ThomasPowers Posted November 25, 2020 Share Posted November 25, 2020 Top of the line Swedish anvil in decent shape; US$4 a pound is on the low end of the price range! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 25, 2020 Share Posted November 25, 2020 Soderfors is an excellent quality anvil. The chipping on the edges isn't uncommon (the steel is very hard), but it does bring the value down slightly. I'm not familiar with the anvil market down in GA, but $350 strikes me as a bit on the low side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 Hi Cindy, so sorry to hear about your husband passing.. My condolences. Worth on an anvil is very subjective these days.. The prices have gone up.. If the anvil was in perfect condition you could get 500.00 or 600.00 for it easily.. Well at least in my mind. Soderfers is a well respected brand.. That anvil while still very useable has some damage to the corners so this lowers the sale price some. 300.00-350.00 is what I'd be willing to pay for it.. It does not mean it would not sell for more money.. that is what it would be worth to me.. I paid 320.00 for a 100lbs anvil that was in a little better shape few years ago. It was a Vanadium brand anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 I recently sold a 248 pound Peter Wright with much worse edge damage on one side for US$4 a pound and that was considered "under market value" out here in New Mexico. When I got calls asking if that was a hard price on it, I told them "No I would be happy to go to $5 a pound on it." got rid of a lot of flippers. I finally sold it to a new smith in his 20's after trying to talk him out of it as a new smith doesn't need that large an anvil! Anvil Envy is pandemic amongst blacksmiths... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 28, 2020 Share Posted November 28, 2020 We have a similar take on bargaining, Thomas. Occasionally I just change my mind and walk away, sale or buy. It all depends. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrance W Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Found this chunk of steel (just the top piece) on FB Trading post he was just asking $20 Dollars USD, it was right at 67 Lbs. before I had it milled flat, only had to mill the top and bottom 1/8" to get it true. The base I mounted it on is 4x12 Tube packed with sand and capped off, I don't know the total weight but I'm pleased with the way the steel moves under the hammer on it. Terrance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 That’s very nice. Make sure to soften the edges slightly if they’re too sharp. Might want to take advantage of the chipping on the left end to turn that into a more rounded fuller, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Might add it to the improvised anvil thread too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 It's a nice piece of work, well done. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 That's a great anvil and only cost $.30 U.S. per pound. I hope folk's who say they can't find an anvil see this post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davor Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 I've had an anvil for about a year and didn't have time to make a stand and it was at my parents place. So yesterday brought it home and today was suppose to be the day. And my wrist hurts so nothing. But here are my anvils. Marking on the anvil is 79K N629 and it looks like someone added 1902. Also is there a topic on anvil shapes, I'm curious why is there a slope on one side, don't se the use for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 A sloped side was used a lot for working plowshares. A rather common job back in the day; not very common nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelonian Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 The sloped edge provided extra support and durability for heavy work on the edge. That would be the side of the anvil that the striker usually stood on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davor Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 2 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: A sloped side was used a lot for working plowshares. Interesting. 1 hour ago, Chelonian said: The sloped edge provided extra support and durability for heavy work on the edge. That would be the side of the anvil that the striker usually stood on. Makes sense, that side of the anvil was obviously abused, you can see it slope on that side. Also it seems that the legs are unnecessarily complicated. Cast or forged it would be easier without the steps, and the side where the smith would stand, the steps have marks that someone was working on them. Please someone make a topic on the subtleties on the various anvils. There is another anvil at my parents place, shape is the same only taller and naroveer face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelonian Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 The stepped feet can be used for both horizontal and vertical upsetting. That type of anvil is usually referred to as an Austrian pattern anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 There is a 550 page book just on anvils that have been found in the USA, Anvils in America, perhaps you will be the person to write one for Europe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Davor, You might want to check out the more recent (last few months) YouTube videos by Joey van der Steeg, "Technicus Joe" (a member here). He has been doing a lot of forging on a massive anvil shaped like the one you pictured with the sloping side. In one or two videos, he described what the anvil was in response to some questions by viewers. You might have to scroll through several videos and accompanying comments to find out the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davor Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Very interesting videos. Learning a lot, I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Here’s three anvils I found in my area using the TPAAAT method. 122# Peter wright, 105# William foster and a 94# Peter wright. I gave $200 for the 122#, $105 for the 105#, and I gave $200 for the 94#. two of them have a long history of use in my county being handed down for a couple of generations. So I thought it was cool to find a couple pieces of local history. The William foster is marked 1844 but I have no way of knowing the history on it past the last two members of that family because the last living one didn’t know past his father. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Well that 94# PW looks like it was used for shoeing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 How can you tell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Smaller anvils with edge damage on both sides that look like what you see with anvils used for shoeing combined with location. Out here in low grade ranching country you can sometimes see them worn almost to a ridgeback. That one has a lot of good using face left for smithing. I have an 1828 William Foster; but it's beat to death, no heel, only 10%? of the face left---paid US$15 for it 20 years ago just to display with my abused anvil collection. I was hoping to use it for a traditional refacing experiment; but moved 1500 miles away from the group before we got around to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 That’s really cool that y’all can tell what an anvil was used for just by looking at the the wear marks. Also that William foster project of yours sounds really cool I’d be really interested to see before and after pictures if you ever get a chance to fix it. Here’s pictures of the faces on these anvils. The William foster is kinda smushed down and the 122# pw has a million little dings in the face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 Best way to clean up the face of an anvil is to USE IT! Scale is a mild abrasive and working red hot steel on an anvil will polish the face out nicely without damaging the anvil. I have a 134# HB that was stored in an unheated shed in a swampy area near a stream in Ohio that had a LOT of condensation pitting on the face. I wire brushed off the lose rust and started to use it and now the sweet spot is gleaming and you can see the pitting increase as you go towards the areas that don't see much use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 That’s interesting that scale will polish the face off, I’ve been reading a lot of posts on various topics on here in the last few days and I found a lot of people saying not to touch an anvil with a grinder or anything else just to use them like they are. So I was wondering how all the dings and dents in the face would affect work but now it makes sense if it cleans off the marks with scale. Thanks for all the information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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