I recently bought two anvils and dont know which one to keep

[Austin Ferraiuolo]

I am new to the site. I have been looking for a anvil for over a year this past weekend I happened to stumble across two which I bought. The first one is a 125lb trenton anvil which I paid $350 for the second one is a 250lb vulcan anvil which i paid $600 for.  I am torn on which one I should keep or if I should keep them both. Let me hear your thoughts! 

[arftist]

The Trenton is gorgeous, you should absolutely keep it. 

The Vulcan, though not the best anvil ever made also appears to be in good condition. 

If you can afford it, keep them both. Most professional blacksmiths will tell you you get more work done per unit of effort with a heavier anvil.

[Charles R. Stevens]

I'm with Arftist. The big lady will happily make her self a pemenent place to  live in your shop, wile the pettite little miss will drift hear and their, as she is easer to move around, you will even take her out on the accasinal date ;-)

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Austin, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many IFI folk live within visiting distance.

Choosing involves a few considerations: First is general anvil brand/quality. The Trenton is a little better quality anvil for a few reasons, some reading in the anvil section of IFI will list the well.

Second is your neighbors. Didn't see that one coming did you? The Vulcan is a high carbon steel face foundry welded to a cast iron body. This is how a Fisher was made and the material differences makes for a pretty quiet anvil. The Trenton will ring like a bell, folk a block away will know if you miss a blow.

Last but not least is weight. 250lbs. is a nice shop anvil weight but if you want to move it much the lighter one is the better. And NO it's not too light by a long shot unless you intend to do a lot of striker work with sledge hammers. My main shop anvil is 125lbs. and I have a 206lb. anvil about 5' away and just as available to the forge.

In general though if you can afford it buy them both for all the reasons listed above. A boy just CAN'T have too many anvils. . . Well, within reason I guess.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Frozenforge]

Uh let me think for a nanosecond, BOTH!! But then again I have Anvilitious!

Both appear to be in great condition, what a tough decision if it has to be made!

[Ethan the blacksmith]

I agree with all. keep em' all! how ever, be carful, one you have over 5 anvils sitting in your shop, it becomes an addiction!

Ethan

[Charles R. Stevens]

Wernt you at that cross roads resently, Ethan?

[Frosty]

He was indeed Charles, I think he kept them both and just picked up another.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Yea, two wast enugh, I had to start colecting chunks of steel to make demo anvils that wernt london patern, time for AAA!

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Anvils are like wrenches, that is why they make sets of them...I have 7

[matto]

I have 11 and use 3.  Two at one forging station and one at another.  Then I have 3 for demo set ups.  I like my Vulcan and my Trenton.  Most old blacksmith shops never had more than a 150 lb anvil as the main anvil.  Keep them both.  

[neg]

I keep two anvils, pretty close together in my forge. A large one I do most of my forging on and a small one with a sharper horn and edges that come in handy. It's also nice to have a second when a friend wants to come mess around in the forge. And believe me, they will.

[Ethan the blacksmith]

wish I could keep all of mine but im starting to sell. I love playing the 'game'.sell one, buy one.

[ThomasPowers]

You can quiet the trenton; but you can't thin the heel of the vulcan.  As we don't know WHAT YOU are going to be making; we can't give good advice for YOUR SPECIFIC SITUATION!   For most general smithing the Trenton will be great---once quieted.   If you will be doing heavy work by hand then the Vulcan starts looking good, except the thinner face and often softer too isn't the best for heavy work.  Keep them both if you can and then after a couple of years getting settled in the craft make a decision on which to get rid of.

 

The analogy is "I have a minivan and a dumptruck---which should I keep?  Of course I won't tell you if I need to haul a bunch of kids around or 16 tons of gravel, but which one?"

 

(and I think the Vulcan was overpriced...)

Edited May 29, 2015 by ThomasPowers

[Anthony San Miguel]

Keep them both. If you get rid of one you will probably wish you hadn't later on, especially if anvils become even harder to find than they already are.