Hello,  I'm a wannabe blacksmith (with maybe 75 hours of class time), looking to buy an anvil, new or used.  I came across Perun anvils and couldn't find a review.   I sent them the following email and got the response below.  Does anyone have exerience with Perun anvils? Please note that the spelling and grammer in their response is due to the language difference...For example, I'm assuming that "as a unit way" is meant to be "in a unique way..."

 

 

Hi,
> I am interested in your one horn type A Perun anvils. Can you tell me more
> about them? What is the hardness of the face? How deep does the hardness
> go? How about the hardness of the edges? What is the percent rebound?
>

 

 

 

Hi,
Each anvil is manufactured as a unit way so their hardness can be different.
We try to make their hardness was 52-54 HRC - sometimes there are little harder anvils or softer.
The measurement we perform by the laboratory hardness tester (electronic hardness usually indicate hardness 60 - 64 HRC which is not true, because they work on the principle of reflection balls and this translates into a fairly large measurement error.)
We try to make face had a similar hardness in each point therefore its edges are tempered to less hardness so as to the edges does not crumble at work.

Regards
Paulina Białowąs
 

If you list your location we may be able to help. 

 

 Perun anvils are located in Poland.

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. Ditto what Glenn said, put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance.

 

Naw, their use of "Unit way" sounds like an online translation meaning maybe done alike or done in batches or? It's not a simple misspelling it's a transliteration.

 

Where is the company? The kinds of variations in hardness and their test method say (to me anyway) they're not in a very modern industrialized area.

 

I've never heard of the brand so I have zero empirical info, even hearsay.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Google is your friend.         http://www.anvilsperun.com/index.htm

 

Appears they make a full line of anvils, leg vises, tongs, hammers, etc.

 

They say that they are solid cast special alloy steel, but a quick look did not turn up any specs. They ARE individually serial numbered with an aluminum nameplate on the off side.

 

If looks count for anything, it looks like a nicely finished modernised London Pattern. What sizes do they have available? (I couldn't open the link).

Thanks for the above replies.  I'm in Washington state, Kitsap County.  They claim to be reccomended by the Polish Blacksmith Assoc., and to be "the largest provider of specialized tools and equipment for artistic blacksmithing in Poland."   As mentioned by John McPherson, they do appear to have a serialized name plate in the pictures, but the website gives no hard numbers as to their specs other than what they gave me in the email.  They sure are a good looking anvil, and only $755 for a 90kg (200lbs).  I have no idea about shipping costs...

Thanks for the above replies.  I'm in Washington state, Kitsap County.  They claim to be reccomended by the Polish Blacksmith Assoc., and to be "the largest provider of specialized tools and equipment for artistic blacksmithing in Poland."   As mentioned by John McPherson, they do appear to have a serialized name plate in the pictures, but the website gives no hard numbers as to their specs other than what they gave me in the email.  They sure are a good looking anvil, and only $755 for a 90kg (200lbs).  I have no idea about shipping costs...

www.kowalperun.com is their store.  (sorry for the double post above!)

Did anyone else look at their "swiss" style anvil. I've never seen one like it. It appears to combine several features from Brian Brazeal's block anvil, Uri Hofi's anvil and another type I can't recall. It looks like an extremely useful design.

If your in Washington you should look at Incandescent Ironworks anvils.  Rhino.  They are in Spokane.   

 

http://www.incandescent-iron.com/rhan.html

Thank you, K. Bryan Morgan!  I'll check them out.

On 3/19/2014 at 12:00 AM, patrick said:

Did anyone else look at their "swiss" style anvil. I've never seen one like it. It appears to combine several features from Brian Brazeal's block anvil, Uri Hofi's anvil and another type I can't recall. It looks like an extremely useful design.

Hello, I have some hours now on a Perun Swiss pattern anvil that was ordered this summer of 2018. This purchase was made as the work it will be be asked to do is on a continuum from small, artistic, and onto large work. There’ll also be some larger sculptures that will require work with a striker. 

Since moving on from a railroad tie anvil and post vice forging, I have been using borrowed time on a Peddinghaus anvil. Now, I am using this Perun, The long pointed horn and rounded table suit me well. I like the speed and control of tapers that can be achieved on the horn and table (step). Some of the tapers are quite Long and drawn out. Since I do cold chisel chipping on a cutting block, the table curve remains an asset. 

 The caveat: Smiths who abide predominantly by the sound produced by the anvil when struck as the ultimate measurement of quality of the anvil, may be disappointed with the Perun that I have obtained. I cannot speak to the rest of the line of anvils sold by Perun. I am satisfied with the performance of the face of this Perun Swiss pattern anvil and note no differences with the Peddinghaus I was borrowing time on. 

Since I am new here and this is my first post, I will offer one other caveat and a little bio info. Though I still consider myself a beginner, I have advanced to making forged, tempered and hardened chisels and punches. Until recently, I was in the throws of completing a line-up of tongs. That is on hold for now till I move my setup to Idaho in the next few months. I have been reading about smiths on this forum from Idaho and hope to meet them soon as I need  some feedback on upsetting approach and technique. 

