GKChesterton

The guy who originally sold it to me worked as a welder for forty some odd years. I called him up and he said he would braze it for me for a small fee. Works great so far. I'll send a picture of the fix when I get a chance.

Didn't drop it or hit it. I was just turning the handle and it shifted. Looked down and saw the crack. Thanks for the advice. I'll probably try brazing it. Hope it holds.

I bought some blacksmithing tools that had been sitting in an old barn, buried and rusted out. One item was a champion blower. It was completely froze up. Lots of lube later, I got it running again and it works beautifully. Blades are very free and it turns easily. Painted it and prettied it up for my forge. Only problem is first day using this, the housing broke. You can see the crack running down the side. Anyone have any advice on fixing this. I've got a little flux wire welder and can certainly run a bead down it, but I'm thinking it is cast iron and the weld may not take well. Any ideas for what I could do here? I've put a lot of effort into this and don't want to give up on it.

I'm setting it up adjacent to my pole barn and adding a roof section and gravel for the work area. Will be a week or two before I have it all set up, but I'll definitely post some pictures and will send one to the family as well. Thanks for the guidance on fixing up the anvil. I'm pretty new to this so I welcome any advice, even if it just confirms the little bit I do know.

I'm not an expert by any means, but it has a very nice ring and the ball bearing turns into a kid's bouncy ball on it. I'm really happy to have it. The set up belonged to an army-trained farrier who started a little before WWII. He stuck with it as a career after he left the service and shoed his last horse when he was in his eighties. The family gave me a news article from the 70s that talked about his life and experience working in North Texas. My wife is going to laminate it, and I'll put it on the shop wall. Feel very lucky to have stumbled across the posting when I did (twice-daily searches for the last two months) and it was worth driving through a bit of snow to get there.

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I ended up finding a PW in better condition and weighing 150 lb. Bought it in a package deal with a really nice stand/work table and coal forge with blower. Will be making the neighborhood ring soon!

I saw the Nimba brand. Never seem to have any used ones for sale. I suppose that's a vote in favor of their quality. Hard to find any videos of anyone using one, though. Do they have a loud sound?

Thanks, guys. Good advice. I am starting to lean toward something improvised or just going new.

I'm looking to get started and have looked at some used anvils with fairly solid body and face but with the edges showing wear. My question is how much wear should be something to walk away from. Cosmetics aren't an issue for me, it's more a question of will this significantly impact my ability to work on steel with this anvil. I've included an example of one I am interested in but wondering if the edge wear is simply too much. I know price is a factor, this one is a little over 100 pounds and around $500 bucks. For around that, I could get a lighter new 75 pound anvil.