Well I went back to that shop in Plainview TX to take a second look at those Chinese cast steel anvils I had found last month and I ended  up walking out with a 134lb 7" round by 12" tall steel post instead. It only cost me $45 and I figure it is probably better quality steel then the $200 Chinese anvil. I bent a 1.5" round piece steel bar to use as a horn and mounted it in a second stump.

Looks like it should work nicely, good for working near the edge when doing blades and that sort of thing.

Kinda hard to see much in the pic to comment on, how have you mounted the block onto the wood, really would want to make sure it dont move or fall over while in use.

Might have to dig a bit of wood out, or make some sort of bracket or I guess you could weld on some sort of foot onto the bottom to hold it down.

I am feeling your make shift horn will only be 'ok' for light work, maybe sockets but not overly good for other horn uses as I feel it will just bend as you strike it.

I guess you could always just grind a radius on one of the edges of your block if you really need a rounding portion to work on.

Do you have a large vice or anywhere you can put hardy tools?

If not I have seen simple systems where you just sink a thick bit of metal plate with a 1 " hole into a stump and use that

No it is not mounted on the wood yet just sitting there. I will be moving soon so I want to be able to pick it up. When I get to where I am going I will make a Proper stand for it. And I am still working on the hardy tool thing, another thing to put on the to do list for after the move.

I wouldn't be so quick to trash the quality of Chinese goods, i.e. the cast steel anvils you passed over. I've used a lot of hand tools and machinery from China. For good or for bad, many of them outperform American or Canadian made goods, both in terms of quality and price. Of course, some are complete junk. In general, however, the trend of quality over time is sloping upward. Chinese steel working in particular is highly developed; I'd bet money those were some decent anvils.

 

That said, if a $45 hunk of random steel of unknown origin suits your needs better than a purpose made anvil, then great, you saved $155 which you can spend on other things.

 

Having done business in China for about a year now, I can say from experience that the level of enthusiasm, engagement, customer focus and detail-orientedness of Chinese business and manufacturing puts the majority (not all) of American and Canadian business to shame. My company gets lukewarm reception at best in the US and Canada, and it's incredibly difficult to find anyone to commit even small amounts of resources to undertake pilot projects, or even just to trial our technology. This could be a reflection of the so-called economic conditions in the US & Canada. But contrast this with China, a developing country, where people literally throw money at us just to get a product to market faster.

 

Everyone talks about how important "buying local" and "supporting American business" are, but when it comes down to signing the cheque, almost everybody hums and haws and backs away from the table. Like it or not, the reality is that Chinese goods will continue to increase in quality & performance.

 

Regards,

Markus

I can't be sure if my hunk of still works better then the Chinese anvil I passed up but I can say it has worked great for me so far for less then a quarter of the cost. The bottom line is that I have saved some money on a hobby I am just getting into. If Smiting is something I decide to delve deeper into I will probably take a another look at that Chinese anvil.

Next time you go to that store do you mind taking a few pics of those anvils they are selling?

Will Do. I should have a chance this week. :D

Next time you go to that store do you mind taking a few pics of those anvils they are selling?