EWCTool Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Does anyone use one of these anvils? From what I have read they are supposed to be the best that you can buy, being they are the only drop forged tool steel anvil produced today. Is using one really the nirvana for any blacksmith? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 I like the Rat hole forge anvil. Goes by a different name these days. Cast tool steel, don't really see a problem with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harley Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 I have heard people rave about the 450 lb. Nimba Gladiator. When the day comes that I buy a brand new anvil I may just go with the Nimba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWCTool Posted June 27, 2010 Author Share Posted June 27, 2010 I use a Euro Anvil and it is cast steel, that anvil does the job very well. Because tools that are forged, as opposed to cast, have better qualities and would be better at their designated jobs then I would assume that these anvils would be heaven under the hammer. What do yall say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike-hr Posted June 29, 2010 Share Posted June 29, 2010 I've got the 275# double bick Peddinhaus. I wouldn't trade it for any other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted June 29, 2010 Share Posted June 29, 2010 If you got the money to burn I guess it's like buying a Mercedes as opposed to a Chevy. I drive a Chevy and it gets me from point 'a' to point 'b' just fine. I got a big old Fisher and it does me just fine and didn't cost a whole bunch but if you wants a Peddinghaus then by all means don't let the likes of me stop you, they are a fine anvil, just not a Fisher. B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Don't think 90+% of us would be able to tell the difference from a well heat treated good cast steel anvil and a forged one. Course Bragging rights are another thing! I use a 515# Fisher and love the quiet myself; but if I win the lottery I'm going to get a Nimba for the shop as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hammer Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Thomas... Shouldn't you be saying WHEN you win the lottery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragons lair Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Heres my 2 cents worth, Will a great anvil make ya a better smith? I know it will not not. Watched a guy in my gun club. Started with a $200 pistol. couldnt hit squat. bought a $300 then a $400 and a $500 still couldn't hit squat. Went all the way to a coustom $1800 piece. Still can't hit squat. Its NOT the tool it's what you do with it. Met a local guy who went to Charlston to Phillips smithy. Asked who belonged to that crappy old anvil. Response was I do. If ya really want to be humbled walk around Charlston then look at Phillips shop all that ironwork was done there. Ken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstermetal Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Yep... Its nice to have some clean edges and sometimes it nice to have a flat anvil... But not always.. I have a nimba Gladiator... And its a fine anvil... But I have 11 others and I can tell you my work doesnt look any better when I do it on the Nimba... I doubt the Penddinghaus would make me a better smith either but what the heck if one comes along, Id like to give it a try! If you have money to spend on a new anvil, I dont think you could go wrong buying a Peddinghaus.... I lusted after one for a long time but I have a really hard time buying a "new" anything.. I bought my Nimba second hand for less than half of new... And I bought it because it was a good deal, Not because it was a Nimba... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sask Mark Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 I agree that a certain anvil won't make you a better smith. However, speaking from personal experience, when I get a new tool or piece of equipment, I can't wait to use it. If that means I'm going to spend more time smithing while I use my new tools, I will become a better smith through practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 I can say the same about "new to me" tools that are over 100 years old while on the other hand I have known folks afraid to use their new stuff as they might mar it---the first scratch on a new car syndrome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWCTool Posted July 13, 2010 Author Share Posted July 13, 2010 There is no question that a bad Indian blames the arrows, or if the old tools get the work done why fix what ain’t busted. But when you start a project, to ensure that you are producing the best product possible, you use the best material available, agreed. I am recognizing the fact that we are blacksmiths, and one fundamental principle that we must adopt in order to survive is that we must use what we can get. Therefore if most of us were designing the best anvil to work with, while ignoring design, cost, and unconditionally focusing on material, you would have to be crazy to not make your anvil from drop forged tool steel. From here I could agree that other factors may take president, so where some may care if the anvil is forged of cast, the design may be more important than the material to others. Or am I mistaken? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Some musings and meanderings; feel free to pay them no heed. I break out in hives when folks throw around the word "Best" as it's meaningless unless qualified. What is the "best" form of transportation? Are you going to the corner store, going to pick up 50 tons of coal or going to the moon? One instructor once told us that "*every* engineering calculation should have a dollar sign somewhere in it". I talked to my father about this as he then had a couple of thousand engineers working for him and he agreed. As far as anvils go I think I would prefer a D2 anvil that was not drop forged to a 1080 anvil that was drop forged---given that both are properly heat treated. Personally if drop forging got me 1% better performance but at 5 times the cost; well I'm not using my anvils out at the very edges of their performance envelope and the cost differential would be the determining factor. It seems like in my researches that traditionally blacksmiths saw their anvils as tools that had a long life but were consumables in the end and expected them to need re-working in their uselife. Lots of ads for dressing and refacing anvils back in the 1880's and 1890's. In general most folks I have run into who are concerned in having the *best* *tools* often are not producing the *best* work and some old geezer using ancient and worn tools is doing eye-popping work because he's put the time in learning his tools and all their quirks and foibles and so can use them to do whatever he needs or wants to do with them. I'll be happy to sit down in some small village out in the boonies and learn from a smith using a small charcoal forge and a sledge hammer head for an anvil rather than being in an air conditioned $100,000 smithy with someone who's