August 30, 201312 yr While that's a good looking Trenton you have there I really like the helper. Look's a sweety to me. Frosty The Lucky. The view from your "workshop" ain't too bad either! It sure beats my messy old garage!
August 30, 201312 yr That's a heck of an anvil you made yourself there. How's it work? Frosty The Lucky. It's not bad. Rebound is really good, but I need to harden the face. I think that the welding heat annealed it and my son/helper needs to learn some hammer control. Since it is welded to the I-beam base it had one heck of a ring. Fixed that by welding a couple of straps across the webs, took it down to a ping. I put magnets on the base and now it is just a thud. BTW, my son is like most guys getting started. Just wants to make knives.......sigh.
August 30, 201312 yr While that's a good looking Trenton you have there I really like the helper. Look's a sweety to me. Frosty The Lucky. Frosty- Aside from demonstrating you are an experienced smith ready to help the new guys like me, I have noticed over the last six months or so that you live out the old adage if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all. Your friendliness and encouragement makes IFI a better place.
August 30, 201312 yr Frosty- Aside from demonstrating you are an experienced smith ready to help the new guys like me, I have noticed over the last six months or so that you live out the old adage if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all. Your friendliness and encouragement makes IFI a better place. Trying to make me blush? I'm glad to see you don't read EVERYTHING I write, I've gotten pretty snippity a few times recently. <sigh> Mother and my Grandmother used to tell my sis and I that all the time, we both got pretty sick of it but they were sure right. Life is just sooooo much easier when folk think you're a nice guy. Tell the little sweety Frosty says she MUST wear safety glasses in the shop or I'll come down there and tickle her! Thanks Momatt. Frosty The Lucky.
September 4, 201312 yr ok this is my "new" anvil she is a Hay Budden and looks to have a weight stamp of 153 but i am going to try and sneak her into the office the next time i am in doing maintenance and get a real weight just for the fun of it anyway considering I found this anvil while looking for and finding out i had missed a sale on a set of torches and tanks at a quarry truck repair shop i am blown away at the shape this anvil is in i think the only thing that saved it was the fact that they had installed a large air compressor in front of it about 15years ago and pretty much forgot it was there i am still hoping to find a good serviceable 200+ anvil but for now this one is going to replace my main anvil even though its about 40lb lighter the condition of the edges and horn are going to really speed up not having to pull out hardie tooling when i get the time i am fabricate a better stand the stump while solid is not quite level and is about 2 inches short it
September 4, 201312 yr I've had this little honey for a while, and while I was carrying it out of the van during the last move I thought to myself "I have never weighed this beast" so, I decided to get out the bathroom scales, thinking to myself- "yeah maybe 80kg (170 lb), it cant be heavier than me, since I've been lugging it around so long" well, the limit of the scales was 130kg, so I nearly broke them.... it weighs in at 120kg!!! (265lb!) I was stoked! I paid (I think) around 2$ a lb about ten years ago, and it is a beauty to use, and that is all that has mattered to me until now. not a sign of a sharp edge anywhere, but the world is full of sharp edged scrap, so what do I care! '' target='_blank'>> I don't know how to upload photos directly to the site, so bear with me....
September 4, 201312 yr i thought i had sealed the deal on this one a few weeks ago, but at the last minute he had second thoughts. he called me back over the weekend and said he was willing to let it go. 100# trenton. other than a few inches of radius near the table it looks like it hasn't been used much. the rest of the edges are sharp with no chips. other than some slight pitting in the face it's almost perfect. cost me $2 a pound. he also has a 25# trenton that he will not part with yet. i offered him $3 a pound for it and would have gone higher. he said it was his mother's favorite.and that she would come back to haunt him if he sold it. i want to set it in my window sill :rolleyes: mark
September 4, 201312 yr wow, that heel gets thin! be careful with big hammers if you are working on that end or punching over the pritchel. does it look like there is mass missing from underneath?
September 4, 201312 yr it is rather thin there, but i don't think anything fell off. i can still see the marks from the power hammer underneath. i do all my punching on a striking anvil. my english anvil has plenty of mass under it for hardy work, just not much flat area. mark
September 5, 201312 yr thanks Vaughn, she is a stately old girl for sure, she rings "schnell!!, schnell!!" at me when I don't hit fast enough! but the silence is the most deafening part :( when she is locked up with only 4 vices and 2 swage blocks for company. poor old girl.
September 24, 201312 yr I recently picked up this Hay Budden anvil 432 lbs. I just got around to building a stand now I can try it out. And the stump that it came on is now something I can use- firewood
September 24, 201312 yr Clinton, does that 432 lb anvil really have a $100 price tag on it? In Cali? :o
September 25, 201312 yr I thought you may like this one Stuart. John- I re-worked the price a liitle so the misses woundn't get too worked up (there was another 0 in the price) still a bargin you do not find very many anvils over 200 lbs that are for sale out here and this is only the second one that I have found over 400 lbs for a reasonable price
September 30, 201312 yr 125 pound centaur forge bought when Western's school was closed in Phoenix Az. was closed.
September 30, 201312 yr not sure how to post pics in a forum but did put four ok ones up in the anvil gallery of my new to me arm and hammer 172 pounder serial number 15263 i got it for $175 i felt guilty almost dirty buying it for that price . but i wasnt gong to walk away from it either ps anybody that has richard postmans book want too look up the number for me i would owe ya a beer/pint if we ever meet Edited September 30, 201312 yr by ironmutt
October 2, 201312 yr Here are a few things I picked up today. My first anvil is a 150lb Trenton I got it for 150.00, Hammer 8.00, and forged tongs for 20.00. for a grand total of 178.00. Serial number puts it being made in 1908. Is there anything special about the HF stamp on the same side as the Trenton stamp and what dose it stand for? As you can tell part of the face has been replaced in the past it will work for now but will be replaced soon. Anvil has a nice ring to it so earplugs will be necessary when working.
October 4, 201312 yr According to AIA, 15263 would be around 1912. thank you if you ever get to galesburg ill or i am up there the beer is on me
October 5, 201312 yr This is a 'before' picture of cleaning up the shop, but it shows both my anvils:
October 6, 201312 yr Torin: That double-horn makes the stand it is on look anemic...lol. I would be afraid it would collapse.
October 6, 201312 yr Torin: That double-horn makes the stand it is on look anemic...lol. I would be afraid it would collapse. Well, it has held up at least 6 years at this point. I suppose I can weld some cross straps on it for additional strength.
October 6, 201312 yr I can't remember if I ever posted my anvils in this thread... The one on the left I believe to be a 100lb southern crescent, the one on the right is my 200lb vulcan. I was told from the seller that the vulcan came off of a battleship.
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