Anvils: Searching for the Holy Grail

[oakwoodironworks]

I have read alot of posts here about how to find an anvil, condition of the anvil and how much to pay. Thought I would list some observations of mine from my experiences of obtaining blacksmithing tools over the years. First of all, I want ot say that Thomaspowers and Stewartsmith, along with others, have both given out alot of good advise on how to find an anvil.

Here are some of my ideas:
1. Always ask everyone you know and if you are bold enough, people you run across, if they have an anvil or know someone who does. You will often be surprised how close you are to finding one.

2. Good places to find an anvil are flea markets, farm and tractor shows, yard sales, ABANA affiliate meetings and the occasional antique store. Unless you have lots of money to spend, I would stay away from Ebay and auctions. Someone told me that it only takes 2 people to have an auction, especially when both of them want the same thing real bad. I've seen people get caught up in the moment and pay way more than what the item is worth. Also, you never know who is bidding against you. I went to an auction one time and there was a 125 lb. Kolwasha anvil that went up to bid. I started out at $25 and was the high bidder at $175 when the other fellow droped out. I was in pretty good shape until another guy started bidding. The anvil finally went for $235 to the other bidder. After the auction, he came over and ask me if I wanted the anvil for $250. He said that he was the owner and couldn't let the anvil go at $175. I just turned and walked off. You can always post notices on community bulletin boards, local newspapers, etc. I know one guy who called in to a swap and sale program on a local radio station and said he was looking to buy an anvil. Someone heard him, called in and he wound up buying a 225 lb.Trenton anvil for $200.

3. Always keep your eyes open! I have seen an anvil being used in a backyard to tie a dog up to. Right now, I know of an anvil sitting on a stand, in front of an old barn you can barely see from the road. Haven't taken the time to stop and see if it might be for sale. Another example of keeping your eyes open was , one time, I was traveling on the Interstate highway for a vacation and stopped late at night to get some gas. I went inside to pay and was walking down the isle to get a Coke and noticed an anvil sitting on the floor by some shelves. I asked the attendant if the anvil was for sale and if so , how much. She $125 and I bought it. It was a118 Peter Wright in excellent shape. Only bad part was my wife was in the van and I had a hard time explaining what I needed another anvil for!!

4. Make up your mind up about what you can afford. If you don't think you have enough money to buy a good anvil, start saving for one. When I first started blacksmithing, I was told never to pay more than $1 a lb. for an anvil. That's easy to say if you already have an anvil. I was in the dark about what anvils were worth and figured those telling me this knew what they were talking about. Bad Advise!! I walked away (about 20 years ago) from a 250 lb. Hay-Budden (RARE) plow makers anvil because the seller wouldn't take $250 for it. He started out at $350 and came down to $275. For $25, I have been kicking myself for all these years! As far as $1 a lb. for an anvil, people have been quoting that for the last 30 years or longer. I have bought anvils that average $1 per lb., some more than that, some less than that and best of all, have been given a couple of anvils for free. This day and age, prices are all over the place. So for all this rambling, my point is don't get hung up about finding an anvil for $1 per lb. You might find one for that and you might not. Just stick with what you can afford and are willing to pay.

5. Anvil condition is often confusing to many people. Many people think they need a 400lb. anvil with perfect square edges, no dings or chips, and rings like the Bell of Saint Mary's. If you do need one like that, you probably won't find one cheap. As long as the anvil's not cracked or broken with large chunks missing, you might be surprised how much work you can do on a fair to good anvil. From my experience, there are alot more anvils with a few dings, chips, a little sway in the sweet spot, etc than there are pristine anvils out there. Anvils were made to be used and the blacksmiths using them used them daily.

Sorry for the long post. Just trying to help someone find an anvil. I know how discouraging not having an anvil can be when first starting out.

Mike

[HWooldridge]

Good post - and I completely agree about the $1 per lb comments. You can throw that advice out the window - it's great if you find a cheap one but don't expect it (I like your Fisher story).

