Last night I finished my shop setup and didn't have time to install a gate. Late that night, my dad spotted a pair of thieves dressed in black. He shouted and they bolted. We waited and they came back twice. Finally, we just took tools into the garage and bike locked the anvil to the stand. Have to get a fence up soon. Sad that I can't feel safe about leaving my shop without anxiety.

I wood have shoot them . < Grins>

I was holding a 5lb weight in one hand and a machete in the other. ;)

so…..you didn't call the cops?

They didn't take anything and we have no evidence to support it and it was late.

 

no we didnt call the cops

Greetings Adman,

 

It is a shame that we have to resort to taking in our equipment.  I suggest that you take a lot of pictures of your anvil and tools..  The blacksmith community is a tight group and if thieves tried to sell stolen equipment we would catch them..  Then winding their fingers in a vice sounds about right.

 

Forge on and make beautiful things

Jim

Except they will probably sell it for scrap and scrap dealers are already buying a lot of iffy stuff in many places

I know a better body part to put in a vise... Especially if they are men...

Well, got home from school today and found one of my chisels bent all over and marks on my bike chain as well as skid marks where the anvil WAS. Calling the police.

Give a description of your anvil to all your local scrap buyers as well as any blacksmith associations in your area.

May they drop it on their unprotected feet!

Sorry to hear of the theft. Hopefully you can recover your anvil, and catch the thieves. You may want to invest in a security camera, or at least a dog.

It wasn't taken all the way, just scooted along the ground. It was drooped off the side of the stand and has since been locked in my garage.

Watch Craigslist, EBay, papers, garage sale listings, etc. They were pretty bold coming back as many times as they did, hopefully they are also stupid. One thing to maybe check is with the guys on Craigslist looking for an anvil, they may try to sell it one of them.

The cops driving by a few times may scare them off.  It's also good for the cops to know that burglars are operating in your area.

Greetings Adman,

 

Glad to see that they did not get your anvil...  I hate a thief.    By the way I checked your profile and we share the same birthdate give or take 54 years..  I guess Aquarius are lucky...

 

Forge on and make beautiful things

Jim

Glad to hear they didn't get your anvil. Do you have a friend with a big dog that you could hire for treats? Seriously, a good sized dog will keep a lot of people at bay, and if you are lucky the pooch can get a taste of them. Man, I think I would be staking my place out to see if they come back. It looks like if they are not caught, they will just keep trying.

They will keep trying, trust me on that one. Many years ago, we had some trouble with multiple burglaries at my grandparents' place - the police finally caught the thieves but only after the local pawn shop helped us with identification and evidence.

Once they know what's in the shop and your habits, they will almost certainly continue attempts to clean you out. Personally, I'm with the "shoot 'em" crowd but that can cause boatloads of trouble so it's probably better to be observant and let the police do their job.

I was thinking of using my anvil as bait. unchained to it's stand and a video camera in a window. We also have some motion detectors we can wire up. Will still inform the police however.

Wouldn't go that, the chances of them getting caut is still low, prosicuted is even lower,and you'll be out an anvil. Tho the camera is a good idea as well as the motion detectors. Alpine makes a smoke generator for alarm systems, and I'm sure others do to, if they can't see it they can't steel it. Unfotunantly a lynch mob is out of the question.

Have you chiseled your name in the bottom of the anvil yet so you can prove it's yours?  Not where it's visible; but more of a hidden thing

Put in a wildlife camera too, about 40, 50 bucks at Walmart. Had to do that a while back with some people getting in and stealing chickens/eggs. Takes a lot of sequential pictures. 

 

Maybe some motion activated lights too. Nobody likes stealing when they're easy to see. Also tempting, but almost certainly illegal is surreptitiously running an electric fence wire to the anvil.

Assuming your anvil is permanently located somewhere you could smear black grease around the areas that someone would use to lift it as well as on the chain.  Imagine trying to pickup something heavy that's now slippery and will get all over their hands & clothes making them easier to identify if the police stop them.

 

Good ideas so far with the wildlife camera, motion detected lights and having your name engraved on the bottom of it. 

Good idea Dan only rather than grease use bearing blue- that stuff wont wash off and gets into everything. It would be like the dye packets banks use.

But as he mentions he will be moving his anvil inside after each use.  Putting tip up wheels on your stand can help!

 

I spent several years living in the inner city of Columbus OH and had to carry my 91 pound anvil up a rickety set of basement stairs, through the kitchen and out the back door to my forging area and put it back after I was tired out forging!  The 515# one got left in the shop and was still there until I loaded it to move out here  where it resides to this day...

Tho, come to think of it some times the cops are just looking to catch them in the act so they can search ther home and get them for more than one theft. Couldn't hurt to go to the station and ask around.
Other non lethal boobytraps might descorage them, nothing like a bucket of hot pink paint...