January 21, 201016 yr Author OK, you posted this last Friday and no update from your weekend trip to visit the anvil. I never ended up looking at it. instead my dad said hed buy me a new one if i do good on my midterms
January 21, 201016 yr Have you checked the prices on a new anvil. I mean a real anvil not an ASO like one gets at Harbor Frieght or a farm/ranch supply store. They are expensive with a capital "E". Your dear old dad is a swell fellow to make an offer like that so you had better have a 4.0 average to get a "new" anvil. Best wishes on you midterms!
January 21, 201016 yr A Fisher is a *good* anvil, even with a lot of use. Don't let him fob you off on an ASO having prevented you from getting a good one!
January 21, 201016 yr Author A Fisher is a *good* anvil, even with a lot of use. Don't let him fob you off on an ASO having prevented you from getting a good one! that one may still be available. the guy says its an "American anvil" is that a fisher? sorry for my confusion..new to this. thanks.
January 21, 201016 yr What he means is that it is an American made anvil, as opposed to an English,Swedish, Chinese, etc made one. I have a 260# Fisher, and it is a nice anvil with some character-made in 1907. With a new made anvil the price can hit 4 digits, and it is still just as good as one made way back. The only difference is that you get to put the first ding in it :P
January 21, 201016 yr And not all american made anvils are good ones---we produced a lot of ASO's in the day. Look at the 1906 Sears & Roebuck Catalog---they would sell you a cast iron ASO cheap or a top of the line anvil (HB made anvils for them at one time!) for several times as much. However usually the bad ones get recycled or scrapped over the years.
January 21, 201016 yr Author Oh okay thanks. What are fishers made of? All steel?, Iron/, Or Iron with a steel face?
January 23, 201016 yr Fishers are cast iron anvils with a tool steel face. Mark Fisher perfected the way to weld the steel to the iron during the casting process. Fisher made more anvils than any other manufacturer; the number is over 500,000 in their 120 year history. There are still many out there. Some are in great shape, others are battered into pulp. Many smiths prefer Fishers due to their lack of ring. I will only use a Fisher for all of my work.
January 23, 201016 yr Author Cool. Thank you everybody for the advice. I will HOPEFULLY be able to get the anvil this week. And if midterm grades are good wont have to pay for it!
January 25, 201016 yr Author At what point should should i not get this anvil? like how bad of a condition would make it not worth the buy?
January 26, 201016 yr I have a Fisher anvil that was made during WWII, a big one, and it is in nice condition. Now as to how bad before it is to bad is not easy to say. Somethings you need to look for are condition of the hard face, is it cracked, edges broken or chipped off, not little chips but big, huge chips, is the horn broken, cracked or chipped. Fisher's don't ring, they are cast iron bodies, but they should have a nice solid thwack to them, not a rattly sounding thwack. The corner feet shouldn't be broken off, nor the bolt hole lugs if they have them. I'm sure that Thomas will have more to say, he is really good about honest advice on these things, trust him. There is nothing wrong with buying a good used anvil.
January 26, 201016 yr Author Thanks. The face looks pretty beat up in the pictures, how deep of gouges/dents would make it too hard to repair/not worth it?
January 26, 201016 yr Welding on an anvil is a last resort. Welding on a cast iron bodied one is a step lower. If you are not already an expert and so not needing to ask---I would not try to weld on an anvil. Shoot I started smithing around 1981 and I still use a real professional for anvil repairs, (he is a great smith *and* teaches welding and does it right---preheat using an optical pyrometer, right rod(s), slow cool etc. One thing to look at: is there a good "window" on the face? You don't need the entire face pristine for most forging, just a section that you can work metal on without telegraphing the abuse into your piece. Remember too that Fishers have a steel face over cast iron body so we strongly advise against grinding, milling, any other ablative method, of the face. Now: I have had such types of anvils welded on at local ABANA affiliate anvil repair workshops with good results; however I have passed those anvils on to others. A secondary warning is about anvils that *others* have repaired---did they do it right? Signs of prior repairs drops the price severely in my book! (I had a large anvil---400+ pounds---from an old copper mine that a previous owner had tried to repair. It had places where you could pop off the welds done by him---ugh. It waited patiently till my friend foolishly offered to host an anvil repair clinic BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahah) So you need to juggle the price vs the condition and see if it works for you. Think how terrible if you overpay for a bad anvil and so are not able to get a good one that shows up soon after. Start networking to see if a better one can be found locally!
January 26, 201016 yr Author Thank you for your reply. may ask the guy for a better picture of the face before driving an hour away to get it..I have been asking around locally but with no luck so far. If nothing else turns up by mid - end of the week ill check it out.
January 30, 201016 yr Author Ive found an anvil on ebay. its fairly close. does anyone know what kind it is or if its a good one?http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-ANVIL_W0QQitemZ180462235707QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2a0463303b#ht_500wt_1182 thanks.
January 30, 201016 yr ahhh. cant get picture to show. maybe this will work.. sorry bout that Nice anvil! Looks like a Hay-Budden, but I can't be sure. How much does it weigh, and how much does it cost? Usually Ebay is not the greatest place to get blacksmith's tools- too much money, too much junk.
January 30, 201016 yr Nice anvil! Looks like a Hay-Budden, but I can't be sure. How much does it weigh, and how much does it cost? Usually Ebay is not the greatest place to get blacksmith's tools- too much money, too much junk. Took a closer look at the side of the anvil, and it looks like the remains of a "Trenton" brand stamp. Either way, the anvil looks to be in good shape.
January 30, 201016 yr Took a closer look at the side of the anvil, and it looks like the remains of a "Trenton" brand stamp. Either way, the anvil looks to be in good shape. I got the EBAY SITE to open by copying and pasteing to my browser. Seller doesn't seem to know a lot - says there's a round hole and a square hole in it. Gives dimensions and says it weighs about 117 pounds. Seems right for the dimensions. Stand and hardy tool included. There's a second picture from the top. Edges a bit chewed toward the horn end but not bad. Someone back east needs to comment on prices, but I'd say $2 to $3 a pound wouldn't be all that bad. Presently a $65 bid. Won't ship, must be picked up on site. That should eliminate a bunch of potential buyers.
January 31, 201016 yr Author Yeah. hopefully ithe price doesnt clime too much. thanks everyone. Is it all steel? or do you think it is iron with a steel face?
February 1, 201016 yr Wrought iron or mild steel with a forge welded high carbon steel face. *not* cast iron with a steel face like a Fisher or vulcan. Gotta watch the jargon!
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