I went to an estate sale today and let two new young smiths buy all of the good stuff. I had my hand truck loaded up with two small anvils and about a ton of misc tools and we ended up dividing it up. The anvils are on the small side for real heavy forging but it's a start for them. Their wives are going to kill them when they get home though:D Except for a forge they will be able to make something. I hooked them up with contact information for the local ABANA club and gave them web sites for single burner forges.

Well done!

A tip of the ole skid lid to ya.

Frosty

Very honourable of you bent, thank you for them, though no doubt they thanked you profusely:D.

Man, I have been to hundreds of garage and estate sales and have never found a single anvil yet.

"You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din"


Chris...anvils don't seem to be really that rare at farm auctions around here but all the people in the metal arts programs at Southern Illinois University who also go to auctions run the price up.

Steve

Bent,
I wish more of the older smiths and metal workers i have met at auctions were like you! I have met a few smiths at local auctions and always get outbid on things like stakes, anvils, and swage block by them( at two of the auctions when i was talking to them they let slip that they have about 12 or more swage blocks and still they out bid me on it) as they seem to like to hoard them.They seem to have bottomless checkbooks. Ive let a few anvils go to other smiths after talking to them and they dont have one to work with. Share the wealth!!!!


Sean

you got it Bear. where I'm at there is apparently only one scrap yard and they are real stringent on walking the yard.
finding an anvil has been next to impossible. without having a bottomless checkbook, I currently bang away on a HF special.
I did finally get around to joining the local ABANA chapter. maybe I'll fid something there.

I know what you mean about the old farts hoarding all the good stuff. It was like that when I started back in '76 too. These were small anvils one was about 50 lbs and cast in 1900 and the other was a little smaller. They were hard faced with hardy and pictel holes. There was no bidding here, you just loaded up you bags, boxes, buckets or hand truck and went to the checkout table, paid your money and left. Every thing was already priced and the anvils were half price at $35 and $40 since it was the last day of the sale.

I went to an estate sale here as well. There wasn't much anything good, but I did find an 8lb mini-sledge. I now have a hammer heavy enough for the heavy work!

I resemble that remark ---- ( The old farts hoarding all the good stuff )

nyuk nyuk nyuk :D

I try not to hold onto stuff that doesn't get used; this means if I run accross a "deal" I either buy it and pass it on or upgrade and pass on the one I used to have---otherwise you don't have room to work in the shop soon.

Locally there is an anvil freak---has over 300 anvils and still buys all he can find---he will sell them buy only at about twice the going price so you can buy a good new one cheaper...

BentIron1946 just gotta say thanks on behalf of those guys. I appreciate folks like you lookin after those of us just getting started.

I have a loaner set up with postvise and anvil and a bucket of tools so that a student can have a forge to work with while finding the rest on the cheap.

Thomas