eggwelder Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 i was out buying some walnut for some gunstocks, when the topic turned from woodwork to blacksmithing. the guy then showed me his setup. champion crank blower, cast iron fire pot about 6 inch deep, the casting half inch thick. sitting in a 1/2 thick steel table with pipe legs. a good rack of tongs that i didn`t get a good look at, a pile of assorted tools he had no idea what they were, and i didn`t see the anvil. i was in kind of a hurry, (had to pick the boy up from school), and he had 15 years of junk piled on top of everything. best part is, he wants it gone, but wants a fair price. it is all in good condition, and comes with 100 lbs blacksmithing coal. i didn`t get any pics, but hopefully i can get a good ballpark price to offer. i don't know what a fair price would be on this stuff as i have not really used coal, hope to get a little help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coke Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Greetings Egg, That's a good question as to its value.. In a situation like that I always would ask what he wants for the package.. The price range could be any where from 200 to 1000 depending on condition.. If you are still in quandary get some pictures and I will help as much as I can... Forge on and make beautiful things Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Buy lunch for both of you, and go talk to the fellow. Take the big truck, and trailer if you got one. Cash will get the job done and loaded on your truck faster. 100 pounds of coal is about 3-4 ea 5 gallon buckets, or 400 pounds to a 55 gallon drum. Takes lots of photos so we can see what is offered. We can give a better estimate of price once we can see things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Tongs: I price tongs low because they might not be of any use to you for a long long time. If they are commercial-made tongs, they have more value than something that are home-made and look like it. Figure $10 a pair, and maybe as much as $20 for really good ones that you can use a lot. Forge: The cast iron fire pot and tuyere will cost you $300 if you buy them new. The table that it's set in, if home-made, could be an equal value - depends on how well-built it is and how big it is. I like big tables with plenty of room on the side for storing fuel. Basically, if the forge is as good as you describe it, I'd have no problem paying three bills just for it. Other bits: What will they cost you if you buy them new? Some tools you don't need more than once a year. A hot-cut and anvil are high-priority, high-value tools. Same for a good leg vise. The upside to that issue is that you might be able to get them for really cheap as part of the bulk purchase and then resell them to offset your expenditures. You might not need a tap and die set, but someone else might. Lots of pictures, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I'd ask what he wants and definitely offer well more than scrap. If he has it hauled off he'll get scrap price so double or more is "fair". I don't know about offering market value, I probably wouldn't or I'd just buy new and get just what I wanted. I'd certainly make a good offer, there's no telling how much juicy plunder is under that pile and if you're on his good side and he has your number. Hmmmm? Pics, oh yes, post pics. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Price depends to a great extent upon the anvil. Some anvils worth $100, some worth $3000. Lots of pics and a detailed inventory are the only way to even guess at a fair offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Another option is the lump-sum offer. You know the vise and forge are worth a decent amount if they are in good shape, and what they'd cost if bought new, but you don't know about all the other stuff. So, offer in $500 for everything, even the sight-unseen stuff, letting him know that you're taking a chance on most of it but are willing to give him cash money and clean it all out over a weekend. $500 is a fair price for something he hasn't used in a decade and is only turning to rust. Does he want rust or cash? If he balks at $500, ask him where he's at and go from there. The higher is price, the more negotiating you need to do because you might not need 60% of the stuff. The anvil could be worth $300, but you won't know that until you see it. The tongs are definitely worth $5 a pair, but don't do you any good if you won't use most of them... See where I'm going? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 The anvil is the heavy hitter in this sort of deal with the cast iron firepot, blower and vise next in line. Tools are not worth that much *unless* you can use them from the git go; or sell them on. I've met a lot of folks surprised that as a blacksmith I won't pay top dollar for tongs; I generally tell them at that price I can make my own and they would be exactly what I need instead of a "kit". As I have a number of tongs already I generally price them at US$5 in the wild with ones in sizes, shapes and condition that I have a use for going all the way up to $8. Other tooling---like bending forks and jigs can be useful; but again if you don't make things that need them they are clutter in the shop. So evaluate the anvil, firepot, blower and vise and come up with a price and throw in a bit of boot for tools. Cash money in hand can seal a deal; but be prepared to pick it up on the spot; I've had folks back out of a deal cause a clueless relative told them it was worth twice what it really is. (and a few times they call back wanting the original deal and get upset that I would prefer not to deal with them---especially if I had spent money taking the truck to pick stuff up...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggwelder Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 i`ll be contacting the guy this weekend. i`ll let you know how it goes. he lives a fair distance from me, so any deal will be done on the phone. unless all my gunstock parts sell, and i need more walnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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