Ok so ive been buggin a few fam members and friends for a year now to keep a look out on a anvil for me and hopefully its paid off.  My father in law does alot of bartering wheelin n dealin and his good buddy Mac (older gent) has one he bought new in 1970. Said its around 200lbs use it maybe half a dozen times and decided blacksmithing wasnt for him. Been in the corner of his shop ever since. Hopefully ill be able to get out there this weekend and find out what it is but for now ull pick your brains. Anvil quality in the 70s, what brands were available then. Hes the kind of guy that buys quality equipment so i dont believe its gonna be an ASO. Im thinkin its gonna be a Fisher for some reason. Hopefully fisher will be worst case.

Take CASH and make the best deal you can.

Take some soap stone, or flower to put on the logo to help it stand out. A good strong light from the side may help you see the logo also.

If we knew where you were located (add it to your profile) we would suggest to take your cell phone and post, to IForgeIron and this thread, both text and photos so we can help ID the anvil.

Great idea, hes already quoted me 150.00 bucks gets the steel so im thinking its got a new home anyways  its just doesn't know it yet. Ill touch up my profile here in a min but im in Houston Texas and hes about 2 hours east of me.

$150!   if offered to me I would already  have it in my truck before he smartened up. 

Saturday is a good day for a road trip!  All you really need is a 1" ball bearing to get a good estimate of the rebound; but at that price it would have to be an ASO before I would turn it down.  Instructions on the ball bearing test can be found over at Anvilfire.com along with data from running it on different anvils.

Well he said he bought it new 35 years ago, ive searched american anvil makers in the 70s and didnt come up with much besides fisher norris or getting one through sears. Does anyone know of any other makers or what quality was a run of the mill a anvil like. You'd think anything manufactured in America back then was of some quality wouldnt ya think. 

could be a Kohlswa. They are well regarded anvils these days but some in the 70's were somewhat soft.

No; if you look through 100 year old Sears&Roebuck catalogs you will find they sold cast iron ASO's as well as the re-branded Hay Buddens; it's just the poor quality stuff tends not to last and gets discarded/scrapped/worn out, etc.  But every once in a while someone would have gotten an ASO and tucked it away and never used it and leave it for some poor schmuck today to over pay for it.

well guys i just got a few pics of it and what a disappointment. Not at all as described  just a complete let down. Grrr

 

1 minute ago, Shluke said:

well guys i just got a few pics of it and what a disappointment. Not at all as described  just a complete let down. Grrr

 

Care to share the pics?

Ah, the old broken off face plate. Still has a hardy, pritchel hole and a horn. Offer him $50. Or something. Or continue the search of money is tight. Yeah I wonder why the guy gave up blacksmithing. 

Someone did a lot of beating on that HB after the faceplate was gone.  HB ceased manufacturing around 1930. 

Ouch 

That's a face only a mother could love, LOL

"I am not an anvil! I am a human being!"

Well moving on, on back to square 1. Thanks for your inputs and a few comments cheered me up so thanks for that too. At least it saved me a 3 hour round trip in my 1 ton duramax. Do yall think if we all signed a petition we could get nimba to produce a 180lber? 

Not to worry. You've saved time and money; now read through the forum (if you haven't already) about all the things you can use as an anvil if you don't have an anvil.

Yeah i read about and watch several vids on substitutes. Im mainly wanting to forge blades and perhaps a wall hanger,pot racks things of that nature. Money isnt to much of an issue id just have to wait till that fund has accrud the funds. In other words if i have to wait and save to buy the best then thats what ill do. And if im gonna drop over a grand im my eyes its gonna be the best. Ill look around , but any thoughts on how much weight would be sufficient to forge my needs?

Generally, heavy is good, but how you mount it and how you use it matter too. I use a 148lb Mousehole, which is good for everything I've done so far, but if --for example -- I hammer at a bad angle over the horn, it bounces all over the place.

That looks like the "rare step faced blacksmith anvil" I saw on Craigslist about a week ago for $500. Someone bought it apparently...

Have one like that out here; originally on craigslist for $150  which I thought was overpriced as 90% of the face is gone and what's left is on the heel and only 1 side of that!

Disappeared and now is back up for $595!

Wow, higher than here and I bet they didn't clean it up as nicely as the one I saw! Leaves me wondering what a step faced anvil would be used for. At least, if such a thing ever existed...

Ah, the old step faced anvil. And for only 150 more dollars, I'll sell ya the secret to my aqueous sodium chloride quench.  And my special blended breed horse with the parabolic spine and the assymetrical drop step gait.

32 minutes ago, Nobody Special said:

Ah, the old step faced anvil. And for only 150 more dollars, I'll sell ya the secret to my aqueous sodium chloride quench.  And my special blended breed horse with the parabolic spine and the assymetrical drop step gait.

Can he hit a lick.