I'm a total noob to blacksmithing. I just finished making my Lively forge two weeks ago, and have been on the hunt for an anvil for a while so I put out an add on Craigslist.
I got a call from a guy that had an abused 200lb anvil collecting dust in his shop. It was a very old building, and I understand that it was in the building when he bought it. $25 was the asking price.
I went to his shop Friday and looked it over. It was pretty beat up and covered with some old chipped up green paint. All that was visible was a 2 stamped on the side. Neither one of us knew what it was so I paid him, loaded it up, and headed home. Any anvil is better than an 8" piece of RR track that I was going to use.
I buffed off all of the paint and discovered that it is a 1820-1835 233lb. Mousehole:
My railroad track, cowering in the background:
I'm toying with the idea of welding up the chips, but I'll probably just bevel the chipped areas with a grinder. I don't know if I feel confident enough trying to weld something like that.
