This is my first post here. I've built myself a little forge and got a nice blower, but I lack an anvil. I've been looking around, posting ads, asking here and there, and the one lead I got was for this one, which is relatively near to me (about 100kms, I live in a very sparse region).

 

 

 

Dimensions according to the seller are:

11"H x 24.5"L

      Top 4"W

      Base 11" x 9"

      Weight 175lb.

I've been meaning to go check it out in person, test the ring and rebound, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Anyway, the guy is asking $500 as his lowest price for it, and he claims there are no markings on it but the weight.

I'm not counting on finding too many anvils in this region, and cheaper deals will likely cost me as much in fuel anyway. I had a few leads that lead nowhere unfortunately.

Anyway, can anyone tell anything about this anvil from the pictures? Words of sage advice?

I'm not adverse to spending $500 CAD if I have to, I just want to make sure it's money well spent.

 

Thanks, and I'm looking forward to getting into smithing!

It looks ok as far as condition. Tell him you would offer him $400, counting your fuel costs its a fair deal. 

I'm a newbie, so I can't affer an sage advice.  But I can tell you that i've been looking at a lot of anvils over the last couple months.  Most in my area are in the $3-$4 per pound (US) range.  I finally found  a nice Fisher $2/lb and grabbed it.  That looks like a very nice anvil.  It doesn't appear to be abused, just neglected a little.  But it should clean up nicely.  If I were in your shoes and location, I'd grab it.

 

Good luck!

i am no expert in anvils but that looks a lot like a vulcan to me(cast iron body steel face) these are a medium quality anvil but dont expect it to ring as its body is cast iron,i would hesitate to pay 500$ for it unless i am mistaken and it is a fisher

I would not think it is a Vulcan, Vulcans seem to be more blocky. It is important to remember as well his location. To me to looks a little like a Vaugh Brooks because of the mass under the hardy, also they were made in England and English anvils are far, far more common in Ontario then American anvils, at least the ones I have seen around.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

It looks ok as far as condition. Tell him you would offer him $400, counting your fuel costs its a fair deal. 

 

That was my counter offer. He originally wanted $600, so I opted to ignore him a while to show I wasn't in a hurry, and he emailed me again telling me he was open to offers. I offered him $400. He declined and told me $500 was his lowest. I'm letting him sit again for now. Problem is I don't think he's in a hurry to sell it either.

I'm also thinking of trying to find a deal down in Southern Ontario, and picking it up on my next trip down to visit family, but then I don't have the luxury of time or the ability to ask around like I do here.

It does look in alright order, If it does have a ring to it and your getting >70% rebound on the hammer test, them maybe the $500.

However I dont think this will be the case, with no brand on the anvil it is not likely to be stell and you may just have an iron block,which will damage up quickly and be more hitting then it may be worth to do jobs.

My thoughts if its an iron block $250 and petrol and thats a bit of an ask for iron block, if it has steel involved and rebound good then maybe 400-500

.

Might just have to find some thing to hit on from the scrap pile for a while longer till a sweeter deal pops up (I waited 3 months and got 300Lb of steel for $160)

Good huunting

thanks stu the heel and horn are what made me think vulcan or a vulcan clone i think a brooks anvil would be offended at the comparison to this

this anvil also doesnt have a big drop to the cutting table and i think i have seen that on other vulcans

early fishers look very similar to vulcans. I would make sure that it has a steel face, and test it out in person... Bring what your willing to spend, as cash in hand tends to motivate people to sell. Don't be afraid to walk away.

Yeah. The guy who has it seems to have a lot of listings on the local buy/sell/trade site I found it on. (Kinda like a North-Eastern Ontario only Kijiji), so I'm thinking he's a picker or some such, and this wasn't just laying around, hence the price.

I may go check it out at some point, but I have no qualms with walking away, particularly given what I'm reading here. I discovered while shopping for a truck almost a year ago that good things come to those who wait. Maybe that'll work again.

