How Anvil "Rich" or Anvil "Poor" is your area?

[KYBOY]

Lets say a 100-150 mile radius from you..do you seem to find many anvils,some or almost none? I guess Ill start, in all the years Ive been doing this Id classify my immediate area as anvil poor,blacksmith poor overall to be honest..Ive only found two anvils over 120 pounds and I own both of them..In all honesty I could probably count all the anvils Ive seen for sale on my hands..Ive seen two in the last year both small..A few postvises,very few tongs..No blocks,no cone and only one power hammer ever..There are a few LG's around though all but one came from out of state.

This was with..

Trade paper ads

Almost every weekend with a stop at the two local flea markets

looking at the local trade papers every week..

Talking with people of course..

I have a couple of theorys on this..One is that when people moved into this area most of the time sleds had to be used because wagons cant travel throught the hills and creekbeds..So the lighter the better..also from my research there was few blacksmiths in my area..Just small part time shops that shod horses and worked on a few tools.Some cola mines and railroad stations had good shops when the shop was closed the equipment was either sold as scrap or moved to another shop..According to eye witnesses Ive talked too..

 Well, what about you?

[ThomasPowers]

NM, USA:  anvil poor; very low population and little industry back in the peak days of anvil usage and many of those anvils have seen a century of hard use since then.

 

OH, USA: very anvil rich; lots of people, farms, industry during the peak of anvil usage.

[K.C.]

I'd say my area is in the middle. Most of the time they are priced too high. I have tried to buy all the fair priced ones I have found. After looking for several months with no luck anvil heaven opend up and dropped several in my shop.. It seems like it has slowed down here lately. I search every craigslist area in TX every week. Haven't been able to go to any swap meets. I do ask every person I meet if they have an anvil. Half of them ask me what an anvil is a 1/4 have one and won't let go of it and the rest just don't have one.

[njanvilman]

New Jersey Area: Anvil rich. Lots of farms and industry within a 150 mile radius. For a while, every farm auction had at least one. Not many farms left in NJ now, at least in my area. I also bought many post vises at farm sales. At one point I had over 40. I traded 30 off to Bill Gitchner for anvils.

That said, many of the anvils in the museum came from all over the country.

[Bentiron1946]

Arizona, not so good on anvils. We had copper mining but not a lot of industry, lots of ranches though, still not a lot of anvils to be had except for those brought in from outside since the resurgence in blacksmithing in the sixties and seventies. The copper mines have sold off most of their meager supply of smithing equipment with the advent of open pit mining, no need for a blacksmith shop to repoint drill bits, fabricate other iron parts but unions kept the shops open for a long time past real usefulness. Now we have a goodly number of farriers but they use a different style of anvil than a typical blacksmith does. More anvils now than fifty years ago.

[ThomasPowers]

I have one of those AZ mine anvils: 410# Trenton (I believe)  Abused by mine maintenance (weldors, grrr); traded for it in central OH with the fellow who got it in AZ; (AZ isn't getting it back!  unless I get a job there someday)

[Toadstone]

I live in an apartment in the suburbs of Houston, TX. I am more focused on saving to buy a house and paying off my wife's school loans than actually actively looking for an anvil (I don't have a place to put it even if I found one), but I still look a bit, just for fun. I haven't tried actually getting up from my computer to find one, because I'm actually a little afraid that I will find a glorious, reasonably-priced anvil at a flea market and then won't be able to buy it.

 

Local Craigslist is pretty barren - there are a few overpriced anvils and several WTB listings from desperate smiths. Local pick-up eBay listings are pretty much non-existent for my area as well. I'm going to a hammer-in later this month hosted by the Houston Area Blacksmith's Association (HABA), so I expect to get some pointers about where to look once I have the green light to go anvil-hunting.

[kubiack]

We are pretty anvil poor here in West Texas. In the past 10 years I have only scene 3 anvils for sale and I keep a pretty vigilant watch on CL and the local classified paper. The first anvil sold before I got to the sale. The second was priced higher than a new anvil and the seller would not come down. The third was a nice 200 lb Peter Wright which a good friend bought for $1.75 per pound. I have also scene one coal forge, 4 small leg vises, and one trip hammer.

 

I know most of the people who do metal work in this area and so know the location of 2 dozen anvils and 7 power hammers. However none of it is for sale or at least advertised as such. It does go to show that there is still equipment around even in anvil poor areas; you just have to get out and look for it.

