February 4, 201511 yr Hey all just wondering if this anvil is worth the asking price of $550, it's 176lbs
February 4, 201511 yr I think so. I paid 238 for my 100# many years ago. so I recommend that you buy it.
February 4, 201511 yr I'm a fan of Swedish cast steel anvils and that one looks to be in good condition. Chipped edges are common to Swedish cast steel anvils, they're very hard. I might dicker a bit but would have the $550 in my pocket if he held fast. Short answer, Yes, I'd grab it AFTER I gave it a rebound test. Sometimes anvils are involved in a fire and can have the temper drawn all the way, Normalized or even annealed and rehardening an anvil is NOT a thing most folk are qualified to try. Tricky tricky tricky. Heck, if I had to heat treat an anvil I'd send it to a professional shop. As that beauty sits about all I'd do is radius the chipped edge grinding mostly with the intent to remove any cracks, detatched chips, etc. That lady is crying out for hot steel and hammering. she's got generations of life in her, your grandkids will be bragging to the neighbor kids about learning on it. Frosty The Lucky.
February 4, 201511 yr Author Thanks for the response. I've been toying with the idea of picking it up. It's a few hours away so I wanted to get some opinions on it before I took the drive to go see it. It's the closest one I've really been interested in.
February 4, 201511 yr The price is really steep in my opinion, especially with that one side chipped as bad as it is. That brand is a good one.
February 4, 201511 yr Some other questions to ask yourself..... Do you need it, or want it? How bad do you want it? How long have you been looking for one? When is the last time you saw another similar in size and condition available near you?
February 4, 201511 yr Author It is just a want, I don't need it. I've wanted one for awhile now and there really just are not any around here. There was a really nice 200 Emerson around for 800 just recently but of course I didn't have the money at the time. A few 100 pounders here and there for around 400 but I'd really like 150 or up.
February 4, 201511 yr Cash offers sometimes help drive the deal. Be sure to point out the bad edge and make an offer. Talk is cheap and easy. Laying down a pile of 20's or 50's in the exact amount you want to offer might help.
February 4, 201511 yr I was going to pay 500 for a 216 Trenton that was a 2 1/2 hour ride one way when I found my Hay Budden 115 locally. Ya I would have liked a bigger anvil but for the price and distance how could I pass it up? Hay B. 15 minutes up the road or a trip to inner city NJ 2 1/2 hours without traffic. Made the wife happy too that I spent less and traveled less. It looks to be in decent shape for a chunk of metal that gets hit with a hammer. How bad do you need/want it? and are you willing to spend the time and money to get it? Will you get your 500 back? I don't mean in money ( that helps) but in satisfaction. In other words, will you buy it and be happy with the purchase. As others have said, If you go offer less, gas ain't free and neither is time (unless you ask my wife) Rich
February 4, 201511 yr I think it would be a good purchase if the funds allow. I'd certainly try to talk the guy down at least another hundred because of the serious chipping on the edge, but I wouldn't balk at five bills if he held firm. A quality anvil like that will last you a few hundred years if you take care of it. And you could definitely sell it next year if you decide to get out of the business. Buy it for $500, use it for a year or three, and then sell it for $300. In effect, the original purchase price was only $200, and that's if you sell it for less than you bought it. If you can afford it, feel comfortable that you're getting a great tool for a good price.
February 4, 201511 yr I'm still studying the base and mounting. I like the base stump as well. Even if you sell the anvil later on, that could be handy chunk of wood for all sorts of things.
February 4, 201511 yr A brand new Emerson 100# anvil is 600$, the Kohlswa is heavier, has better lines, and the edges aren't that bad... They just provide you Less reason, not to properly radius the edges. ;-) If you have been looking for years, go ahead a pull the trigger, buy this one. If you are really lucky, after you get this one anvils will fall out of the sky all around you, and you will have lots to choose from. But right now this is the only girl at the dance who doesn't have a partner, shut up and dance;-) You will be surprised at how much fun you will have...
February 4, 201511 yr The price is really steep in my opinion, especially with that one side chipped as bad as it is. That brand is a good one. I wish I knew where you iare getting your anvils $3 a pounds is good rate around here....
February 4, 201511 yr I think it would be a good purchase if the funds allow. I'd certainly try to talk the guy down at least another hundred because of the serious chipping on the edge, but I wouldn't balk at five bills if he held firm. A quality anvil like that will last you a few hundred years if you take care of it. And you could definitely sell it next year if you decide to get out of the business. Buy it for $500, use it for a year or three, and then sell it for $300. In effect, the original purchase price was only $200, and that's if you sell it for less than you bought it. If you can afford it, feel comfortable that you're getting a great tool for a good price. Why sell it for 300? It is worth 500 all day and then some. Under 3 bucks a pound for cast Swedish steel is a bargain these days. Yeah, you might rip off someone's grandma for a buck less, but a good deal is still a good deal. Other than the one edge, which isn't too big of a job to grind down, that thing is a beauty.
February 4, 201511 yr SJS If you are really lucky, after you get this one anvils will fall out of the sky all around you, No I know why I don't mind bad luck so much...... Rich
February 5, 201511 yr Why sell it for 300? I'm not saying to sell it for 300. I'm just using that as an example. A lot of people get stuck on the big price tag, but if you factor in the resale value when/if you do sell it, the price really isn't that much. You could definitely sell that anvil for $300 in a year or two, and that makes the initial purchase price only $200. If you sell it for more, great, but you know you'd get a sale at three bills so that's what I went with. When you look at it like that, $500 isn't really that big of an initial investment.
February 5, 201511 yr Put it this way- if you buy it for five bills and use it for a while and want to sell it down the road, I highly doubt you would lose much (if any) money on it. At the rate decent anvils seem to be going for, the price is only going one direction.....
February 5, 201511 yr Put it this way- if you buy it for five bills and use it for a while and want to sell it down the road, I highly doubt you would lose much (if any) money on it. At the rate decent anvils seem to be going for, the price is only going one direction..... Thats what I was thinking but it is good to know a liquid value I suppose, especially if one were on the fence about the purchase as it were. I would say get it before someone else does. I have never lost money on any anvil I ever bought.
February 5, 201511 yr Steve Sells, CA and NV for my anvils. 50# old unnamed $60 off Craigslist 125# JHM Journeyman that came with a folding stand, single burner forge,and 3 tool boxes of tools/shoe blanks/hoof epoxies for $250 off Craigslist 150# Vulcan $50 from a closed high school shop. 170# HB for $175 we thought it was #175. Craigslist 260# Fisher $250, newspaper ad 306# Sodefors $200 machine shop auction. These were purchased between 1979? - 2011? I bought the 50#,125#,and the 170#,since I moved to Nevada in 2005.
February 5, 201511 yr These were purchased between 1979? - 2011? I bought the 50#,125#,and the 170#,since I moved to Nevada in 2005. Prices from four to thirty-five years ago are not valid for today's anvil market. Sure, you might still stumble into a deal where the seller doesn't know the worth of the item, but with more and more people using the internet, ebay, and craigslist those kinds of deals are getting far fewer and farther between. An underpricedanvil ad on CL is literally flooded with calls. If you had to sell your 300# Soderfors now, would you sell it for the $200 you paid years ago, or would you be asking the $900 (or more) ballpark? There's a finite amount of old quality anvils still out there. More and more people are getting interested in blacksmithing. Simple supply and demand pushes prices one direction. Up.
February 5, 201511 yr Seems a little pricey to me considering the edges. I personally don't like "working around" chipped edges.
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