Ranchmanben Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 Made a little trip 3.5hrs away this morning to buy a 350lb Hay Budden. When I got there I couldn't find a manufacturer stamp anywhere on it but it was in pretty good shape and the price was right so we made a deal. Got home and started really going over it, if you haven't figured it out yet, it's not a Budden and it's not 350lbs. It's a Peter Wright and it's 406ish pounds! Ring is good and more importantly the rebound is between 80-85%. Now for a dose of the wire wheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubalcain2 Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 SWEET ANVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! awesome score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisPTF Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 How much did you have to pay for that? That is one beautiful anvil! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted June 2, 2017 Author Share Posted June 2, 2017 Under $2.50/lb. I'm in a terribly anvil poor area, I usually have to pay $4+ and know people who've paid around $6/lb for a good anvil. So when this one came up for sale I jumped on it like a duck on a beetle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 SWEET SCORE Ben! All it's wanting is a better stand though a little brushing won't do a bit of harm. Now I have to go stroke my Soderfors and salve my anvil envy. <sniff> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted June 2, 2017 Author Share Posted June 2, 2017 Thanks fellas! That stump came with it and it'll do for now but once my wallet recovers I'm going to bite the bullet and build a nice tripod stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 Wow, anvil envy. I have been wanting a larger anvil, looks like you got a good deal! Did you make that rounding hammer? yeah, definitely not a hay budden! Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted June 3, 2017 Author Share Posted June 3, 2017 I'm jealous of myself! That hammer is a 2.5lb Ballard forge hammer my wife picked out for me for my birthday. I've been tooling up , including a sweet set of hammer eye tongs, to start attempting to build hammers but haven't plunged into that yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 You wouldn't want to go on vacation and leave your shop unlocked would you?????? Can you share how you found it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lionel h Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Pretty anvil you got there ,congratulations on the good find ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted June 3, 2017 Author Share Posted June 3, 2017 11 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: You wouldn't want to go on vacation and leave your shop unlocked would you?????? Can you share how you found it? Instagram. It's the only social media I've ever had, I don't consider forums social media. There are anvils that come up for sale regularly and often times they are decently priced, to me at least. This one was the best price I'd seen and happened to be within driving distance for me. There's a lot of really good smiths showing if their work, shops and wares on there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 43 minutes ago, Ranchmanben said: I'm jealous of myself! That hammer is a 2.5lb Ballard forge hammer my wife picked out for me for my birthday. I've been tooling up , including a sweet set of hammer eye tongs, to start attempting to build hammers but haven't plunged into that yet. huh, I could never guess where you got the tongs from. if you ever want to, you can come here and we can make hammers. I got all the tools, you could probably even stay overnight, as we got a guest cabin on our property, or if you wanted to make some tools to make hammers. Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted June 3, 2017 Author Share Posted June 3, 2017 14 hours ago, littleblacksmith said: huh, I could never guess where you got the tongs from. if you ever want to, you can come here and we can make hammers. I got all the tools, you could probably even stay overnight, as we got a guest cabin on our property, or if you wanted to make some tools to make hammers. Littleblacksmith Man, I'd love to do that but I'm getting ready to be on a pretty short leash. Second kiddo is due next month. Might have to try this fall once it cools off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 congratulations! yeah, definantly, if our schedules match up that is of course, I will have a few shows and a demo to do. Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted June 4, 2017 Author Share Posted June 4, 2017 It dawned on me this afternoon that none of my bottom tools are going to fit this beast. I guess I'll make a sleeve to reduce the hardy hole to 1" till I can get some new 1.5" tools made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 Your a blacksmith are you not? Make your tools, Seems like when I started blacksmithing 17 years ago every time I went out to the forge I had to make a tool. Today I started a new tool. It never stops and the ones you make will probably fit your anvil better and do a better job. Let me know how I can help you Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted June 4, 2017 Author Share Posted June 4, 2017 On June 3, 2017 at 9:05 PM, WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith said: Your a blacksmith are you not? Make your tools, Seems like when I started blacksmithing 17 years ago every time I went out to the forge I had to make a tool. Today I started a new tool. It never stops and the ones you make will probably fit your anvil better and do a better job. Let me know how I can help you Wayne Wasn't complaining, just expressing a thought about this new anvil that I hadn't thought of. I've built nearly all my hardy tools for each anvil I've had thus far and suspect I'll continue to do so. Looks like I'm going to have to be on the look out for some more jackhammer bits and truck axles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 Well as someone that has 3 anvils with 1.5" hardy holes (4 of them!) I'll tell you my "trick". I look for old battered top tools that are too mushroomed to be safe to use. I cut off the mushroom and then forge the handle eye area down to fit my 1.5" hardy holes. I have a big screw press that makes getting parallel and smooth sides for the new "stem" easy once I'm close. It's usually the striking end that is messed up and not the swage end. Of course the handle eye still exists and could be drifted back out if I ever wanted to reverse the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted June 4, 2017 Author Share Posted June 4, 2017 37 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: Well as someone that has 3 anvils with 1.5" hardy holes (4 of them!) I'll tell you my "trick". I look for old battered top tools that are too mushroomed to be safe to use. I cut off the mushroom and then forge the handle eye area down to fit my 1.5" hardy holes. I have a big screw press that makes getting parallel and smooth sides for the new "stem" easy once I'm close. It's usually the striking end that is messed up and not the swage end. Of course the handle eye still exists and could be drifted back out if I ever wanted to reverse the process. Really great idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted June 4, 2017 Author Share Posted June 4, 2017 Did a little clean up on the old gal. Spend an hour and a half with the wire wheel and 20 minutes or so with the flap disk. The horn was covered with hammer marks but luckily most of them were very shallow and buffed out easily. The off side edge was mushroomed a little so it took that tiny bit off as well. Finished with a dose of WD-40. She's looking good and ready for some hot steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 I lay a ruler along the side with the rule at the edge at the heel and over about 3/8" at the horn end and strike a line with a magic marker, on both sides, then grind a radius to the line. Both sides are the same so that near side and off side blows will have the same radius. That would probably take out that chip on the near side. If not maybe strike another line and radius to it. Be sure that both sides are the same. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted June 5, 2017 Author Share Posted June 5, 2017 Using a straight line is a far better method than my usual approach of trying to eye ball it. Although I have always like the results, it's still somewhat of a craps shoot. I'm going to beat some steel on it for a bit before I commit to many changes. One of the first things I'll probably end up doing is putting a square edge on the heel. I've always liked having that sharp edge to mark mild steel and as a cut off in a pinch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Olson Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 Wash off the WD. Its not good for long storage. Others will chime in on formulas for oil treating it. I use lite house hold oil from ace hardware store in a 6 once jug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted June 5, 2017 Author Share Posted June 5, 2017 41 minutes ago, Kevin Olson said: Wash off the WD. Its not good for long storage. Others will chime in on formulas for oil treating it. I use lite house hold oil from ace hardware store in a 6 once jug When I get a new anvil I like it to develop it's own patina from the start of our relationship, we grow as a couple. I learn its parts and how to use them and it learns how much I miss when I'm frustrated and should have quit 20 minutes before. I'm in a borderline high desert location so humidity and rust aren't really issues, WD-49 works fine for me. If I was really interested in long term protection I'd give it a coat of BLO at the end of a long day of forging while the anvil is nice and warm. Mainly, I wanted a picture of it all nice and pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 A bit low for "high" desert and about 3 times the precipitation cut-off for desert; but fairly high & dry anyway. Besides which I don't think you are interested in long term storage vs *using* *it*! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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