jlblohm Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 I'm going to start with the price point. On the website it was listed at $329 Canadian but with exchange rate I got it for $286 USD including tax. Shipping to my address in Michigan would have been $132 not sure if that's Canadian or USD. I was passing through and happened to be going by one so I didn't have to pay shipping. So I decided to buy the princess auto 110# anvil the other day for the sole purpose of doing a review on it. I have other anvils that are good quality so I didn't really need this one. Lets start with the quality of the finish. The horn is very rough and you can see some grind lines through the paint. The very tip of the horn has a defect. And the it is nor conical like the picture suggests. The face of the anvil has 2 very small inclusions or pits and it appears that someone took a grinder with a flap disk to it. Not sure why but there is no start and stop marks from the grinder so whoever was running the grinder knows what they are doing. The paint itself seems very cheap and flakes away fairly easy after it has started to. The transition from theface to the horn could have been done a lot better. There is a drop from the face to the horn where it would be nice to have it flush. The way it is now will leave marks in the workpiece when drifting holes. Speaking of holes...let's talk about them. They are very dirty. Not sure how rough they are but they are definitely dirty. We will see when I get a chance to blow then out and clean them up. All of these things are me picking it apart. Now its time to talk about the good. The rebound is EXCELLENT!!! 90% or more with a 7/8" ball bearing at 10 inches. The size of the working surface is impressive as is how smooth the face is. It has VERY sharp edges. I have video of the rebound test and pictures that I am going to update this with but I had a couple things come up and had to take off but when I get home I will post them. Over all I really like this little guy. But the test of time will be the ultimate test and I will update this as time passes and damage is afflicted. Horn defect Paint chipping and grind lines in horn Grinder marks on face 2 small pits in face Rough casting on horn and raised transition from face to horn where pritchel is. Hardy hole and pritchel hole. Im uploading a video to YouTube of the rebound test and will post it soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted April 18, 2018 Author Share Posted April 18, 2018 One thing i should say is this anvil is made in china. But it is real steal and not just some ASO. The ring and rebound proves it. You can actually buy them in bulk from alibaba.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted April 18, 2018 Author Share Posted April 18, 2018 Here is a still picture of the rebound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 Please let us know how it preforms under the hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted April 18, 2018 Author Share Posted April 18, 2018 Will do. I am going see what this thing can handle. And it will have inexperienced smiths working on it including my kids so it will see plenty of abuse. We will see if it can handle it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted April 21, 2018 Author Share Posted April 21, 2018 Still havent hammered on it yet but i put it on the scale and it is right on 110lbs. My daughter felt the need to point out the weight but it worked out for a size reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exo313 Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 Interesting. I'm very curious to see how it holds up. I don't hate the price, though with defects I wish it were another 50 bucks cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted April 27, 2018 Author Share Posted April 27, 2018 $50 cheaper would have been nice but it is still the cheapest anvil in its weight category. I believe the next cheapest would be the NC Calvary which from what i have hear is barely out of the ASO category. So for $160 cheaper than the NC this cant be that much worse even after spending the time cleaning it up. And for the same price as the NC 70lb anvil you get 30lbs more. The one thing i wish is that the shipping was a little cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted May 2, 2018 Author Share Posted May 2, 2018 Here is a video comparing the princess auto anvil rebound next to the rebound on my vulcan 100#er. The vulcan has 80% rebound and the princess auto anvil has 90% rebound. You can also hear the distinct difference in sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted May 4, 2018 Author Share Posted May 4, 2018 Rebound test still shot on both anvils. Vulcan: Princess auto: Size reference next to my vulcan #10 I began cleaning up the horn. I am using a file because i dont ever use power tools on an anvil. Im going to add that a file cuts steel on the horn ok but skates a file on the face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted May 8, 2018 Author Share Posted May 8, 2018 I used the anvil for the first time today. It rings very loud. All I got done was part of one side of a pair of tongs. I could have done more but I spent all morning fishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 Were you fishing or catching? Inside joke with the fly fishers here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted May 8, 2018 Author Share Posted May 8, 2018 Well i was fishing. Not a lot of catching involved. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1forgeur Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 Still better than not fishing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 My wife and her sister went fly fishing/catching, she came home with 6 keeper rainbow trout. We ate 2 tonight & I'm fat & sassy right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 HUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!! I figured out why they took a grinder to the face! I think this circle spot is filler rod and they ground it flush. The rebound drops right off to nothing over this spot. Here is a perfect example of poor quality control with these anvils. I mean come on. One thing i have to say is all the way around the spot has excelent rebound and then you drop a bearing over this spot and its dead. It was hard to get the camera to focus. Im going to get a better pictures and a video of the rebound over the spot. One thing that gets me is it has this spot but rings like a bell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 I'd guess it was the sprue location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 now i understand why people go to school for photography. Is the sprue the excess from casting that gets cut off? The spot is about 1 1/4 inches. I think these are cast on there side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 sprue: spro͞o/, noun, 1: a channel through which metal or plastic is poured into a mold. 2: a piece of metal or plastic that has solidified in a sprue, especially one joining a number of small molded plastic items. Note that castings can have multiple sprues and vents too. (we will not discuss gates!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 I know about vents but the last picture of the side of the anvil i showed i belive is where the sprue was cut off. And it seems like this would be an odd place for a vent. Im working on uploading a video to YouTube of the rebound over the spot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 I just wonder about the time wasted in trying to repair something vs tossing it back in the scrap bin for the next pour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 I was wondering the same thing. But the spot is there and it really didnt start showing until i started working steel on it. On 4/17/2018 at 4:44 PM, JlBlohm said: small pits in face This was the original photo of the spot on the edge of the defect and the circle cant be seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matei campan Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 well, at that price it would be a decent anvil in spite of the flaws. and it has two horns, which is a plus, it's an Italian pattern anvil, as seen by a chinese manufacturer. that soft spot is easily avoidable if that bothers someone, plenty of working surface left. just put some radius on the edges and bolt it down firmly on some kind of base Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted May 18, 2018 Author Share Posted May 18, 2018 As small as the spot is it doesn't hurt this thing a bit. I am debating on selling this anvil and upgrading to the Holland alloys anvil and start a review about that one. The princess auto anvil review will continue. The next time im in the Detroit area im going to jump to Canada and grab another one. Should I sell it? I will be going down in size but a huge jump in quality! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlblohm Posted May 20, 2018 Author Share Posted May 20, 2018 I made a hot cyt hardie for this anvil today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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