rileyhw Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 i got this anvil about a week ago for 100$ i thought it was pretty good deal. its a jhm, pretty good anvil for a 100 bucks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel.85 Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 great score! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 That is purty. Very nice find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOblacksmith0530 Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Yup you did good. Looks like new. My 125 lb farrier anvil was 400 new. Looks to be about the same size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rileyhw Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 i know it was good and i got a double burner propane forge brand new for another 100 bucks, i already have one so know i have 2 (: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kytedog Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Hey Riley new to the whole forging thing and I have been tryin to shop around, do you or anyone else have any suggestions for how to pick up a find like that? Amazing luck is not the answer I am hoping for, but it is what it is LMAO. Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Hey Riley new to the whole forging thing and I have been tryin to shop around, do you or anyone else have any suggestions for how to pick up a find like that? Amazing luck is not the answer I am hoping for, but it is what it is LMAO. Congrats! There are a number of ways to score a decent anvil. You need to ask everyone you meet if they know of anyone with an anvil. Also check the tailgating section of IFI, we are always posting good opportunities. Where are you located? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Attila. Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 There are a number of ways to score a decent anvil. You need to ask everyone you meet if they know of anyone with an anvil. Also check the tailgating section of IFI, we are always posting good opportunities. Where are you located? i have been looking for a 100-200 lb anvil but can't afford the usual $4-6/lb. saw some on ebay that went for way too much. nice hay buddens and kohlswas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Attila. Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 sorry i've been away for too long. i'm just south and between DC and Annapolis in southern MD. where are you located, attila? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Repeat after me "E-BAY is generally a TERRIBLE PLACE to buy ANVILS if you want them CHEAP" "E-BAY is generally a TERRIBLE PLACE to buy ANVILS if you want them CHEAP" "E-BAY is generally a TERRIBLE PLACE to buy ANVILS if you want them CHEAP" "E-BAY is generally a TERRIBLE PLACE to buy ANVILS if you want them CHEAP" Now give it some thought: folks on E-Bay are trying to get the maximum price from their anvils they can get. They are often basing their expectations on what collectors anvils or anvils in extremely anvil poor areas have got. And then you still have to pay SHIPPING! (Often shipping is higher than what I have bought similar anvils for near to me.) Beating the bushes will get you the best prices *and* they will generally be local to you! Remember the internet is NOT the BEST way to go about doing *many* things! (And I've worked as a Software Engineer for over 25 years!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Attila. Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Repeat after me "E-BAY is generally a TERRIBLE PLACE to buy ANVILS if you want them CHEAP" "E-BAY is generally a TERRIBLE PLACE to buy ANVILS if you want them CHEAP" "E-BAY is generally a TERRIBLE PLACE to buy ANVILS if you want them CHEAP" "E-BAY is generally a TERRIBLE PLACE to buy ANVILS if you want them CHEAP" Now give it some thought: folks on E-Bay are trying to get the maximum price from their anvils they can get. They are often basing their expectations on what collectors anvils or anvils in extremely anvil poor areas have got. And then you still have to pay SHIPPING! (Often shipping is higher than what I have bought similar anvils for near to me.) Beating the bushes will get you the best prices *and* they will generally be local to you! Remember the internet is NOT the BEST way to go about doing *many* things! (And I've worked as a Software Engineer for over 25 years!) thanks. lol i know ebay is a terrible place, but its the only shopping resource i have at the moment besides craigslist and word of mouth which have been fruitless. what specifically do you mean by "beating the bushes"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Word of mouth---have you talked with *everyone* you meet? I bring up I'm looking for anvils in checkout lines and at church during coffee hour. Have you posted a notice at a local feed store or coop or supermarket board? Remembering that anvils were a common part of any industries maintenance department have you kept an eye open for an old business going out of business. Especially boat related businesses out there I would guess; but I have known of complete smithing set ups in: a sugar refinery, a glass pane manufacturer, an auto repair shop, a hospital---talked with the fellow who was an orthopedic smith in it during WWII!, prisons, insane asylums, farms, etc. Often the anvil is the last piece of equipment to go and often when they shut down smithing the smith brought it home with him. two generations down the line it's often a nuisance and folks are happy that someone will *use* it. Funny thing: Cities had a lot more anvils in them than the countryside ever did! Develop your eye; I found a 125# PW once because I noticed a old postvise leaning against a falling down barn---I was doing a test drive of a car we were buying and my wife wouldn't let me stop; but we went back after buying it and I bought the 5" postvise and the PW from the owner---He was in his late 80's and was overjoyed at the unexpected windfall---I paid what he asked as he needed the money more than I needed to brag about another cheap anvil---and it was still a good deal by today's standards! Leave a card with antique dealers, sometimes they will trip over an anvil; but don't want the hassle of moving it. I've been called with good deals that way before. Leave a card at used machinery dealers; as mentioned old factories often have anvils hiding and a guy that moves modern machine tools usually has no use for one or wants the bother of trying to sell it on. I've