Okay, I am looking for a decent starter anvil. I don't have much money and want something that will work until I can afford a nice anvil. I have heard that harbour freight has a russian steel anvil that, with a few hours of grinding, is usable. The problem is: I can't find any anvils on their site. If I type in anvil into the search it doesn't put up anvils. Does anyone have a link to where I can buy this anvil?

Jake, there is a Harbour Freight store on Eisenhower Parkway. I didn't know it till a few days ago.

Yeah, I have actually been there a lot. I just want to make sure I get the right one. Apparently they sell a similar one there made in China that is complete xxxx. Check out this article: link removed at the request of anvilfire

jake, i bought the 110# russian cast steel anvil for jewerly work, it had some light milling marks in it, they were easy to take out with a sanding disk.
It is very soft, so any hammer hit on the face of the anvil will mark it, and in my opinion the horn is useless.
If you have money to burn, and thats the only anvil you can find, then it may be a good buy. But have you looked at other anvil possibilities like RR track, or a large block of steel sunk in a bucket of concret. if your just learning i big block of steel might do fine untill you have enough money for a good anvil

I have an anvil and still use several different big blocks of steel for anvils when they fit the job. Works good if you get a good sized piece. You can find alot of useable stuff at a good scrap yard.

You'd be better saving for a good oldie or new anvil than the harbour freight one..

I have a Harbor freight anvil that bought mainly because I had to. My old railroad iron anvil died. Had I been able to get a real anvil quickly I would have saved my money. It took several hours of serious grinding to make the horn useful, and yes the face if softer than is good. On the other hand , it's making me money till I get a better one.
Finnr

I actually have a large chunk of steel that I will use for most of my banging (thanks Tyler). However, I believe I need some type of horn and hardy for shaping and cutting S-hooks. That is the first thing I would like to work on.

Where are you located?

Find a blacksmithing group and go to a meeting. Someone there can point you in the direction of a real anvil.

For an anvil horn, you can do a lot of work on a piece of solid round bar or the curve (inside or outside) section of an object. A piece of track, pipe, RR coupling knuckle, large sprocket gear, etc will work. Look past what the object was, and see what it can do.

BP0184 Look - See
BP0244 Junk Yard Visit

Thanks guys. I guess I will just wait until I can get a nice one. I am going up to the mountains this weekend with my folks and they are wanting to go to a big flea market. Maybe I can find an old anvil there.

If you don't see one, but you do see people selling tools, hammers, punches, tool steel drops, etc... Ask! You never know what they decided to leave at home since it is too heavy to haul around :P

That's very true. I will remember. Maybe I will run across a post vise as well. I am working on building a forge right now.

Hey Tyler, since I can't make it to OBG this week, will you see if anyone has a anvil for salel?

I know a smith in Monticello with 3 ~100 pound anvils. Good condition, I think two are Hay Budden, and one is a Kohlswa. He said $300 a while ago, but perhaps he would come down some.

I'll have to check them out soon and see what I can do.

Finding a good anvil is a fine thing but not worth waiting for if the alternative is not doing any forging. Even a cheap cast iron ASO is preferable to wishing.

Horns are also over rated and certainly not a show stopper. A radiused corner will form most scrolls, rings and the like. Add an interior radius like a swage or piece of halved pipe and you can do almost any turning.

If you have to have a horn try searching the scrap yard for horn-like iron or steel objects. A wheel spindle makes a nice horn, as does a large hinge pin. Keep your eyes open and you'll see all kinds of really useful shapes to replace a traditional horn.

Smithing is more about improvisation than it is about having the "right" tool for the job. Seriously if the "right" tool were really necessary to do the work nobody without a mandrel cone could form a ring.

On the other hand one of my students wasn't able to find a "real" anvil and bought a Chinese, cast iron, ASO for his home set up. A couple years later a decent anvil turned up but he decided not to buy it as he was making the ASO do what he wanted and the money could buy him more tools and material instead.

Frosty