Would you? Would I? What to do with my (first) anvil?

[Words]

Hello all,


For the past few months I've been obsessing and reading about blacksmithing, wishing that I had an anvil and forge, then suddenly I ran across this old anvil on my way to north GA to pick up some hay for my horses. The collector says that it weighs 70# and that I could have it for $105. I didn't have a straight edge on me but it seems pretty flat, so I bounced a hammer on it (not that I have any past experience to compare it with) and that rang the anvil painfully loud and rebounded it in a significant way, unlike some of his other anvils which must have been cracked or made of cast iron.

What do you all think of my "brand new" anvil? I still have to come up with materials for a forge and a place for a shop so I could take the time to repair the edge maybe or grind the top down flat. Leave it alone or is it worth touching up somehow, what would you do with this? Is this a decent anvil? A look online says that this maybe is a Colombia Hardware Co. anvil.

Thanks for any help.

[marcusb]

Looks like it has seen some rough treatment. Personally I would start smithing on a large hunk of scrap and hold out for a nice anvil. Good thing about this plan you learn hammer control and spare the edges!

Have you tried to barter with him any? Maybe he would take less???

[Words]

I guess I got too excited and jumped on it, oops. Well the guy offered that I could always bring the anvil back to him and trade for another one if and when he has one available and I pay the difference if it weighs more. So this is more like less than $1 per lb kind of anvil?

[pkrankow]

Someone did a lot of cold work on that anvil, which is commonly why the edges are broken like that. Sizing horseshoes cold is one possibility.

I would make an edge tool that fits the hardy so I have neat edges. You can weld it up out of a square rod and a plate, or forge it.

I would consider grinding the side of the anvil in a small area, say 2-3 inches, to regain a small amount of decent edge, and still be able to weld a new face on with appropriate materials at some future date. (I have been considering grinding like this for over a year on my Trenton with similar damage)

Refacing is labor, skill, and material intensive, but may be the best answer at some point. However, there will be other anvils, so leaving this one as is and using it is another good answer.

Phil

[ThomasPowers]

Columbian Anvil---these are cast STEEL anvils and so tend to have more edge issues. HOWEVER being solid cast steel they can also be fixed with less possibility of catastrophic failure.

If you do a search you will find that I hardly ever suggest folks weld on their anvil---but in this case I would give thought to using the Gunter method of anvil repair to make that anvil a show piece. DO NOT have some random welder work on it without knowing if they know squat about anvil repairs. The Gunter method is a tried and true method. Best would be if a local ABANA affiliate is holding an anvil repair clinic and taking it to one of those. (I've been to ones in Ohio and New Mexico so far...)

If that anvil was in better shape that would be a *bragging* price indeed so no buyer's remorse needed

And don't fall for the "lets put a sharp point on the horn" idea. I find that blunt horn impacts on my legs and nearby places are lots more fun than sharp horn impacts and if I need a small sharp horn I can forge on to use in the hardy horn, (and have done so for most of my anvils over the years)