Not to dredge up an old topic, but does anyone have experience/thoughts on these anvils? I've been eyeballing the 80lb London pattern in steel from them, and haven't really been able to get a good read on whether they are any good or not.

 

then we will start a new thread to avoid trouble.

I guess since this was split off an old post, it would help to give a bit more information. The specific anvil I was asking about was the Fort Vause outfitters London pattern. The gentleman who runs it said they have ductile iron and 4140 steel ones, and that they are around 50-52 Rc hardness as purchased, but will work harden to 55-56 Rc. For the price, these seem to be along the same lines as the NC/Cliff Carroll/etc. farriers anvils, and are around the same weight, but I don't know anything about them, and they are out of Virginia, so I can't exactly put my hands on them to get a feel for myself. I just wondered if anyone here had any experience with them or thoughts about them, as my wife wanted to buy me an anvil for our anniversary/my birthday/Christmas, but I really don't want to spend a lot of money (would like to stay at or under $400) and the anvil supply in my area (that I have seen, at least) isn't real great.