JustAnotherViking Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 Today I purchased my first anvil. After spending several weeks scouring the internet, trying to find some for sale on local ads, or action sites, I finally got talking to the right person. A quick phone call later, I was passed some contact information. Just over an hour later, I was loading my first anvil into the car. I can't believe the condition! The face is almost perfect, sings beautifully all over, and over 90% rebound in the middle. It had been sitting about for a while, as is evident by the patina, but is in otherwise great shape. I took a very worn sanding disk to clean it up, and sort the corner radius on one side... hopefully I haven't broken any cardinal rules... it was just a very light skim to scrape the surface rust off, no heat put into it, and no material to speak of removed. The hardy hole is about 1 1/4 inches... so that could be interesting trying to gather up big enough stock to making hardy tools. Now I need to get a proper stand sorted... I just have a temporary one which is a bit too narrow made from scrap I had sitting about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bantar1000 Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 So cool! Congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur210 Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 Very nice! Interestingly, I saw the exact same model announced for sale about 2 hours away from me, but at $6 per pound it seemed overpriced to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnotherViking Posted November 26, 2017 Author Share Posted November 26, 2017 Thanks! I got this one for a very reasonable price considering the condition and today's market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubalcain2 Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 nice score. she's a looker for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 I understand your anvil searching pains. It took me over a year to find my first anvil. It was in a trailer under a tarp up in this guy's woods. I had to lock in my 4 wheel drive to drive up in there to get it. When he pulled the tarp back, there was a snake coiled up on top of a decent Mouse Hole. I figured the Mouse Hole was spoken for by that little fellow Any plans on a bigger stand for it? That one looks a bit small and tippy. I mention this only because I had a smaller anvil to start that I borrowed from my Dad and the whole operation tipped over on me with an orange heat piece just touching my finger burning it almost to the bone. That was 9 months ago and it didn't take me long to find a bigger stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnotherViking Posted November 30, 2017 Author Share Posted November 30, 2017 Yes, I absolutely have plans for a bigger stand, just need to aquire either a big stump, thick bits of timber, or metal depending on what I come across first. Got the concrete base poured for the workshop yesterday, so after that's sorted I'll divert my attention to getting anvil and forge properly setup. Currently just have them in the garage for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 Shoot I have my HB in the living room right now for security's sake...The heel-less Powell stays outside as it's less likely to go a-walking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 My Trenton is locked in the garage. It's a pain to cart out every time I forge, but she sure looks purty everyday I walk past her to get in the vehicle and go to work. I had to buy an antique barrel mover that used to move barrels for the railroad just to move the anvil & stand outside together. My back just couldn't take walking or lifting that 179 pound gal every time I wanted to forge. It's a nice 54 degrees down there year round so my old gal stays nice & warm through the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMikeH Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 I have the exact same anvil which I just built a stand for last night. I still have to add some strapping to hold the anvil down and some hammer racks but I can get to hammering on things as it sits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnotherViking Posted December 4, 2017 Author Share Posted December 4, 2017 I glanced at your post earlier and thought it looked very similar! Nice looking stand. I assume the hardy hole is quite large too? Going to have to sort out a reducer for my own... not fussed on starting with with 1 1/4" stock, or trying to weld it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMikeH Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Yep, it has a massive Hardy hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 I have 3 anvils with 1.5" hardy holes; what size is "massive"? I've mentioned before how I make tooling for them: I buy trashed top tooling and forge the mushroomed striking surfaces and eyes down to fit in the hardy holes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnotherViking Posted December 5, 2017 Author Share Posted December 5, 2017 'Massive' must be exponentially relative to the number of anvils you own and experience swinging a hammer at heavy stock Doubt i'd have got close to 40 hours yet, most of which has been working on small offcuts, and standing about waiting for the metal to heat up rather than actually moving it. I shall give your method a go; just need to wait for the winter to pass and all the car boot sales to start up again so I can try and acquire some old tools etc as a starting point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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