Purchasing an anvil

[Glenn]

A lot of folks are looking at old anvils, new anvils, and things called anvils with the intention of purchasing an anvil.

One seller says it is unique antique, one of a kind, "like new condition" with a "good ring" and would be a GREAT blacksmithing anvil. It weighs (whatever) but has not put it on a set of scales.

Another seller says he has an anvil in the back of a shed. Come on over and take a look.

Please give us a list of things to look for when we inspect a prospective anvil.

Are there any pit falls to avoid?

[welder19]

Typically if it does not have a makers mark then it usually isn't very good, but if it is steal and not cast iron and has a decent ring then it is worth at least it's weight in scrap, $.30-$.70 depending where you are.
No matter what, you need to look at the surface and edges, the surface should be fairly flat and the edges in decent shape, if the surface could hold a puddle of water and the edges look like a river bank, then it's only good for scrap, a door stop, floating dock anchor, etc.
I don't have the formula for the anvil weight to lbs right on the top of my head but I am sure someone else will, but it will look like this 1 . 3 . 5 which does not mean 135lbs.

welder19

[Thomas Dean]

Rebound is more important than ring, IMO. I have taken some extreme measures to eliminate the ring in my anvils, my ears thank me for it too:) Take a ballpien hammer and check it, the more rebound--throw back-- the better. Edges can be repaired, check the blueprints or do a search for Robb Gunter's "anvil repairs". If the price is right or you are happy with it you can work around the "bad" spots. I have a friend north of Ft. Worth, TX that uses an anvil that most folks would not even use as a door stop. His work is excellent. Remember it's not the anvil that makes a good blacksmith. Run from the cast iron anvils.
Check the hardie hole, is it wollered out? (wollered is a good East Texas word!) What is the size of the hardie hole? Pritchel hole, same ?'s apply. Mainly, use your head. They are out there, be patient.

[MLMartin]

thomas dean is definetly right, has nothing to do with ring, i have on thats just a thud when i hit it, but has great rebound, and don't over look broken anvils, no horn or no heel, wile this is a pain in the butt some of them still have vary hard square faces, I've seen some as hard as 56 RC, probably why the heel broke off. but it dose not have to be an anvil at all, just good rebound and a lot of mass. i have one anvil that is a 250 pound steel gear, works pretty good, large flat face, and about 12 in thick, just hit the anvil, if the hammer bounces back up far then it probably has some use

[Dan P.]

I would advise against buying anvils unseen (i.e. from ebay) unless the seller is happy to provide you with a dozen pictures. I would warn the beginner against anyone who makes claims of an anvil they want to sell you, they are almost certainly unqualified. I would also say that if you do buy an anvil that is no longer in its prime, especially if you are a beginner, please just let the anvil show you what it can do before you go and grind bits, weld bits up, etc.

[fat pete]

hi folks I am new to the list and new to blacksmithing. I was "hunting anvils" for months. As cautious* as I am I got tired of looking at used anvils. I live in antique territory in PA and the price of used anvils can be as much as a brand spanking new one. I opted for Nimbus and am waiting delivery as we speak (or write). At least if it aint right there is a warrenty of sorts.

cautious*
word replaced, meaning kept, site admin

[ThomasPowers]

For American made anvils 135 *is* 135 pounds.

For English anvils it isn't as they were marked in the old CWT system: the first number 1 is multiplied by 112, the second number is quarter hundredweights and so can only be 0-3 multiply it by 28 and the last number is remaining pounds but must be under 28 so 135 would be 201 pounds: 1x112 + 3x28 + 5

Even a good brand anvil can be softened by a fire and the cost of rehardening is usually greater than buying one that hasn't been damaged. Even worse is an anvil where the tool steel face is delaminating from the softer body---usually you can tell this by striking the face and hearing a "buzz" from the anvil.

I'm not too concerned with the edges I want a flat face to work on. If I need a sharp edge I can make a hardy tool with one.

*NEVER* trust what people say about an anvil---when I was hunting a large anvil I wasted many a day going to an auction where a "large anvil" was for sale---all of them were under 100 pounds. I finally started asking the auctioneer if one person could lift it, two persons could lift it; or a forklift/tractor was required to lift it. Even with that it was a bad return on my time as a lot of "good" "great shape" anvils were actually damaged beyond use.

Watch out for anvils where the face is thin---that hardened face is the life of the anvil and many have been ruined by people milling them down to get a smooth face and sharp corners---even worse is that many anvils do not have a parallel base and face and folks RUIN them by clamping it down on the mill and making the face parallel to the base---that hardened face is like pure gold that they are throwing away to save the scrap iron or steel it's on top of. (If you absolutely must mill the face clamp the face down to the mill and mill the base parallel to the face and then flip it over and kiss the face with the mill to clean it up)

Check the corners of the Hardy hole for cracks; watch out for chisel cuts on the face and cast iron anvils like HF sells are not anvils but only Anvil Shaped Objects. You would be better to buy a chunk of steel from a scrap yard to use as an anvil rather than a CI ASO!

[HWooldridge]

If it's your first one, don't worry about finding a big one. Nice work can be done on a 50 lb anvil because you can always tie it to a 500 lb block. In fact, you often seen small ones in fine shape because they were not abused. I knew of a nice 75 lb Peter Wright that belonged to a friend of mine who passed away last year, but I was not fast enough and one of his neighbors got it away from his widow (just to let it sit outside in a flower pot). The pritchel was only 3/8" and the hardy 3/4" - but with a perfect, unmarked face and horn.

Therefore, I would try to get the best one I could find irregardless of the size. As said above, it's less about the tools and more about the smith's ability.