JCHarris Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I'm heading to an estate sale/auction this Saturday, they have an 100lb Soderfors Anvil and a coal forge for sale. As a noobie to this whole blacksmithing thing, what is a reasonable bid/limit? I know a lot of it boils down to "how much are you willing to spend" but I'm more talking value. Pictures are attached. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 well the price on an anvil can vary substantially depending on WHERE YOU ARE AT. Here in the USA I have seen anvil prices vary by a factor of 2 depending on location. However that is a good brand of cast steel anvil and if you can get it for under US$2 a pound you will be bragging about it. It's a convenient size and depending on WHERE YOU ARE AT may go for US$3 a pound still not too bad if you need one. Much more than that and I would hunt down a cheaper one myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCHarris Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 Thanks! I'm in Texas by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I'd be happy to pay $300 for both and no more than $400 if the blower on the forge works smoothly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Great I'm next door in NM currently; you can edit your profile to put in a *general* location. Very helpful as so many smithing questions turn out to have a location component. (everything from where to get coal, good scrapyards, buying and selling equipment, conferences, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Seems like the swedish anvils in good shape are drawing a premium. I wouldn't be surprised if that one gets bid up to $5/lb. Who knows tho maybe no one will want it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coke Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Greetings J C By what I can see it looks like the forge was built by a plummer .. I think the fire pot is a sewer grate and the bricks are common bricks... If so you will have to rebuild it....The anvil looks good and should bring a good price... I've bought tons of forges and anvils and will feel comfortable at about 400.00 to 500.00 for the pair... Look close at the anvil to see if it has been in a fire.. JIm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulKrzysz Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Greetings J C By what I can see it looks like the forge was built by a plummer .. I think the fire pot is a sewer grate and the bricks are common bricks... If so you will have to rebuild it....The anvil looks good and should bring a good price... I've bought tons of forges and anvils and will feel comfortable at about 400.00 to 500.00 for the pair... Look close at the anvil to see if it has been in a fire.. JIm Pardon the ignorance but why would it have to be rebuild? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCHarris Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) Also out of ignorance, what would being in a fire do to the anvil? Edit: got answer in chat. Disregard. Edited February 22, 2013 by JCHarris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan C Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I'm near Austin, TX. My experience here hunting for an anvil didn't yield good results. Most used ones were going for $3 a pound which was out of my price range. Luckily I had a friend from Pennsylvania who needed to still move his house down to here and offered to transport one for me if I could find one. I started watching Craig's list for any cities that would be along his route. I found one in November in Pittsburgh w/ the seller gracious enough to hold it for me until we could arrange it to be brought down. Didn't get it down here until 2 weeks ago. Risky yes, as I didn't get to physically look it over and my friend didn't know anything about anvils. I asked for lots of pictures and then listened to the ring over the phone. Guess I got lucky as I'm very pleased w/ it. If you're fortunate enough to have friends in steel country this might work for you. I ended up paying $250 for a 200 lb Peter Wright in what I consider pretty good shape. What worked prior to getting the anvil was visiting a local railyard and asking if they had a piece of RR track I could have to use as an anvil. That held me over until I could get mine. Later I forged some bottle openers out of RR spikes and took them one with an iced down 6-pack of beer to say thanks. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCHarris Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 Where near Austin? I think I've seen your craigslist ads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan C Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I work in Austin, live in Round Rock. It likely is my ads you've seen though word of mouth has been far more successful. The bottle openers have been very popular and how I paid for the anvil. Lately I started making gardening tools as I know a lot of gardeners who all say regardless of the tool they buy it eventually breaks. Funny, I showed up grungy to pickup my son from scouts, question came up what I'd been up to and sold 2 knives and 3 openers without trying. I have gotten into the habit of always keeping some of my work with me. How did the auction go? Any luck? If I could've gotten a forge at a reasonable price I would've. Instead mine is a brake drum coal burner that I pieced together from scrap. The most expensive part was the refractory cement used to line the drum. Here's a trowel and weed popper I sold as a set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCHarris Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 Auction is tomorrow, I'll post updates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 The anvil is great. I'd gladly pay up to $3/lb for it if I needed another one. It's a great size for general work, and moving around when it's in the way. The condition is really nice, so it's almost like buying a new one. That's a win/win situation, imo. The forge isn't very impressive. The overall shape is rather square and I prefer rectangular, but the bricks and actual fire pot are the important part. Figure that you could build a body out of scrap lumber and sheet metal for next to nothing, and you might have to end up rebuilding that forge depending on how it's put together. If the blower is running smoothly, I'd be glad to pay as much as $100 for the forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCHarris Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 Auction report: Anvil sold for 500$ Forge sold for about 250 I did not buy either of those. I brought 2 boxes of rasps and files for 60( after auctioneer commission) I bought an 80lb anvil from aljeter (the mystery star one he posted about) for 100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCHarris Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 On the way out saw a guy selling firewood. Bought a pecan stump for 10$ all in all successful day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan C Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Congrats on getting an anvil and what sounds like a fine assortment of forging material. For the forge itself all you need is a brake drum, 2" pipe, some scrap angle iron and someone who can weld. Here's my forge before I put a metal top on it & lined the drum. Ugly as can be, the angle iron came from a trashed firepit, but works fantastic! The cost was under $20 (main expense was the refractory cement, plumber's pipe & fittings) For right now I use my air compressor as a blower, it was the easiest and cheapest solution I could come up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCHarris Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 I think I'm going with a gas forge. I've got an old CO2 tank cut up as a forge body already and I just need to put together a burner. I have three propane tanks for other stuff so I'm good there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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