 

Here is an amusing story. I had been looking for a power hammer for a few years and could not find anything for sale locally. I finally found a pretty good hammer about 300 miles away which I ended buying and hauling home. Several months later I see an add for a camel back drill press advertised as having been from such and such persons Grandfather’s blacksmith shop. I did not need the drill but called to see if the had any other blacksmith equipment for sale. He said all that was left of the shop when he inherited it was the drill press and a 25 lb Little Giant. I told him I wanted to come take a look at the power hammer. He said no and that just last week he had sold it to someone in Maine. I knew I never saw anything in the classifieds and ask what the story was. He said he had been online trying to find out the value and someone from Maine saw it and made him an offer. I guess it was enough for him to crate it up and ship it to the North East.

[Jakesshop]

Here in central California I would say we are not to poor nor too rich like Stuart's. The gold rush and subsequent hard rock mines brought out several smithies from the east a century and a half ago. Also several large and small cattle and sheep ranches here to feed the miners and later the loggers. When I first was getting into smithing I could not find an anvil for nothing, other than a ASO at Harbor Freight. But through the years of establishing contacts and making good friends, I've had no problem finding reasonable priced anvils. Yes there is a bunch of Unreasonable priced ones out there too. This last weekend we had a meeting of the local California Blacksmith Association in Mariposa and had Bernhard Heer as a guest. I didn't know till then that he has Old World Anvils and has a line on a south German style anvil I've been looking for. 

 

Just have to show a bit of patience now and then. I just had a 100# LG fall into my hands a couple of weeks ago, now for the 2 year rebuild of it...

Weekend after this next I'm going to look at some small coal forges with blowers that a friend may let me purchase, if we can agree on a price.

[neg]

Not a lof of anvils I can find in Florida... and when I do they're always way overpriced. :|

[Bigred1o1]

i live in norther Vermont i have found three anvils(114 William foster, 120missing part of its face mouse hole,158missing heal mouse hole) in usable if damaged shape from scrap yards and one good haybudden120lb)  from CL

as well i have a fisher anvil that is 120lb but the feet are crumbling(face and horn are in fantastic shape)

my main anvil is a 195lb PW that had a slight swayback "fixed" at some point in the past still very usable but by no means my dream anvil

i have had and passed on a 100lb kohlsw a 120colonial and a 80lb fisher

as well my scrap yard anvils get lent out

i am still looking for a good 200-300lb anvil that i can afford this has been in about 10years of looking i knew where there were several but they have sins been scrapped

i dont know if this counts as anvil rich or anvil pore but finding an anvil in good condition has been hard

[Bigred1o1]

my next trip down south i will have to take a look over there its about 200miles south of me but it is always very good to know of places to look thank you Stewart

ps i should have put on the Canadian border when i described my anvil hunting grounds

[Nobody Special]

Atlanta area?

 

Depends on how you look at it. I can find anvils, post vises, etc.

 

But...........everytime I do, they're always somebody who went up to North Carolina and bought a bunch of blacksmithing tools for resale here. Not sure if they're mining them up there, or maybe the Hay Budden is the state bird. Almost never see local tools.

 

Weird considering this used to be one of the biggest mining and metalworking areas in the country.

[VaughnT]

Using searchtempest.com to look through craigslist, I can usually find 5-10 anvils in a 200mi radius of my place.  The size and condition might be a bit below my standards, but still okay for a beginner.  Fisher anvils are exceedingly rare, hence why I bought mine from 1200mi away, but PW, Trenton and others aren't.

 

What is scarce are big cast iron forges.  You'd think with all of the rail heads and cotton mills in the region that I'd be able to find an industrial-sized forge.... but, nope.  Very aggravating when that's what I'm looking for.

 

So, when I get back to work, I'm going to build one.  With wheels!

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Been buying anvils since the 80's , I grew up in Fairfield CA (between Sac, and SF). Then moved to the desert of NV in 05.

 

260# Fisher in Lincoln CA $250 friend found in newspaper.

306# Sodefors at machine shop auction in Bay Area $200

150# Vulcan from a Vallejo High School shop closure $50

170# H-B and a mess of tools; 2 forges, 5 gallonbucket of tongs,bucket of hammers and hardies, etc.. anvil was $175 . Craigslist.

125# JHM Journeyman with a bunch of farrier tools and a single burner gas forge, and folding anvil stand, $250 for the lot.

50# unknown, Craigslist $60. Bought to go with what I have been told is a farrier's portable forge (really small).

 

Saw what looked to be a 150#ish H-B down the road from me,found out the new owner is using it on his place.

Missed one listed in a local garage sale notice, no other info.

Talked to another local guy after I spotted a 490# Trenton on his back porch- going to it as a decoration by the fireplace.........

I have spotted a mess of anvils on Craigslist for Las Vegas, Los Angeles areas, Phoenix, and Central/Northern CA. Some good, some bad.

