A 36 for anvil

[pkrankow]

Rebound on a mild steel anvil sucks rocks, frankly ... but the upside is that a mild steel anvil is much quieter.

You do have to work a bit harder with a mild steel anvil - especially a small one like mine, but learning good hammering techniques and tricks can compensate a bit, and the smith has to listen to what his or her body is telling them ... stop when tired and take a break, stretch before doing any work, drink lots of water, etc. (but this applies to ALL smiths, no matter what anvil you're using).
But like I said, the advantage is a quieter work space so there is less chance of hearing loss or annoyed neighbours.

So weigh the pros and cons ... everyone will make their own choices and decisions.

I bet it is better than a cast iron ASO
Phil

[ThomasPowers]

learning to work *HOT* helps a lot. A lot of new smiths tend to work quite cold thinking they are saving fuel when in actuality they end up taking much longer to forge a piece and so burn up their "savings".

For ornamental work in mild steel working just below welding temp really makes things easier and faster. I know I have this problem as I cam into smithing through blademaking and the high carbon/high alloys steels do need to be worked at a lower temp to prevent burning up or "cottage cheesing".

I guess if I work enough real wrought iron I can develop a set of "hot habits" to go with my "High C" ones...

[Sam Falzone]

I bet it is better than a cast iron ASO
Phil

You bet Phil ... but I still wouldn't turn my nose up at an ASO if that was the ONLY thing I could get.
The sooner you actually learn and practice the skills you need and want, the sooner you can use those skills to facilitate the purchase of better tools (by making stuff to sell for example).

Life is to short to sweat about the details ... Hammer, Fire, Hot Steel, Something to hit it on ... the rest is details