i am looking for a 150# anvil, but dont know where to look other than ebay and craigslist. also if i do find one what would be a realistic price? live in Spokane WA USA 

Do you need a London Pattern Anvil?  have you tried the TPAAAT yet?

yea would like a london pattern 

 

Don't rely on Craigslist.  Be a crazy person and mention it to everyone you talk to.  You'd be amazed at the opportunities you have already missed.  There are a few I'm still angry at myself about.

2 minutes ago, Lou L said:

Don't rely on Craigslist.  Be a crazy person and mention it to everyone you talk to.  You'd be amazed at the opportunities you have already missed.  There are a few I'm still angry at myself about.

i been doing that like crazy, probably called all my contacts twice now haha

Just find a huge chunk of steel and use it until your anvil finds you.  I'm lucky to have met my anvil early on but guess what, I'm running out to buy a huge cylinder of mild steel to use as rough anvil for all the jobs a swage block and post anvil would serve.  So, this is one person who has an anvil but wants a big chunk of steel anyway.

 

And go ahead and search for TPAAAT on the forum.  Thomas has a time tested method for finding anvils that has many devotees.

19 minutes ago, Lou L said:

Just find a huge chunk of steel and use it until your anvil finds you.  I'm lucky to have met my anvil early on but guess what, I'm running out to buy a huge cylinder of mild steel to use as rough anvil for all the jobs a swage block and post anvil would serve.  So, this is one person who has an anvil but wants a big chunk of steel anyway.

 

And go ahead and search for TPAAAT on the forum.  Thomas has a time tested method for finding anvils that has many devotees.

Yeah I went and found it, will have to give it a try and would a big chunk of I-beem work?

NO!   What the hammer "sees" is the steel between it and the stand so 95% of an I beam is equivalent to under 1" of a solid piece of steel and you usually pay extra for it's shape which is worthless...and they are Extremely LOUD!

May I commend this idea to you about making an interim anvil: http://www.marco-borromei.com/fork.html

and yes I am the Thomas mentioned.

I've heard bad things about I-beams and would tend to believe them.  Try to find a steel supplier that is open to the public or check out a steel recycler.  The steel company I use has an enormous area for hobbyists and contractors alike who are looking for odd cuts or one off pieces they don't want to order.  They have solid masses of steel for $1 per pound.  An I-beam is mostly hollow space and doesn't provide rebound.  You will be forced to work too hard and will learn frustration more than you learn smithing.  You just need a solid mass of steel to whack on.  Dons search for post anvils and you will see loads of ideas.  Some people do work way beyond my skill set using them.

 

10 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

NO!   What the hammer "sees" is the steel between it and the stand so 95% of an I beam is equivalent to under 1" of a solid piece of steel and you usually pay extra for it's shape which is worthless...and they are Extremely LOUD!

May I commend this idea to you about making an interim anvil: http://www.marco-borromei.com/fork.html

and yes I am the Thomas mentioned.

I checked the link out, any ideas on where to find a sutibal chunck of steel?

Are there any places in your area that sell, service or rent forklifts?  Perhaps you could look them up, I need to get to bed as I have to cross the border tomorrow and get to work. Down here I'd check at Amador's scrapyard in Polvadera NM.  Remember when asking them about trashed fork lift tines be sure to tell them you want to make an anvil from them and would be happy if they would cut it in two neat the bend!  (Many places are afraid of liability if they give you a damaged tine and you use it on a forklift and it fails catastrophically 

I might be saying the obvious...but I have found contacting local farriers to help...sometimes they have anvils around and some not in use....and they make trips to places that have anvils and might have a better chance knowing someone who has one and is willing to part with one....

Being higher carbon steel, a forklift time would be superior to my suggestion for sure.  If you can find a forklift company you may get quite lucky.  So, basically I'm saying,"just do what Thomas says every time...."

Thanks guys for giving me some ideas it is much appreciated

I-beam is no good for anvils, but can make a good anvil stand. There's a thread documenting the design and construction of mine here. 

Forklift forks, excavator bucket pins, big axles, sledgehammer heads, hydraulic breaker points, or any other heavy piece of scrap steel-not cast iron. 

Scrap yards, wrecking yards, welding and machine shop scraps, rental companies, etc...are all good places to look.  

You might try looking for swap meets, flea markets, tractor pulls or farm livestock auctions in your area and tell everyone you meet at them you're looking for an anvil. It's the Inland Empire, there's got to be dozens of anvils in barns all over the area.

Just doing a bit of a stream of consciousness kind of thinking here--there are 2 major pathways to start connections in that area which might be worth pursuing:  There is a smithing school (and related association) that would be worth making contact with in Spokane.  There is also a drop point for a guy who supplies smithing coal throughout the PNW (do a deep internet search and you will probably run into the contact)...and he might be able to lead you to someone who can lead you to someone who can...

Thinking again...IIRC the town of Spangle (30 mins south for those in the rest of the world) has a very large farm auction about this time every year and IIRC last year they had a couple of anvils in the mix.  

All part of the TPAAAT method...the more people you poke, the more chances to score.

 

What might be the name of that auction? 

14 minutes ago, Jack Underwood said:

What might be the name of that auction? 

It's basically a town-wide monster auction. http://spangleserviceclub.com/index-2015-auction.html  Not sure of any details.  It appears I had the time of year wrong, though--thought it was in the fall and not the spring.

Many farm communities have implement auctions fall and spring where smithing stuff my turn up---got one 2 miles from my shop!  Unfortunately the owners are related to the largest collector of smithing stuff in the state.... I've stopped even going...2 miles...sigh.

Anyway asking at a farm implement dealership might be a good way to find out about such sales.

One of our guys has been telling folk wanting to get into smithing to buy a new farrier's anvil. They may  not be what a new guy thinks is ideal but they're good quality, come in a variety of weights and are being made as we speak. It's hard to find blacksmithing tools in Alaska and anvils sell almost immediately, never cheap unless you're connected to the seller.

If a guy doesn't want to spend the money for a good anvil maybe they don't want to learn the craft badly enough. While not cheap a modern farrier's anvil is a good anvil and available sometimes off the shelf at the local feed and seed.

Frosty The Lucky.

19 hours ago, Kozzy said:

It's basically a town-wide monster auction. http://spangleserviceclub.com/index-2015-auction.html  Not sure of any details.  It appears I had the time of year wrong, though--thought it was in the fall and not the spring.

thank you very much 

now we have talked about where i might be able to get an anvil or how i might be able to make one, but what is a reasonable price? 

Have to get the local smiths to chime in on that.

16 hours ago, Frosty said:

 

If a guy doesn't want to spend the money for a good anvil maybe they don't want to learn the craft badly enough.

Amen to that! Too many guys on here recommend railroad track, flat plate etc etc. BS! They don't want to buy a decent anvil they need to find another hobby.

16 hours ago, Frosty said:

 

While not cheap a modern farrier's anvil is a good anvil and available sometimes off the shelf at the local feed and seed.

Frosty The Lucky.

On this point I need to disagree. Older horseshoers anvils yes. Absolutely. Most of the contemporary ones wouldn't make a decent boat anchor. Keep away from any cold shoeing cowboy ASO's with turning cams, heel hooking holes and other such undesirable features that modern day horseshoers seem to demand of the manufacturers.

George