimensions and hardy size, do you think 250lbs is about right for the weight? If I take it off the stand I can throw it on the scales. But as it is, I think it is too much for the scales right now.

I saw this anvil and thought it would make a good shop anvil for my step dad. Especially for the price of $175. It was painted green and I was assuming it was probably a PW. When I got home, I cleaned off the paint, and found no marks at all. And yes, it is welded to the stand. Weight ???, I am guessing 250lbs + another 50lbs for the stand. It was a bear to wrestle into the back seat of the Impala. Face - 4 7/8" x 15 1/2" Horn - 9" Height - 11" Base - 9 1/4" x 11 1/2" Hardy hole - 1 1/4" Pritchel - 5/8"

I built this on the cheap with parts already on hand. I have about $10 and 1 hr of labor into the build. The ashdump flapper is the only thing I bought for the build. I was just looking for something quick and cheap to get started. Now later on down the road I would like to make a nicer forge. A big flat table, 1/2" plate fire box with a clinker beaker, domed hood and flu.

I built I'm building my first forge. Used a pickup brake rotor, 2" black pipe, 55 gal drum, and a tractor exhaust flapper. It is not finished, I still want to use a 2nd drum as hood/flu. I got impatient and fired it up anyway. It works, but just have to be careful with the coal to avoid spilling off the sides. I used a piece of 3/8' steel plate for the bottom of the fire pot. I mig welded a 2" coupling to the bottom, and plasma cut the slots in the top side.

I fired up my forge for the first time last sunday and started playing around with a rr spike. I worked the head down into a round to fit my pritchel. Then shouldered a little bit. Then used a cold chisel to hot cut the spike in half. Then tapered it for a small hot cut. I still have to hit the grinder to add the edge. I did get some cold shunts where the edges of the head curled while working them down. Also got some fish mouth on the end as I didn't bevel it first, and I most likely was not hitting it hard enough (This was my first forging in over 25 years and I didn't want to miss hit).

Went to an auction today. It was a retired machinest sale. had 2 milling machines, 4 lathes (1 was about 10 feet long), tons of scrap, flatbeds, tools etc. If I had a means of moving, and somewhere to put the stuff... the prices was very good. The milling machines went for 500 and 1000, the lathes 150 - 800. I didnt stay for the scrap, it was getting late. There was a dozen pallets of shorts, and the shop walls were covered with full length stock. Anyway, I picked up another anvil. 118 lbs PW. less than $2/lbs. Also stopped a flea market on the way home and grabbed a punch and 3 1/2 lbs long handle sledge, together for $10.

Grabbed a few things last week. Was looking for a post vise, found a guy on CL with an add for a vise and a second add for an anvil. So I called him up to see if he would deal with both. Next day I drove 120 miles to pick them up. While I was there, we did did some chatting and he threw in some extras. I did not get a great deal, but we both walked away happy thinking it was a fair price. $600. 150 lbs PW anvil, with large steel round base. Bounce is ok, about 85%. 5 1/4 inch post vise (missing the screw cap and a bit of the screw end broke off. but still opens 5"+ with good thread engagement.) 3 leaf springs, coffee can of rr spikes, pair of 14" flat tongs.

They just changed the description. A couple hours ago it was "120lbs with some damage. Good condition." Now it's 80lbs and not being referred to as good. Nevermind, I was remebering the wrong one. I was thinking of this one. "Large 120lb anvil. Part of it is missing. Someone must have cut it off with a torch. It's still in good condition (see pics). It stands 11" tall, 16" nose to back. The top is 4" wide and 8" long. Check out the pics and call me with any questions. $325 OBO. CALLS ONLY!"

Understood. Thanks.

So this vise is for sale near me and I'm going to check it out tomorrow. It is missing the spring and mounting plate, but that should be easy enough to fix. What worries me is the screw/handle setup. It looks like someone replaced with a big bolt and homemade handle. It's not normal (is it?). But it should still function for clamping, yes? What do you think a fair offer would be $20, $50? It's on ebay atm, but I doubt it will sell, so I was going to make a cash offer after it ends.

Unless you find the people that cast it, the original will probably never be known. But looks a little like maybe a Trenton was used for the mold. Here's why I think that. Any one of the reasons below could be argued for any other brand, but all together they start to narrow the field down. 1. Tall and narrow waist 2. Long and thin heal that sweeps down to the body. 3. Square feet with a cut-out on the sides of the body and a step on the front and back. 4. Large horn that appears straight and parallel to the ground, no upsweep. 5. Looks like an intentional blob in the casting on the right side where the original makers name would be. Roughly same size and position as Trenton as well as others. Ok now I can take my tinfoil hat off...