barely touched the gorgeous tools in it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpotter Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I have never posted before but I figured this was a good time to start. I started with a block of steel that I turned into an anvil it is 400lbs it looks like an anvil it is mild steel with a hard face but it sucks I then found a beautiful 275lbs budden nearly new and this is no exageration it is perfect no chips or dings and it hasnt been resurfaced, I decided I was not worthy so it is in the living room. I came into 2500 bucks and was going to buy a nimba gladiator but my wife needed some dental work so I got the 275 lbs peddinghause, because it was 1600 bucks and that is what I had left. The thing is great it has rebound like nothing I have tried I do mostly small stuff and it is more than good enough. I woudnt hesitate since they wont make them forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connor bachmann Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 I know this is an old topic, but I'd like to give my $0.02 I started out using a rock, I continued using a rock and was still able to make some pretty objects, along with the staples (hooks, nails, etc). Then I was using a russian cast steel ASO, I was able to make some better art work, but I still needed the skill to back it up. Now I have a Peter Wright, it is an excellent anvil and I move metal much faster, but it still requires skill, much of which I still need to learn. A Peddinghaus/Refflinghaus would be like the Rolls Royce of anvils (Kohlswas are Mercedes'), and metal would move very easily, forging would be like butter, but you can't make better shapes on those than you can on my russian ASO if you have the skill. That's my Two Cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Let me rephrase your comment "I started with aN ANVIL that I turned into a LONDON PATTERN anvil"---as most anvils in the world look more like a block of steel than a London Pattern Anvil... I'm hauling a "block of steel" anvil to a week long historical campout next month---very handy as I can document it's style from the Roman Empire through medieval times, renaissance times, spanish colonial times, the French and Indian War and into the 20th century[india, Near East, Far East]---about 2000 years. The london pattern anvil is more 18th century getting the final bit---the pritchel in the 1820's So what looks more like an anvil: a style used for 2000 years or one used less than 200? I see so many new people get hung up on having to have a london pattern anvil that they never notice smiths all over the world doing great work on just hunks of steel. Just look at a japanese swordsmith's anvil for an example of not needing a london pattern anvil to do "decent" work... What's funny is that for a bladesmith the late 19th century anvil pattern is NOT the best one. Anvils evolved into sort of a "swiss army knife" item with lots of bells and whistles and long horns and heels where what a blade maker needs is mass under the hammer and what they don't need is the NOISE the "modern" designs make. (I will agree that for ornamental work the modern anvil design is quite nice indeed! So in my "mixed" shop I have several of each type available; but I often take the "cube" anvil when I teach to show new smiths that they can get on with learning the craft *before* they can afford/scrounge a london pattern anvil!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Let me rephrase your comment "I started with aN ANVIL that I turned into a LONDON PATTERN anvil"---as most anvils in the world look more like a block of steel than a London Pattern Anvil... I'm hauling a "block of steel" anvil to a week long historical campout next month---very handy as I can document it's style from the Roman Empire through medieval times, renaissance times, spanish colonial times, the French and Indian War and into the 20th century[india, Near East, Far East]---about 2000 years. The london pattern anvil is more 18th century getting the final bit---the pritchel in the 1820's So what looks more like an anvil: a style used for 2000 years or one used less than 200? I see so many new people get hung up on having to have a london pattern anvil that they never notice smiths all over the world doing great work on just hunks of steel. Just look at a japanese swordsmith's anvil for an example of not needing a london pattern anvil to do "decent" work... What's funny is that for a bladesmith the late 19th century anvil pattern is NOT the best one. Anvils evolved into sort of a "swiss army knife" item with lots of bells and whistles and long horns and heels where what a blade maker needs is mass under the hammer and what they don't need is the NOISE the "modern" designs make. (I will agree that for ornamental work the modern anvil design is quite nice indeed! So in my "mixed" shop I have several of each type available; but I often take the "cube" anvil when I teach to show new smiths that they can get on with learing the craft *before* they can afford/scrounge a london pattern anvil!) Agreed, although I do find the hardy handy. And I have recently started to appreciate the horn more, since I discovered how useful it is for drawing out. (Took a while watching Brian Brazeal and Mark Aspery videos on YouTube for that to click with me.) There absolutely are other ways to accomplish both things, but they're not quite as convenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 The anvil in the Roman Museum in Bath England has a lovely "mushroom" shape to it from years of use. I think that would work well for drawing out too; but haven't talked any of my students to hammering a corresponding mushroom on one of my block anvils.... I like the very broad horn of my large fisher for drawing and can use it with a fairly wide top fuller like a cheese fuller to get a nice even effect. The problem is that a lot of students get hung up on thinking they need exactly what *you* are using to do similar work---one reason I tend to take their hammer and use their anvil in class to "fix" any problems they run into---shows them that's it's not a problem with the tools... (as you can probably tell I work with College kids a lot!) I will also have them switch hammers and anvils if they are causing problems that the students can't deal with.---Like using a very dressed hammer for folks who can't hit flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Lets return to the the original post. " Are Peddinghaus anvils good anvils" If you want to buy one you won't go wrong. Are they the best? That's a hard question to answer there a so many good anvils out there now who has the time to work on any of them long enough to find any weaknesses. True the Peddinghauses our supposedly the only fored anvil still made.The quality of modern cast steel is so high now that IMHO I don't think it will make a difference. All this said I bought my 165lb Peddinghaus in 1973 and still use it every day as I have since day one and it's never let me down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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