Anvil Reviews by name or brand

[Gods Metal Works]

I am sorry I wasn't clear, I have a cherry picker and it works great, my dad used it for taking engines of of cars and so I used it for my anvil, but the reason I cannot show the bottom of the anvil is because we have it taped down with industrial adhesive of the bottom so the stand wouldn't flip. Yes rest assured I do not pick the anvil up without the cherry picker. And then it is still sketchy, the wheels on the cherry lifts up in the back a little but doesn't flip.

[Knivesbyred]

I purchased this 110# Colombian a month ago in Yuma AZ.  I have read nothing but good about these anvils as being cast steel. This anvil was made between 1905 and 1925. The face measures 14 3/4 x 3 5/8. Total 23 1/4. 10” high. Base is 9 1/2 x 9. I will be using it in the spring for mild smithing and knife making when return home. All comments welcome

[ThomasPowers]

A good brand and a convenient size; read up how to mute it!  Be cautious with it's edges as cast anvils tend to erode there a tad easier. If your work and working style allows; you may want to round the edges a bit more---doing it to differing radii along the anvil sides can make it into a tooling feature. (I would put the largest radius along the sweet spot.)  Take a piece of chalk and mark the sweet spot  boundaries on the sides and train yourself to do your heaviest hammering within the sweet spot.

I wouldn't mind having that one in my shop to use with my other travel anvils when I go teach.  (When I was younger I always wanted larger anvils; now that I'm within a week of 62 I'm quite happy to have my travel anvils be around 100 pounds +/- 10 pounds...The big ones stay nicely in the shop...)

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome to IFI KNIVESBYRED

A very nice looking Colombian.

Have you seen this thread yet? It will help you get the best out of the forum.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/53873-read-this-first/

When you return home in the spring, where might that be?

[Knivesbyred]

Thanks Thomas for the valuable info. Will take good care of this anvil. How does one determine the “sweet spot”?

[ThomasPowers]

On an anvil the sweet spot is the section of the face where there is metal all the way down to the base. It is the strongest section of the face and also the one that give you the most efficiency in your hammering.   When I teach I sometimes take chalk and mark from the narrowest part of the waist up to the face on both sides to show students where they should be working in the most part.

You will note that old English anvils tend to have larger sweet spots and some of the later American anvils tend to have smaller ones and some like the Nimba pretty much all the face is sweet spot!

[Knivesbyred]

3 hours ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

Have you seen this thread yet? It will help you get the best out of the forum.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/53873-read-this-first/

Yes, still learning the thread and refer to it often. I reside in Sisters, Oregon!

[Knivesbyred]

8 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

On an anvil the sweet spot is the section of the face where there is metal all the way down to the base. It is the strongest section of the face and also the one that give you the most efficiency in your hammering.   

Thanks again Thomas for the VALUABLE info!

[John3]

75Kg (165 lbs.) Ernst Refflinghaus anvil; purchased new in 2010 (I think).  It is the only anvil outside of my instructor's studio I have ever used and I don't remember what he had (several different types).  I love this anvil.  The rebound is fantastic keeping effort lower and rhythm better.  The edges are hard and have held up well to my rookie misses.  At first I found the angular heel a bit weird but after a while it was much easier to use those angles instead of trying to angle the piece on the straight edges for certain things.  The hardy hole isn't quite an inch as advertised but it is very close.

I haven't measured these stats myself and have pulled them from the Shady Grove website where I purchased this anvil.  Prices have gone up on these quite a bit since I bought mine.

HRC 59 minimum

90% rebound (I believe this one for sure)

All steel North German pattern with upsetting block.  1" hardy; 5/8 pritchel holes.

[Frosty]

Sweet anvil John, it's a rare occasion when you hear something bad about a Refflinghaus anvil and that's almost always the individual anvil, not the brand. 75 kg is a good size she's going to do you well.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[Donm]

Hi all, new here and found this anvil thread courtesy of Pinterest. I have an Arm and Hammer 100#er. It appears that the bottom half (from the waist) is cast with a forged upper half and a welded on steel top. Am I reading this construction correctly?

looking forward to exploring this forum!

best regards, Don m , Atlanta ga

[Dave51B]

13 minutes ago, Donm said:

I have an Arm and Hammer 100#er

 Does it have a serial number? Look on the foot under the horn. I also have an A&H 100 lb. Great anvil .....             Dave

[Donm]

Need to look, it’s got a generous coat of paint:)

51705 and 100 on foot. Any thought?