 

I was picking up tongs for $3-$5 ,blowers were $5-$20, and post vises for $5-$20 at automotive swap meets in the Bay Area. A friend scored a monster 125# post vise at a garage sale in Cordelia for $25 - he knows I am still interested in it. May have to work him some next time I go visit him =). The last tongs I bought down here were still $3-$5, newest post vise was $50 for a REALLY nice one with original mount , and $50 for a nice smooth blower for a friend out of Utah where I work. I see an unused post vise everyday, but have yet to locate the owner, still working on it. I see a rivet forge, or sandstone grinder from time to time in front yards. 

 

So all in all, I would say that the folks in this area are just not looking hard enough to find them. You really need to look constantly otherwise they are gone before you even hear about them.

[KYBOY]

Even around here right now you can ask "what do you want for it" Then those dreaded words are next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Well I saw on ebay they are going for xxx"..........I use ebay and sell on ebay but its getting to where I throw up in my mouth a little when I hear it now. People don't understand that just because someone ask's $1200 for something dosnt mean its worth that much.

[poppaclutch]

Man, after reading all these posts I had to go down to the shop and hug my anvil...

[rustyanchor]

I'm south of Columbia, KY and there are anvils here, A lot of farms and estates being auctioned off, most of the farm auctions list at least one anvil, but I haven't gone to see what the final selling price is.

One of the local antique shops had 2 anvils, one had part of the top plate missing but the other was a nice stump anvil, he also had a wagon tongue vise that I was trying to get a decent price on the pair but he had too much in them for me.

Walked into a hardware/misc stuff store and there was a leg vise sticking out of a wood crate, I was so focused on the leg vise that I kicked a 100 pound Mouse Hole sitting in front of the crate. (Don't kick an anvil, it hurts, but it did get my attention) There was a second anvil beside the Mouse, but it was missing part of the top plate, Humm missing part of the top plate seems to be a trend here. I went back a month or so later and the wounded anvil was still there and I think the guy was ready to get rid of it, but I don't need a wounded anvil that I am pretty sure I wouldn't get around to doing anything to repair it.   

I haven't looked at CL in months so not sure what is selling there.

[Frosty]

Pretty anvil poor here abouts. there are anvils around but most were brought in fairly recently. Well, heck Alaska history is pretty recent, here in the Mat-Su valley the "boom" was depression relocation farmers. You find smithing tools every now and then but not a lot and what you do find are "antiques" because they're old. I know of a couple guys who've accumulated quite a bit of smithing and farm equipment from the colony days but they ain't a turning loose of any of it. They think they're going to set up a museum and folk will flock out to see it.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[K. Bryan Morgan]

Pretty anvil poor here abouts. there are anvils around but most were brought in fairly recently. Well, heck Alaska history is pretty recent, here in the Mat-Su valley the "boom" was depression relocation farmers. You find smithing tools every now and then but not a lot and what you do find are "antiques" because they're old. I know of a couple guys who've accumulated quite a bit of smithing and farm equipment from the colony days but they ain't a turning loose of any of it. They think they're going to set up a museum and folk will flock out to see it.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

 

Frosty your so right.  People here think blacksmithing tools are a retirement investment.  I had one guy try to sell me a 100# Arm and Hammer anvil for $1200 on craigs.  Some of the guys had razzed him over the price and he got upset.  Ah well.. I'll keep keeping on.

[Black Frog]

Anvils are around, but I'm more surprised at the huge spectrum of prices.
Deals can be found with some work, but others are willing to pay TOP dollar for anvils.

Auction I was just at had a very, very nice 348# Peter Wright. The winner was willing to pay $1430 ($1300 + 10% buyer's fee), or $4.11 per pound. Wow.

[KYBOY]

That's something I wish we had more of, auctions..You may hear of one every few years..No such thing as estate auctions around here, rare as can be.

[ThorsHammer82]

I would say in my area its fair to rich. A quick look on Craigslist had 5-6 anvils up for sale some at good prices some not. but based on some of the rumors I've read on here. Larry tends to grab up a lot of the good ones. And with Nimba almost in my back yard it kinda scews the results. Though, none of the ones on CL are Nimba's

[Charles R. Stevens]

Steel prices, the drought and the druggies and drunks looking for quick cash has sent a lot to the scrapper. Fools in my neck of the woods send running cars and tractors to the scrapper for $.10 on the $1.00

[KYBOY]

Steel prices, the drought and the druggies and drunks looking for quick cash has sent a lot to the scrapper. Fools in my neck of the woods send running cars and tractors to the scrapper for $.10 on the $1.00

You too???? I though we were the only ones graced with those clowns..