Gratitude to this forum.

Tim

On 3/18/2014 at 2:54 AM, Frosty said:

Naw, their use of "Unit way" sounds like an online translation meaning maybe done alike or done in batches or? It's not a simple misspelling it's a transliteration.

Most likely means done individually, one at the time. 

1 hour ago, Tim Rockcress said:

Gratitude to this forum.

Welcome to IFI! If you haven't yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!!

1 hour ago, Marc1 said:

Most likely means done individually, one at the time. 

Sounds plausible, individual and unit are close enough for most traslaters. 

 

Welcome aboard Tim, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the gang live within visiting distance. Telling us in one post isn't going to stick in our memories once we move to another, sometimes a couple paragraphs into this one. 

I'm intrigues by the shape of the Perun anvil, I'd like to give one a try sometime. I see a lot of features that may be really useful but I REALLY like my step. No, I don't chisel anything on them I have sacrificial cut plates for that, I typically use the inside corner between step and face as a square swage. I can straighten say coil spring without damaging it's profile. It's also good to upset into, it helps keep stock straight if I lay it along the horn and drive into the step. If nothing else the horn acts as a gauge letting me see the stock deflecting so I can straighten it before it's so wonky I end up drawing it back out to straighten. 

However, the large diameter fuller on the Perun looks excellent for drawing, doing so on the horn adds the step of having to reverse the stock or direction you're addressing the horn to prevent curved results.

I'd have to see about the multiple pritchel holes, I don't know if it's better than a bolster plate or good for other things as well.

Does it have that New anvil smell? 

Frosty The Lucky.

I always liked the farrier anvils with their convoluted shapes. Not that I would have much use for them, they just look great ... certainly better than my battered PWs just a tad too light though. 

Poland and some of the other eastern Europe countries are the last stronghold of the european decorative blacksmith and anything currently produced for working blacksmith in the region can not be junk or it wouldn't sell. May not compare with a Reffi but they are also half the price or less. They also produce solid fuel forge parts at competitive prices. For most the shipping can be a killer unless you know your way around LCL shipping.

14 hours ago, Tim Rockcress said:

Thank you for the help. However, my previous post duplicated when attempting to remove the giant picture. I do not see the edit link on the original, or first post. Tim

 

Perun is a top-shelf maker of blacksmithing kit.

As Marc1 notes, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Estonia.... these places still have a very strong blacksmith presence and the people still appreciate hand-forged ironwork.  Perun is a supplier of tooling to this market and wouldn't live long in that environment if they weren't making good stuff that you could rely on.

That said, it'd be very expensive to get one over here to the US.  

 

19 minutes ago, Tim Rockcress said:

I do not see the edit link

The edit link is only available for something like 15 minutes if I recall.

6 hours ago, VaughnT said:

That said, it'd be very expensive to get one over here to the US.  

It's only a matter of finding a good freight forwarder. LCL shipping is actually cheap. i had a quote from Refflinghaus to send me a 200K southern pattern and the fright was no big deal and I am way further than you guys are. I decided against it but not because of the cost of shipping.

I remember asking Perun to quote plus shipping for a forge fire pot, but they declined stating that shipping was "too expensive". A lot of suppliers don't have the expertise or the manpower  to deal with international transactions but all you need is to find a Freight Forwarder and they have agents in most countries, so the Polish agent will handle it and then the US agent will take over. Their fees are very reasonable so much so that it is not worth your while doing it yourself. I use IBC pacific. It is a mickey mouse operation in Sydney but works with all the big players in the most unlikely country on earth. I shipped from machinery and engines via sea, to flowers air freight. It is easier than you think. 

6 hours ago, Marc1 said:

It's only a matter of finding a good freight forwarder. LCL shipping is actually cheap. i had a quote from Refflinghaus to send me a 200K southern pattern and the fright was no big deal and I am way further than you guys are. I decided against it but not because of the cost of shipping.

I remember asking Perun to quote plus shipping for a forge fire pot, but they declined stating that shipping was "too expensive". A lot of suppliers don't have the expertise or the manpower  to deal with international transactions but all you need is to find a Freight Forwarder and they have agents in most countries, so the Polish agent will handle it and then the US agent will take over. Their fees are very reasonable so much so that it is not worth your while doing it yourself. I use IBC pacific. It is a mickey mouse operation in Sydney but works with all the big players in the most unlikely country on earth. I shipped from machinery and engines via sea, to flowers air freight. It is easier than you think. 

Thank you for that information on shipping Marc. 

I've been looking at one these Perun Swiss anvils for a few years now. Shipping has been the road block for me keeping me from taking the plunge. 

 

Maybe now, one may be back on the menu in a few months. 

There are dealers in the US, one here in NC run by a multi-generational family of smiths that I know personally. They do not sell junk, and these are their mid-grade between Kanca and Peddinghaus. They are over $1000 at this time.