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I Forge Iron

30+ anvils in South Texas


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I want to know where he is hiding the Excellent and Very Good condition items that he mentions, because every one of the anvils pictured (in the soon-to-be-deleted link) is chipped,swayed and/or worn and looks like it was left in the weather for a few decades.

 

Why does every purveyor of rust think that he deals in priceless antiques?

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4-5$ is pretty steep in my book too which is why I haven't gone out.  I'm sure after a little while, with 30+ anvils to sell, prices will come down, I don't know of anyone who would pay those prices but anvils are pretty hard to come by down here so maybe he will get lucky. 

 

As far as being chipped, swayed or rusted or worn goes,  I just thought someone in the area may be able to take advantage of this.  Also, who knows what lies beneath all that rust.  I realize that it's doubtful that there's a diamond in that whole lot but someone else like me who has more funds available right now may be better off with bargaining for one of these than purchasing the railroad track 'anvils' so readily available down here.

 

Like I said above, I just hope someone finds this useful.

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I bought a forge a couple of weekends ago from a gent who goes to estate sales and farm auctions looking for blacksmithing equipment.  He said anvils are always going up in price and the quality isn't.

 

When I asked why he thought the prices were rising he said that some wealthy people are buying them for home decor!

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Part of the collection they posted separately a 198 PW in nice shape, but not what I'd consider $6 a lb shape.  Only slightly better than mine which I paid $1.50 a lb.

 

Must be something in the water.  Not part of this sale but in the same area, there's a 110 lb vulcan that's missing half it's face and they want $3 a lb.  A trip up north to the quad state could easily pay for itself.

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I don't need another anvil right now but what do y'all think the hardy and top tools are worth? 

How do you value something like that when you run into it?

 

I think I may drive up and have a look if they have anything left.

 

 

Russell 

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At what price do you say---I can make myself for that!  I tend to only buy hardy tooling when it's something I really want/need or it's dead cheap.  So my most commonly used bottom swage I have 3 different versions of with stems to fit three different anvils.  I think I paid US$3 for the largest one at a QS junk table---a badly mushroomed top tool I reforged into a bottom tool

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I don't need another anvil right now but what do y'all think the hardy and top tools are worth? 

How do you value something like that when you run into it?

 

I think I may drive up and have a look if they have anything left.

 

 

Russell 

 

Anvil tooling only has a measurable value as determined by two factors.  

 

1 - How badly do you need it?  Do you have a project in the pipeline that requires that tool?  Can you make do with something you already have?  Can you adapt the design so you don't need that tool?

 

2 - How close is the asking price to a 'buy new' price?  A lot of people think old rusty tongs are worth $40, but I can buy brand new tongs for that same price.  Why would I give them the business when I can buy exactly the right size/shape of tong, brand new, for the same price?  

 

If you can't use the tool right away, it's value is a lot less than something you need to use a lot.  

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I wish I could get a jack hammer bit or two for free here. In Ohio, they run $11.00 each in used condition. Hardy tools are going for $30 to $35 each in good condition at auctions.  Tongs run $20 to $40 depending on condition. You need deep pockets for auctions in Ohio.  These prices are now the norm from all the auctions i have been to in the last year or so.

 

Anvil prices have gone out of sight it seems. Most I have seen sold are too expensive. An acquaitance recently purchased a small Trenton anvil in good shape .... but the lowest price he could get was 7 dollars a pound.  4 to 5 dollars a pound is normal around Ohio for anvils of less than stellar quality.

 

One acquaitance of mine was recently at an auction and one buyer was buying ALL the concrete horse figures, large and small.  My friend asked him what he was going to do with all those. That buyer said that the Japanese right now are looking to buy lots of American memorabilia and folk art stuff. He said he takes all of the stuff he gets to Georgia, doubles his money and it get shipped from there to Japan.   Here is the part that will get under your skin.  My friend and the buyer were talking blacksmith stuff, and the buyer said that last year he took 400 anvils to the Georgia resale place, doubled his money and they were all sent to Japan !!!   400 ANVILS !!

 

That is 400 anvils no longer in this country that none of us will ever see again or ever get to use. Supply and demand will make anvil prices alot higher in the near future.  Buying cheap anvils and post vices and hardy tools is fast becoming a thing of the past. I remember when you could buy a brand new car off the lot for $3000. Those days are long gone .... just like cheap blacksmith prices are going away faster that you can imagine. If you have the stuff ....you better hang on to it as you won't get it again for the price you paid for it. 

 

Ohio Rusty ><>

The Ohio Frontier Forge

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