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A scrap yard will turn up a chunk of steel big enough to use as an anvil.

 

How big are the parts you want to make, how much can you afford, stationary/portable, ???????

 

Some parts of the country anvils are very scarce, while others are fairly abundant with them.

 

I got mine through machine shop auctions, newspaper ads, and Craigslist.

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North West Blacksmiths Association = www.blacksmith.org 

 

I think they have a function at the Longview Fairgrounds every month except July. The Western States Conference is at Government Camp on Mt. Hood, August 22-24. Plan on attending, it will blow your mind. and your want of an anvil will be fulfilled, as well as other things you haven't even thought about yet!!

 

There will be a Blacksmith garage sale in Seattle in July. Information will be on the NWBA web-site

 

Post your location on your information page and people can see how far away you aren't. :) :)

 

Neil

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Welcome aboard Kolby, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header you'll find out how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Hook up with the NWBA, they're a great gang and a really active bunch. Check the bottom of the IFI home page for the regional club sites to get in touch. Neil has clued you to some Pac NW activities, those guys will hook you up, get you rolling and you'll be styling in no time.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Hi my name is kolby I live in Washington state. And I am new to smithing. And I just want to know the best place to get an anvil. Thanks.

This depends alot on how much you have to spend. Good cheap used anvils are tough to find, good new or used anvils are easy to find but are spendy.  If you can afford a new one that's the way to go imo but since you're a newbie it's easy to assume you're financially challenged.......or are you?

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Do a site search for TPAAAT. I just located 2 anvils for another fellow on the east coast asking the same question in less than 20 seconds.

 

I found an 150 pound anvil in your area in less than 20 seconds. Another 30 seconds and I found a 100 pound anvil and a 112 pound PW anvil, and a 70 pound with a stand. 

 

That is 4 anvils in under a minute in your back yard.

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Ok you guys I finally found tpaaat. And I appreciate all your help. I had to dig Pretty deep for it haha. At first I just wanted you guys to just tell me,but In looking for the process I learned alot about forging. Win win:)

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Ok you guys I finally found tpaaat. And I appreciate all your help. I had to dig Pretty deep for it haha. At first I just wanted you guys to just tell me,but In looking for the process I learned alot about forging. Win win:)

 

And  we  have  a  WINNER! HUZZAH!

 

Glenn, what say you guys make Kolby's post a sticky, maybe put it in a gold star?

 

Seriously Kolby, it's refreshing to have someone ask a qustion, get our answer rather than the one you were hoping for, give our advice a shot and discover the good in it. We get a lot of static from folk who think they deserve the answer they want and don't want to do the legwork themselves.

 

For what it's worth, I think you'll do well and go far. So far the young men who've asked advice, given it a shot, done research and shared their successes and mistakes have done us all proud. One in articular has gone from a rank beginner to running a LLC operating in the black, doing shows and giving classes in just a few years.

 

It's an honor and pleasure to know you.

 

Frosty the Lucky.

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Well I have to be honest with you guys, I did message Thomas Powers to try to get a quick answer. He just told me to keep looking. So I did, I was just getting a bit over zealous with blacksmithing. It's became an obsession!

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Armchair blacksmiths are well read.

 

You have to get metal hot in order to learn. Be sure and take what you learn to the forge and try it out. Make 25 of each project, and make each one faster with less effort as now you know where to hit it with the hammer. Try making it better each time. Try different techniques to see if one is better than another.

 

If ten people tell you how to make a scroll, go to the forge and make scrolls all ten ways. One will be right for you and you will have 9 back up plans. Those back up plans can be adapted, changed, and used on other projects because you know how the metal moves.

 

You can not buy hammer time. You can not trade for it. You must spend time at the forge in order to earn the hammer time. Practice is the key,

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm in the same boat Kolby, but I'm on the wet side of the state. I'm almost done with my forge build, then I will start on my Anvil build. I'm starting with a RR Track anvil because I could source the materials for free. I've got a connection to a local rock quarry so I'm going to try to hit them up for some other large chunks of metal to see if I can't come up with a second heavy anvil for free. we'll see how that goes. I'm an avid hobby welder so moving to forging, to me, seemed like the next logical step.

 

I've found that the guys on this forum aren't so much anti newb as they are anti lazy. basically, do your research, find the information that's right in front of you. Some times this can be harder to do than others, but so far, they've been very helpful to me at least. 

 

eventually I'll get to an NWBA function, but for now I'm still an armchair blacksmith. Hammer time to me means the same thing as hood time. Nothing beats doing for learning and the more you do the better you get. both in welding and what I'm hoping I will soon find out in forging.

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