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Ok so it's been a few months since I last posted. I didn't buy an anvil the mean time. I've been holding out on ordering hoping some of those Peruns would come back in stock, but the importer told me last week they didn't they they'd ever come in again..... So I'm probably going to order one of the Kanca anvils, the 160lb one to beat tariffs and price hikes that may or may not come on the next batch. Deep down I'm a wee bit leery, They've been on "sale" with a deep discount everywhere for a while. I wonder if they had a batch come in that weren't finished well or not properly heat treated?

Well I still didn't get a new anvil as yet. But still want this Perun when they come back in stock. Thought about just ordering a Scott or Kanca, but no luck there either. There's plenty of those in stock-that's a different problem. Every time I get to sit aside the funds to buy one, I go to a machinery auction and find way too many good buys...Last anvil money bought quite a bit! It's almost absurd that anvils cost so much, considering what they are.

Ok.... I got to look over a Kanca anvil a few days ago while visiting a machine shop that actually had one. I think I may pass. Overall looked like a good piece, but I found the horn too short and the body seemed to have more of a taper to it coming off the face. (not quite 90 degrees off the face). I do some hot work here, but smaller lighter work than a true blacksmith. After a little more thought and research, I believe i found what I'm really looking for. Although seems unavailable at the moment. Still liking the Scott Edens Anvil. Anyone have one of these Peruns? What's the opinion?

Depends on the taker I guess. I'm in far SE Noble County approx. 3hrs from Dayton. For years I did the Bill Goodman shows in Dayton/Cincinatti and considered them my "home" shows. I always had a place to stay over that way for free. My family came here from the Dayton Area when I was barely in elementary school. My father was an avid hunter in his youth (The SE had grouse and Deer) and always joked that he wanted to live in the "third world." This region being the closest he could find to home (I always just joked that my family were refugees!) I think I am going to attend that SOFA event, looks like tickets are $70? My 11yr old son has quite a bit of interest in it for the moment. If hadn't come on this forum I would have never heard of it.

I thought real hard on Hoffmans, he's only a 30 min drive north of me. I dont "forge" anything of hardened steel. Some smaller hot work, rivets. I guess I'd on the flat surface gig as I would tend to use it as "flat" work table at times. I did see the Kancas are a ground a little convex.

Yes you got me there on a technicality Frosty. Around here we just say Carbon steel or mild steel (or just plain steel) when it's not critical. After living here for 35 years I'm starting to assimilate. I just looked into the SOFA thing, never heard of it but I'm game to check it out. I'm not in a big rush. It's a 3hrs drive one way. I somewhat wonder about any deal potential though? Might be hard to find a like new, good quality anvil in the 160lb range with a perfectly flat face and undamaged edges in the $900 range. But then again, I don't need a justification to check out the show. I think scrapyards are more of a regional phenomenon. Around here where it's a little more third-worldish, they're mostly just piles of old farm machinery, washing machines and car bodies. If I went a couple hrs North West to Columbus, or North to Akron lets say, where there is more of an industrial base such as machine shops/fabrication shops I'd likely find better pieces of steel, cut stock, leftovers etc there.

I think I'm going to order one of the Kancas in 165lbs. for a little over $900 it seems to be the better option. If anyone has a negative opinion on these Kancas please reply or send a pm. Won't be ordering until next week, there's a machinery auction coming up that I may or may not spend my cash reserves on first! LOL Frosty I actually think the anvil you pictured made from 3" thick stock looks pretty handy. I can think of about 100 uses for it already. I did a quick look on steel prices, a piece of 3"x12"x12" carbon stock is pretty steep....From a supply house it seems to be priced about the same as a similar weight new steel anvil. I guess a scrapyard would probably be a better source option for something along those lines though.

I did look at a couple of them, not really sure what the turn off was? Might reconsider. They do have some weights in the Continental patterns I liked.

Cheaper yes... I just cant stomach buying anything Chinese if I can get out of it. If I can avoid it I do. I'm guessing you probably would also? Looking at the Turkish Kanca anvils is enough of a compromise.

Thanks for being the first to reply George. I've been improvising anvils for 30 years Actually when I was 15 I acquired a piece of railroad track and still have it handy. I've probably used everything from pieces of plate to the table of a swing beam clicker. I've wanted a real anvil for years like just about every man I guess? After breaking a jaw in my favorite vise from misuse, (A Parker) I decided it's time to order one. I'd probably use it weekly, perhaps daily at times. I work in my own shop. Pretty much everything I own came from auction, and hit allot of them, but I have only seen one or 2 decent anvils at auction. most are worn out, cracked, chipped or have some pretty serious sway-and still bring top dollar. At least Ohio is prime auction country. Never really saw anything reasonable on FB or forums either unfortunately. You're right on that point, no doubt. The difference here is that I take better care of my tooling than anyone that's punching a clock in a shop somewhere else. I'm just a minor abuser, and have sense to know when to quit

Well, like my title says, I'm thinking of purchasing a new anvil. I'm also new to this forum. I've done a little research and just can't really narrow down what I want. Not really a blacksmith (I can honestly say what little hot forging I do would be on smaller stock, 1/2dia etc). Mostly looking for one for my shop, for general shop use. Lots of cold work like: straightening, bending, riveting (lots of rivets). Sometimes taking on some hardened steel items like bearings, shafts, dies, etc. I could on rare occasion need to do something heavy. Now i'm not really looking to abuse anything or have any unreasonable expectations, although a good flat ground face would be pretty important. Especially if it's something I can dress up a bit with a surface grinder once or twice in my lifetime. I passed on a nice 1942 200lb Fisher at an auction a couple years back and have regretted it. Anyway, I'm wavering a bit, I'd like something around the 150lb mark. Been looking at the Kanca 165s mostly, but also looking at Hoffman's 115lb and the Scott Edens 200lb even though it's a completely different piece, why not? The Kancas are on sale for $920, the Hoffman is about $1100 and the Scott is around $1500. The Hoffman would be sans freight if I did go that route, as he's 25 miles away. Freight on the other 2 runs around 250.... I just cant find any reviews of the Scott anywhere. I did read they're ductile iron hardened to 52 HRC. Seems they cater mostly to farriers and I'm curious how they hold up with any heavy use outside of shoes. The Hoffman is maybe a bit lighter than what I would like, but probably sufficient overall. Mostly interested in the thoughts on the Scott Anvil. Any thoughts?