Frankly, exactly the opposite approach should be practiced if it's something you really want is out there. I find that if someone wants something enough, they will acquire it through their own means and motivations. 

 

 

5 anvils in a little over a month; TPAAAT

http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/3602-thomas-powers-applied-anvil-acquisition-technique/page-3

 

I added one more to the mix, the 200 pound Fisher on the right...

 

 

Now that I've attained the 2 big'ns, I can make up their cost flipping the anvils that I've acquired in the effort... either through trades, flipping, or paying "good deals" forward to budding smiths... Karma was good to me, I see no reason not to make it perpetual.

I would not think it is a Vulcan, Vulcans seem to be more blocky. It is important to remember as well his location. To me to looks a little like a Vaugh Brooks because of the mass under the hardy, also they were made in England and English anvils are far, far more common in Ontario then American anvils, at least the ones I have seen around.

I think the heel is much too thick for a Brooks.

It does kinda look like the Vulcan in this picture. Notice the feet.

 

 

http://anvilfire.com/anvils/donated_024.php

Well, at this point yeah, I think I'm gonna let this one sit. I've got half the town on the look out for me, with a few more leads. Asked around the mine where I work, around people who work at the papermill in town (which apparently had a blacksmith at one point)...My shifter (basically my boss) said he might have one in his basement that he would just give to me.

Well I know it's been a couple months since I last posted anything here, but I may as write an epilogue.

I didn't end up buying this anvil, but I kept an eye out on kijiji and such province wide. For a while there was nothing particularly special or well priced. I wasn't in too much of a hurry anyway as I intend to work outside for now, and winter only just seems to have ended this past week. Anyway, then a guy who lived only a few minutes from my grandparents place (he's in Oakville, they're in Mississauga) posted a 75 kilo Peddinghaus with a mount for $575 and said he could deliver locally. Called him, had him deliver to my grandparents' place, and they were nice enough to spot me the money until I got down there to pay them back. And my last days off I made the trip down, picked up the anvil, visited the grandparents, had a couple pub nights with friends who live in the south, checked out 'Thak Ironworks' and bought some smithing coal, loaded my truck with stuff my grandpa didn't want anymore and headed for home. Unfortunately I had other appointments for my last two days off so I haven't got the chance to fire up the forge and really try it out. But four nightshifts and it's time to see what she can do.

 

 

You can see the simple 'plate welded to I-beam' anvil I made underneath the saw. Never actually got around to using it though. I'm thinking I'll weld the two halves of that I-beam together and weld some legs on to make a sort of workbench/welding table.

 

Now to improve my forge design for efficiency.

Wow huge upgrade IMO

Nice saw.  And a pretty good anvil too!  Enjoy.

Hold on, raised letters (numbers) on a forged anvil?  Are you sure it's a Peddinghaus?  Perhaps one of the Rigid/Peddinghaus derivatives were cast?  IIRC there are a few permutations of the Peddinghaus name.   Regardless, the form and finish indicate a top quality European anvil.  Good no matter the brand.  

i had the guy with the European hammer talked down to $400, but then my ride to Oakville cancelled  :P  its a nice anvil!

 

Josh

What a bummer Josh. What's the seller say about holding it for you? Probably not but it's worth asking, worst s/he can say is no.

 

What do you think a bus driver would say to an anvil as carry on? Probably nothing if you're carrying it in one hand as you drop the coins in the thingy with the other eh?

 

Frosty The Lucky.

lol i wish! but im glad someone who needed it got it!

my first post was meant to mbe anvil, not hammer ;P

my first post was meant to mbe anvil, not hammer ;P

 

Yes, the carrying it one handed remark is in reference to WHO in the world is going to give a guy carrying an anvil one handed a hard time about ANYTHING?

 

Not everything is meant to be taken literally. Just another lesson in "straight line" training bro.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty, I knew that, just wanted to make sure that anyone else who read it would know what I meant

 

Josh