left a card with the local scrappers who travel around collecting steel to sell to the scrapyards, out here they generally speak Spanish and I've learned the terms for what I want and tell them I will pay twice as much as the scrapyard will! leave a card at the scrapyard---bring them a dozen doughnuts and explain what you are hunting for. You may not be able to wander the piles but having them hunting for you is almost as good! (I usually explain that I offer a finders fee often in chilled brown or green bottles paid out at quitting time on a hot summer Friday...but I'm not upset to kick in an extra $25 to the guys in the yard if I'm buying smithing tools at SCRAP RATE!) uhhh this is sort of what I mean by beating the bushes.... Quiero comprar un yunque--- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Welcome aboard Kytedog, glad to have you. You and Atilla need to put your general locations in your headers, you may be pleasantly surprised to discover haw many folk here on IFI live within visiting distance. As Thomas says beat the bushes, finding blacksmithing tools you can afford isn't so easy online. forget E-bay or Craigslist though on rare occasions you can find tools in the freebies. Beat the bushes means tell everybody you meet and your friends, recruit your friends to help. Heck, they'll work even harder than you to get you to shut up. That's how I got my first good anvil, my 125lb. Soderfors came to me through one of the guys at work who had a neighbor who was retiring from shoeing as his knees were shot. Anyway, make what you're looking for a mantra. "Hi, my name is Jerry, I'm looking for an anvil, forge and tongs, do you know of any?" Finish with something like. "It's sure been nice talking to you Mr. X now don't forget I'm looking for an anvil, forge and tongs. Have a grand day." Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wd&mlteach Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 I have a shirt from the Pennsylvania Artist Blacksmith Association and it never fails that somebody will start a converstation with me when I wear it. Usually it is something like, "Boy that is a dying art" or something and I assure them it is not. Then I inform them as a technology teacher I incorperate it into my metals classes every year. After that I am always sure to strike(pun) up a converstaion about anvils. I always thought about a shirt with a slogan would be great. You know something like "Will work for Anvils", "Got Anvil?", "Wanted: Anvils" ( and then have pictures of differnet makes) or "BETA: Blacksmiths for the Ethical Treatment of Anvils", or "Anvil Collector". Well maybe not the last one as it may communicate that I have enough money to support such a habit, LOL. Anyway, I am sure somebody else has already thought of something like this I just can't find them anywhere. When I get a chance I will burn a screen and make my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Attila. Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 ThomasPowers, thank you for sharing that train of thought. i don't get out much, so i don't think like that. this sure helps, though, i don't know a single person in my new location, so will have to make friends i guess. and the spanish line could be useful too. :P Frosty, name has 2 t's and 1 l. no hard feelings of course. sorry bout the location thing. its fixed as you can see. wd&mlteach, would you mind terribly if i actually put your tshirt ideas to use? i'd gladly wear "will work for anvils" or "BETA..." thats good stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wd&mlteach Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Attila. You or anybody else can put them to use for the right reasons. My personal opinion, the right reasons are to go out and find anvils to be used! Mr. Powers I salute you and anybody else that has your mentality in mind when accquiring anvils and passing them on to be used. Attila, if you do use these slogans and print one post a picture. If you are planning on printing a bunch and selling them, send me one. If you make a boatload of money off of them, send me an anvil! Hah! Those were just the first ideas out of my head I will keep thinking and posting. How about this... I (heart) anvils Please Strike-Up a Converstaion with Me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 People used to say I was shy and quiet; till I got into smithing and started hunting tools and learned that shy and quiet had a substantial monetary penalty associated with it. I strongly suggest you get a bunch of cheap business cards---like vista print offers, with your name phone number/e-mail address and "Anvils and blacksmithing stuff Wanted!" I've gone on and had a bunch made up using their "fire" background---makes them more noticeable and helps jog people's memory about what I'm into. Harder to lose such a card than a random slip of paper with crude pencil or pen writing on it. Actually I have found the search to be fun and I get to talk with a LOT of interesting folks---5 generation smiths, Orthopedic Blacksmiths, tool room smiths. They are getting on in years and their stories need to be listened to and preserved! (The Orthopedic Blacksmith told me that once a Wave or WAC fell and broke her pelvis and he was called in to make a custom splint for it. Remember this was back in the WWII days of things...they chose him to make it as he was a "married man" and not one of the single guys doing that job at the hospital. He was the envy of all the rest of the guys in the shop; but never told them he never got to see the lady as she was behind a screen and he would tell the Dr's what measurements he needed and they would take them and report them back...) (Or Isaac Doss an old smith in NW Arkansas telling me about taking his wares around by horse and wagon when what is now an interstate was a dirt road...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rileyhw Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 yeah, the best way to get great deals is to do some work for some old farmers and they will know of one somewhere and you can get a good deal. you just gotta look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Yes *always* ask if they know someone with one. I started out at a fleamarket and ended up chasing triphammers all day once bouncing from one old smith to another till I finally found a 60# champion for $700 in running condition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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