People advertising anvils for sale (Craigslist, Ebay, etc) seem to be asking anywhere between $3 and $5 per pound most of the time. This is for all conditions, even broken. Also unidentified brands are most times priced the same. Seems anything rusty and identified by shape as an anvil is automatically called rare, highly collectible, and antique by most advertising sellers. Some well known names like PW, Trenton, Fishers can be listed as high as $7 a pound. A fair price is what you are comfortable paying for it. As well as what your friend is willing to let it go for. If you both are happy, it was fair. I have been keeping an eye out for advertised anvils for sale. For myself, I have decided a decent usable condition anvil would have to be less than $3 per pound for it to be fair priced for me. It would have to be really good condition to push the $3 mark for me. If I find a yard sale, barn sale, flea market anvil, I would be shooting for more like $2 or less per pound. If I were buying from a friend, I would make sure he knows what similar size/conditions are being advertised for and then ask him what he would be willing to take as a friend. If it were my anvil and I had no use for it and a friend was interested in it and I knew it could possibly sell for $500-800 to the public, I would probably let it go for $200 to a friend possibly free if you were a good friend.

Yeah I will definitely try to get it from him, or at the very least try to get him stash it away.

ten years ago definately could have picked it up. I'm getting older smarter now, not sure if I would want to try.

Well if I get the anvil from my step dad, anything I make will have to get a touchmark. " "

Ok got home from work and went to the ol' man's shop. I did some wire wheeling and measuring. After measuring and figuring the volume and 0.283 lbs per cubic inch. Anvil should weigh right close to 370lbs. Measurements were 17.25" x 7" base. 17.25" x 5.5" top. 11.75" tall. 4"x4" x (2" taper to 5") hardy holder. Has a 1" hardy hole. The hardy holder looks like it may be welded on to the anvil. It has 2 dovetailed and bow-tie shaped slots. Also has 4 unknown divots in the face. The front 5" x 5" face looks like a plate as a seam can be seen on one side of the body. The middle and rear face show no visible seam. There is also handling holes on the front, rear and underside. I could not make out a name. But there is something there. It is wrote in a circular shape that I can only see partial of the bottom words. Can only make out "OO??YN?" I think it says Brooklyn. Here are some more pics.

Ok, I can see it as a production anvil. Found a video on youtube of a man using one with different tooling in the slots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=zpeyhC-UIFg&app=desktop So just like making tools for hardy holes, you could make tools for the slots. That is pretty cool stuff. The flat face on the rear is about 6x6 that seams like plenty of area to work with. Were these type anvils generally hardened like other anvils? If someone tries to straighten a cold piece of rebar with a 6lbs sledge, how bad are they gonna screw this up? I ask, because my stepdad has alot of people come and go as employees and alot of them don't know/don't care how to handle other people's tools. Do I need to tell him to make it off limits to his guys? Thanks, Rob

So here's the story. Years ago, my stepfather told me his father had an old anvil in a shed in a back field. He would tell people if they could lift the anvil into their truck they could have it. Fast foward to a couple years ago. My step father did some dozer work cleaning up that field. My stepgrandfather was a milk hauler/pig farmer, I can only assume he got the anvil at an auction or trading something with someone. He does not blacksmith, most likely dropped the anvil in the shed as soon as he got it and never gave it a second look. I asked my step father a couple days ago, "what ever happened to that old anvil of your dad's?" He said, "it's out in the shop now." So, yesterday I wandered out to the shop to see what it was. I think it is a cutler's anvil? I did not measure it yet so I dont have any weight yet. "Estimating" roughly 20x6x12 inches should put this around 400lbs. I will try to get some measurements later. Also, it is very weathered. If there is any marking on it, it will need some cleaning to find. I have Postman's anvil book and there is only a couple mentions of cutler anvils. I google searched and found no info either. I am very curious to how these type of anvils were used. The slots and dimples for tooling, swaging, or what? How are they made? Who used these anvils? Knife makers, file makers, tool makers? I'm not finding any real solid info on the history. Thanks, Rob

Thanks for the heads up on the meeting. I will try to make it. I don't have anything to donate to the iron in the hat, so cash will have to do. Also I don't have any tools to bring to the open forge, so I will be just a spectator for now. Thanks Rob

Hello, I have been wanting to get into real blacksmithing a bit more lately and this place seems to be one of the busier forums I've found. I've been dabbling in "Hammering" since I was a toddler bending grandpa's nails, tools, and anything else he had not bolted down. Then in high school shop class I got to play with milling machine, lather, rolls, brake, spot stick welder, and forge. This was the first time I got to use a forge and work with hot metal. Made projects like a 4lb hammer, punches, toolbox, sai, and started hammering a sword until the principle caught wind of it... then it became a pry bar. Years later I worked at a sawmill and did circular saw maintenance after hours. This was all cold hammering warped blades to straighten them, brazing teeth, sharpening etc. Also did a lot of odds and ends fab work for my step dad in his garage. Mostly things like rebuilding trailers, hay wagons, fixing broken log chains. So anyway, I've been puttering around for 30+ years and decided I would like to really start working hot metal. A knife or two would be cool, but I'm interested in everything; decorative things like pulls, strap hinges, hangers, hooks; functional things like hammers, tongs, drifts, tooling in general. My interests run the whole gambit from backyard smelting to building a power hammer. I have always been creative, but since getting married and having kids, I have had no room, money, or time for a real creative outlet in the last 10 years. I am hoping to buy a home in the next 5 years and hope to have some man space for my woodshop and some space for a Smithy. Nice to meet you all, Rob Smith