Is this average price?

[ThomasPowers]

Not all types of good anvils ring---Fishers are blissfully quiet but are GREAT anvils. 

However  anvils that *should* ring and *don't* are indicative that there is a hidden crack somewhere in it.

OTOH there is also cast iron ASOs (Anvil *Shaped* Objects) that don't ring and are so soft the face will dent under hot metal!

[yahoo2]

I don't see the value in a badly worn anvil, large radiused edges all over and blunt chipped corners don't do a lot for me. Where is the sense in spending big bucks on a 350# anvil for the solid mass and rebound, then spending half your life hammering on a dodgy hardie block that rattles around and absorbs all that energy?

 

This video of Brian Brazeal's, forging a one heat tong blank is an example of what I am thinking. From a total of 98 hammer blows in 100 seconds I can count only seven hits that are flat on the anvil face. It's the most frustrating video to watch, I see something new that I missed previously every-time I look at it.

 

As an experiment, I am tempted to buy one of those big dogs that has been really butchered and patch a few nicks in the plate, weld one corner and perhaps 2-3 inches of edge and see how it holds up.

[KYBOY]

I have a 142 pound Trenton farriers anvil that looks like a broke down bank mule..Swayed in the belly and even swayed and dipped around the pritchel holes!! Im having a hard time figuring  that out? Its still workable and the face is as hard as can be but the body is very soft..