[Linus brown]

Hi i have Inherited a William Foster 1857 anvil .I know its english and heavy. Just looking for some more info and what to do with it.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome to IFI Linus... I always suggest reading this to get the best out of the forum. READ THIS FIRST    It will help you to get the best out of the forum with a lot of good tips. What to do with it, hammer hot steel on it. What not to do is any grinding, milling or welding on the hardened face which does more harm than good. What other info do you need or want? How about some pictures of it. From what I've read William Foster anvils rank right up there with the best of them. If you do a search like the Read This First thread suggests you will have a whole day's reading about them.

 

[Marc1]

A bit on WF on an old discussion.

As to what to do with it ... well, if you want to sell it you may find buyers here in the tailgate section, otherwise ... use it yourself. 

 

[ThomasPowers]

What condition is it in?  I have an 1828 WF in disastrous condition, heel and 80% of the face is gone. I picked it up as I always want to try the old school method of refacing it and wanted the small piece of original face to make a Fur Trade Era knife from FTE steel! (Also bought it for US$15...)

Anvils don't start being considered old or antique till they are around 200 years old; so yours is still considered suitable for smithing on.

If it was in the USA; we could suggest an ABANA affiliate that might be able to help you as to condition and local prices and might have people interested in purchasing it.  (We have over 100 different countries participating here on the World Wide Web and anvil availability varies so much between them that it's hard to give good advice not knowing where it is!)

As mentioned; if you want to sell it; posting it with a good picture on the tailgating sub-forum here is one way to get started.

[Cris J]

Howdy all,

Ive been in the market for a good anvil after reading up and down on this forum what I would need. Got some great tips from Glenn earlier on improvised ones if I don’t happen to find one. I may have a 100# Lonestar Anvil that someone is getting rid of on amazon. It’s being shipped by JP’s Iron Works (couldn’t find a website I thought was theirs online, if anyone knows of them a review would be great.) selling for US$450

Item description: Lone star anvils by Texas forge and tools 100 lb cast steel anvil 57 hrC hardened face 75% + rebound Has hardie hole and pritchell hole Cast from m50 tool steel

[John McPherson]

Buyer beware, that is almost certainly an import anvil, no matter where the company selling them is based. If it was US made, they would be trumpeting the fact.

[ThomasPowers]

M50 is rather high in carbon for anvils (.77-.85%) also with an appreciable amount of Molybdenum (4-4.5%), which is good. Chrome (3.75-4.25%), Vanadium (.9-1.1%)   Looks like a decent alloy.

Face Hardness of Rc 57 is quite high too; I would be careful of chipping edges. 70% rebound seems low for a Rc 57 anvil face.   I would want an owner's review before buying myself!

[Cris J]

Thanks guys, Thomas and John. If it’s not too much trouble can I keep posting finds on anvils here? Wanna make sure I get a quality one . 

[Frosty]

That's major part of the reason for this thread, Chris so by all means bring what you're looking at to our attention. 

You got MY attention Thomas, that is a lot of carbon, I'd be tickled to trade up to 15pts for another .5% vanadium and molybdenum always makes me smile. 

Frosty The Lucky. 

[Cris J]

Well looking at them from pictures seems to be my only hope. My area seems a little limited on go and look option so thank you all for the help. John out of curiosity I ask, it does say it is by Texas Forge and Tools. I did find a website finally with the same model. Ever heard of them? 

Any reviews on Trenton Anvils as well? 

[Glenn]

An anvil can be a lifetime investment as a working tool.  If taken care of, it can then be passed on to the next generation.  Any investment can then spread out over the life time of the tool.

Do not get overly excited by finding an anvil for sale, or the price.  Shipping from Texas to Idaho must be added into the price, and for a little more, anvils can be shipped from most places in the US.  

Look up TPAAAT and follow the instructions.  Usually TPAAT anvils are at a much better price and a lot closer to home.  Keep a little money ahead because after you get your first anvil, others will start to appear quicker than you expect.

[ThomasPowers]

Does the local town have a feed store and or a welding supply place?  Both good places to post a 3x5 card asking about anvils.  Frankly I've found several anvils just talking with folks after church; one was a cast steel Swedish anvil that was *given* to me; another was in the shed of a 92 year old lady.  When I say *everybody* I mean everybody!