November 11, 200718 yr Hey everybody! I found a nice Austrian style anvil weighing in at about 70-100 kilos, but it doesn't have a horn ( bick/beak ). It's been ripped straight off . . I still cant imagine how . . . It doesn't look that punished to me . .so I guess it must have been a sand infiltration while casting it or something. My questions are. . .Can I somehow put a new bick on it? Will it be cheap to make and attach it? What tools will I need ( if it's possible ) and considering that I already have a 150 kilo main anvil and a 50 kilo spare . .should I just drop the whole thing and scrap it?
November 11, 200718 yr I know it can be done. The backsmithing group that I hang out with, once a month, did it to the anvil we use long before I started hanging out with them. I believe they made sort of a dove tail joint and then welded it. Sorry, that's the end of my help.
November 11, 200718 yr I beleve its Wayne Goddard considers a hornless anvil was perfect for a knife making anvil
November 12, 200718 yr use the anvil just like it is especially since you have another one with a horn . there are many uses for the table of the anvil good luck Forgeman
November 12, 200718 yr Author It does have a huge scar . .it was surely a horned ( horny ) anvil .. It also appear to be a wrought bodied anvil with a steel face. .If I'd show you a pic of the "scar" you would know. .( too bad I don't actually have one) i know it could have it welded ..but I don;t have the broken off horn. Yes . .it still has the hardie hole. .. as well as the pritchel hole. Anyways thanks guys. .but I think I'll just scrap it . .why keep it if its broken and if I have one twice as heavy .. made of cast tool steel. Right?
November 12, 200718 yr Anyways thanks guys. .but I think I'll just scrap it . .why keep it if its broken and if I have one twice as heavy .. made of cast tool steel. Right? Wrong. An anvil does NOT need a horn to be useful, I'd take it in a heartbeat if for no other reason than to have another anvil for students. As it is I only have two quality anvils and a third would be a welcome addition. Frosty
November 12, 200718 yr +1 Frosty! For most of the 3,000 years of iron usage, general-purpose anvils were often hornless. Japanese swordsmith anvils still are. Plenty of very good work can be done on a hornless anvil. Heck, look at the work Viking smiths were able to make on sub 5lb lumps of wrought iron! :D
November 12, 200718 yr I wouldn't scrap it, you could use it for a multitude of things, heck it would even be worth having around just as a nice weight to use when needed. welder19
November 13, 200718 yr And to think I've been looking at saw makers anvils on ebay and they are selling like hotcakes to colectors I want one for earley period (1300-1600) demos. Drogo
November 13, 200718 yr Save it for the friend who wants to try out smithing as your "loaner" anvil. I have a heeless anvil I use for that.
November 13, 200718 yr E pacat sa o arunci Althow in Romania you can not sell a damascus patern knife this does not mean it has no value
November 19, 200718 yr Author Wrong. An anvil does NOT need a horn to be useful, I'd take it in a heartbeat if for no other reason than to have another anvil for students. As it is I only have two quality anvils and a third would be a welcome addition. Frosty too bad I'm so far away then ..an too bad you're not here. . with a pick up truck, 2 tanks of gas and about a 1000 bucks you could get like 30 anvils from the mountain villages around here. ..not to mention the ones that are inherited by people that have no use for them and scrap em, you could get those for less than the cost of their scrap weight. I got a 350 pound cast steel german style anvil for 100 bucks. .almost new :D
November 20, 200718 yr I was cooresponding with a smith in Sweden in the early days of the internet and he told the same story. Lots of smithing tools for next to nothing. I actually researched and talked to a couple people who ship from western europe and it'd cost about 1/3 as much to buy new as it would to ship one. Of course if I could slip one into my baggage. . . Frosty
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