Clayton Hewitt Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Hello everyone, I have been wanting to get into blade smithing for a while now and finally started buying the tools I need to make it happen. I found a guy in my neck of the woods who sells anvils so I bought a 220lb Arm & Hammer (see pictures) for $5 a pound. Let me know what you guys think. Was my investment worth it? I know there is a little pitting on the face of the anvil but from what I've read the pitting should smooth itself out during use. I'm looking forward to having a shop built and starting my new hobby. The serial number on the front of the anvil says 36744. The guy who sold it to me looked it up in his book and said it was made in the early 1900s. Any and all advice is welcome. I was told I could use a twisted steel brush with an angle grinder to remove the rust and then rub it down with linseed oil to make it pretty again. Please, let me know your thoughts and opinions. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Frog Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Beautiful anvil. If you are happy with anvil for the price that you paid, that is all that matters. It looks to be in very nice condition! Mr. Postman must have seen that exact anvil before, because that SAME serial number is listed in his book as 1919 date. That is the 5th style of A&H logo stamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Face needs a lot of hot steel pounded on it! That will smooth out and polish it without messing with the face plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayton Hewitt Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 $5 per pound is what they seem to be going for on ebay anyway and sometimes more. Before shipping too. The guy who sold it to me is very aware of this and I'm sure I wouldn't have been able talk the price down any. He also told me that if I wanted to upgrade my anvil to something bigger or better at any point he would buy it back from me and put every dollar I spent on this one towards a bigger one. The selection he had there was incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 2 hours ago, Clayton Hewitt said: $5 per pound is what they seem to be going for on ebay anyway and sometimes more. Before shipping too. The guy who sold it to me is very aware of this and I'm sure I wouldn't have been able talk the price down any. He also told me that if I wanted to upgrade my anvil to something bigger or better at any point he would buy it back from me and put every dollar I spent on this one towards a bigger one. The selection he had there was incredible. You did fine. Use it for the rest of your working life then sell it to another young smith and get your money back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 8 hours ago, Black Frog said: Beautiful anvil. If you are happy with anvil for the price that you paid, that is all that matters. It looks to be in very nice condition! Mr. Postman must have seen that exact anvil before, because that SAME serial number is listed in his book as 1919 date. That is the 5th style of A&H logo stamp. That is so cool! Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 No Postman got the numbers from documentation he found. Still interesting to find the first one for that year though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7A749 Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 On May 23, 2016 at 2:57 PM, Clayton Hewitt said: $5 per pound is what they seem to be going for on ebay anyway and sometimes more. Before shipping too. The guy who sold it to me is very aware of this and I'm sure I wouldn't have been able talk the price down any. He also told me that if I wanted to upgrade my anvil to something bigger or better at any point he would buy it back from me and put every dollar I spent on this one towards a bigger one. The selection he had there was incredible. Is this guy down in Leslie? Visited a dude there once who had a bunch of them more than ten years ago and I thought his prices at the time seemed high. You'll get your money back out of it down the road like arftist said. Just use it. It's a really nice anvil. I don't know much, but know enough to know that's one of the real "good ones" They just seem to be going up up and away in value. Good luck with making it happen man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 39 minutes ago, 7A749 said: They just seem to be going up up and away in value yea, and they stil just fly of the shelves! its crazy! Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayton Hewitt Posted May 28, 2016 Author Share Posted May 28, 2016 5 hours ago, 7A749 said: Is this guy down in Leslie? Visited a dude there once who had a bunch of them more than ten years ago and I thought his prices at the time seemed high. You'll get your money back out of it down the road like arftist said. Just use it. It's a really nice anvil. I don't know much, but know enough to know that's one of the real "good ones" They just seem to be going up up and away in value. Good luck with making it happen man. He's located in Dowagiac. He sells under the name of "matchless antiques". He also takes old power hammers and rebuilds them with tighter tolerances than you can buy them new. He showed me step by step how he rebuilds them when I went there to buy this anvil. You can find some of his videos on YouTube. He seemed like a pretty cool guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7A749 Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 I have heard of them before. I'll have to check it out, if anything to just see his stuff. Many thanks for the info. I'm on the North side of Lansing. If your ever gonna be in the area, let me know. You're welcome to stop by. 43 minutes ago, littleblacksmith said: yea, and they stil just fly of the shelves! its crazy! Littleblacksmith Yea, you ain't kidding there. I never thought I would hear five bux a pound, but it's not a surprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 3 hours ago, 7A749 said: Yea, you ain't kidding there. I never thought I would hear five bux a pound, but it's not a surprise. ive seen more. the most would probably be at least 6 dollars. like I said- Its crazy! Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 IF you put it to work, it can pay for itself and then earn its keep, and you some profit. 100 years old and hardly broke in so it should last you a lifetime and then some. It is a nice tool both in appearance and in weight. Show me another tool that you can purchase that is 100 years old and can still be used for generations to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7A749 Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 30 minutes ago, Glenn said: IF you put it to work, it can pay for itself and then earn its keep, and you some profit. 100 years old and hardly broke in so it should last you a lifetime and then some. It is a nice tool both in appearance and in weight. Show me another tool that you can purchase that is 100 years old and can still be used for generations to come. All that, AND be sold at possibly a PROFIT if you wanted to sell it! Either way, it will solidly hold every bit of its value for the most part. Seems the anvil sales business is the way to go 1 hour ago, littleblacksmith said: ive seen more. the most would probably be at least 6 dollars. like I said- Its crazy! Littleblacksmith Dang! That's some BIG BUX NO WHAMMYS right there!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted May 29, 2016 Share Posted May 29, 2016 Steven Prillwitz of Matchless Antiques can get more for his anvils than anyone else on ebay for several reasons; 1. he knows his anvils, 2 he knows how to market his anvils and provides great pictures,3. he has a sterling reputation and 4. he will allow a full value trade in/up on another anvil. That being said he has lately been setting the values for anvil sales based on his ebay sales. That is unfortunate because others trying to sell their anvils on ebay or anywhere else think they get the same prices for their anvils. One thing about Arm and Hammer anvils is they are somewhat rarer than Trentons and Hay Buddens and therefore also are of considerable interest to collectors if they are in decent shape as yours is. There is no question however as Postman said they are fine anvils as good as any others ever made. From what I have seen you should not be unhappy about the price you paid for your anvil, it is a fair price for a large anvil I have no doubt its value will only increase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7A749 Posted May 29, 2016 Share Posted May 29, 2016 I know exactly who he is on eBay now. Always has excellent pics and is extremely knowledgeable. I had forgotten he was in MI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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