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I Forge Iron

Worth its weight in gold


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How 'bout a cool grand for an old rusty rivet forge? http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/grd/1884237208.html :blink: Fellow says "You will not likely see another this old very often." I see them about twice per month on the local Craigslist, so I guess twice a month is not very often. :lol:

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Depends on who is selling, and what the location is. I have found some screaming deals on my local CL. My best for smithing stuff was probably the 125# JHM journeyman anvil, folding NC stand with spring vise, single burner forge, tool box of shoe blanks/straight strips, tool box of tools;tongs, hardies, hammers, rasp, etc, and a tool box of hoof repair goo applications-Hey, I ain't no horse person. Total price-$250

Bought another truck load of smithing stuff from an estate sale that included a 1920 170# H-B anvil for $175.

I find CL to be far better than E-pay/PayPal which I try not to use due to their firearms policies-GRRRRRR :angry:

Matter of fact I am following up on a 200+# Fisher anvil for $250.

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How about this one, its such a valuable antique he got it appraised first
A hornless anvil is a rare find too I imagine

http://edmonton.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-tools-equipment-Antique-Smithing-Tools-Table-Vices-Forge-Blower-Engines-Anvil-W0QQAdIdZ217496130

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How about this one, its such a valuable antique he got it appraised first
A hornless anvil is a rare find too I imagine

http://edmonton.kiji...QAdIdZ217496130



That "Anvil" is a beauty looks more like $50 - $51 valule for the lot
We had a couple of champion 400 blowers on cl recently one guy wanted $375 (our buddy) and another guy wanted $400, come on guys its a $50 item maybe up to $100 if it is real nice
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A lot of these guys base their prices off what they see happening on ebay. For example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120605000965&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Of course, sometimes they don't compare apples with apples and expect $500 for an ASO because they saw an anvil sell for $500 on ebay.

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People do seem to fall for the "I've seen one that sold for $XXX do mine must be worth that" a lot. Discounting such little details like the first one was hand made by Samuel Yellin and has been in a museum the last 80 years and the one they have was a bottom of the line item sold through the sears catalog as part of their "cheap" smithing set up.

A friend of mine ran into this at a sidewalk sale in OH where an antique dealer had a pair of tongs with a $45 price tag. As he was standing there wide-eyed the owner came by and was remarking how great a buy that was as she had an "Antiques Guide" that had a pair of tongs forged by Henry Ford as a staged demo for $90 and so she thought that half price for a run of the mill farmer's tongs would then be a good idea---he offered to sell her all she wanted for half that...

CL has been much better for me than EBay; especially as shipping costs are low compared to many e-bay auctions.

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I found this on craigslist today.

http://fairbanks.craigslist.org/for/1854544655.html

$600 for a post vise. Is this a joke? Oh, or a 150 lb to 300 lb anvil. Then he gets to choose which post vise you get.


Heck, Badger road is just a little east of you Bryan so it might save a little shipping.

Can't hurt to give him a call, laugh and make a reasonable counter offer on the best of the pair.

Frosty the Lucky.
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If smithing equipment goes for that much up there in Alaska I'm loading my truck up with all of my spare gear and sending my boys up their to Frosty's house so they can sell it for me. He can keep the truck and boys and send me the money. :lol:


You might have yourself a deal if the Boys can work to Deb's expectations and don't eat too much. Send a pic and mechanic's evaluation of the truck, we'll talk.

Frosty the Lucky.
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When purchasing a leg vise, one should at least know the jaw width, what the screw threads look like, and whether any parts are missing. The pictured vises are probably Columbians or Indian Chiefs judging by the shape of the protruding portion of the screw boxes. Columbians were the brand most commonly sold in the western U.S., not necessarily because they were so great. I think that their screw boxes were cast iron, maybe ductile iron, whereas the Peter Wright vises had a solid forged screw box. The English Peter Wrights had beautiful lines, nicely chamfered legs, and a neatly turned screw box, the latter almost appearing to be an old fashioned mortar. A good American made vise was the Iron City, made in Pittsburgh; they were stamped IRON CITY inside of a six pointed star on the movable leg. There were other good old leg vises on the market, but the manufacturer was not always known.

As to jaw width, there were many 4" and 5" vises sold. If one is serious about smithery, I would suggest looking for a 6" jaw or wider. An 8" jaw vise is hard to find, but they were made. For neophytes, I think a 4" vise would be OK, but I would still be looking for a bigger one.

My favorite is the Peter Wright. On top of the screw box in small letters, you can sometimes make out, "P. WRIGHT PATENT SOLID BOX." Another feature of the Peter Wright are the "ears" which extend over the washer, apparently intended to keep swarf out of the works.

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

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