My demo anvil was a 100 lb Hay Budden in perfect shape...I paid $2 per lb about 20 years ago and I used it regularly until I stopped doing public demos.

[fluidsteel]

Great advice. Word of mouth is very important.

For me I've done better than my savings account cares for buying anvils and such on Craig'slist.

My technique is simple. I search these terms daily, 8-10 times. Anvil, Anvils,blacksmith(s), black smith, vise,vice(not everyone can spell), plus a couple others.
There's been a few deals I passed on due to funds or I told friends about them. I bet there's 3X as many anvils that sell on CL here than one would think.
My reasoning is that searching the way I do, I see anvils weekly that are posted and removed in hours. 3 of the 5 anvils I bought on CL were posted and in my truck then removed from CL within a couple hours...search often or download the premium app on your phone and set auto searches. I am searching for another Fisher, so I check often still.
My two cents... Hope it helps someone.

[Daniel.85]

Some peoples holy grails are different than others, mine starts with an "R" and ends with "efflinghaus" lol.

Cant beat a deal on a nice old wrought anvil though, searching craigslist, auctionzip, estatesales.net and all that is good. Like the OP said though, auctions can be bad, but if there is one really close by it wont hurt to show up, you never know what you can get.

[george m.]

I agree with the auction advice. It may depend on where you are. Auctions in suburban/urban areas may attract fewer folk who are interested in anvils, etc.. My experience in recent years at auctions in rural NE Colorado is that there are always a few folk who will bid fairly aggressively on anvils.

If I see an auction announcement that lists an anvil or a forge, etc. I usually call the auctioneer and ask some questions about size, condition, etc.. Sometimes I get good info, sometimes not.

I got into blacksmithing when I bought a 100# vulcan anvil and a forge for $25 each at an auction in Riverton, WY in 1978. Probably the most life changing purchase I've ever made and one of the best deals.

Acquisively,
George M.

[Big-D]

I've had some luck putting an advertisement in the classified section of the newspaper. Most states have something like the "Market Bulletin", usually publised by the state department of agriculture, wanted ads in there usually do pretty well. I generally use terms like "top dollar paid", and "in good condition".

[ThomasPowers]

Auctions: when I was hunting a large anvil I used to get all het up over auction listings that said "large anvil" or even Huge anvil to get out there and find that it was 100 pounds and was considered HUGE compared to the 10 pound cast iron nail straighteners...

So I started to call them up and ask how large---still got bad data. Finally I started asking them "how many people did it take to move it?" 1 person == small anvil; 2 people == small to medium anvil; a laugh and a "we used a tractor!" == I went to the auction.

However I ended up getting both my 410# Trenton and my 515# *mint* Fisher by word of mouth/beating the bushes and way lower than things were going at auction; I pretty much stopped going to auctions as the expense in time and travel didn't pay off compared to talking to people around town.

Personally I would not advertise "Top Dollar Paid" unless I was willing to pay top e-bay prices. I would probably go with "cash paid" myself.

[Big-D]

I've probably owned something on the order of 50-75 anvils since I started blacksmithing in the late 70's. I've pretty much owned most of the major brands including Mousehole, Peter Wright, Hay Budden (and derivatives), Fisher Norris, Arm and Hammer (not Vulcan!), Trenton, Kohlswa, Peddinghaus, and Soderfors (sp?). Top dollar to someone that buys and sells anvils is $3.00 a pound plus. Top dollar to someone that has an anvil sitting in a shed covered in rat poop is just slightly more than scrap value.

[HWHII]

Great advise here. Personaly out of the several anvils I have aquired over the years. I have paid top dollar and also have gotten some deals. Over all they average out to about $2 lb. My point being if you want it and you can afford it just buy it. It will all work out in the end and hopefully you will not have any regrets. I don't. I just picked up a Champion rivet forge for doing demos. It has a sheet metal pan and is in really good shape. Paid $ 250 for it. Some might say I paid to much. Not me I will use it and be happy to have it. ;)