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First anvil purchase, what do you think of these options?


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Hello folks, this is my first post here in the forum! Long time lurker, but I finally made an account today so I can get involved and ask for your help. :D

I'm looking at anvils in my state (Washington) and I've had trouble finding anything worth buying. Today I have 2 options I'm considering and I would love some input. 

The first is a 104 lb Hay Budden in which he said still has around 90% rebound with no dead spots. He's asking for $600 delivered to my door (about 175 miles) Budden pics

The second is a Kholswa said to be around 150lb with the stand. It was his grandfathers and he doesn't know much about it other than what an be seen in the pictures. He's asking for $700 firm and thinks I won't find a nicer one for the price. He sounds pretty proud of it. He lives about 30 miles away so I can see this one much easier than the first. Kohlswa pics

Do either of these look like a good first anvil? I would prefer to spend a little more and have something that I won't want to replace in the next couple years instead of buying the cheapest I can find. Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated! Cheers! 

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The Kolswa looks nice, but I'm not real crazy about the stand it's on. $700 is kinda spendy, but the market is what it is sometimes.

If you bought the 104lb, you'd probably be jonesin' for a 150-200 lber in short order. I have an 80 lber and I'm on the lookout for a larger anvil, not a $700 larger anvil though.

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Just now, Daswulf said:

If You are ok with the price then that 150#Kohlswa all day long over the 104# HB for only $100. Difference. Again tho, if the rebound is good. 

You can always build a stand that works with your height.

Yeah I'm not a fan of the steel caster stand personally. That's an easy fix though

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If you can afford the $700, get the Kohlswa.

Think of it this way: divide the difference in price by the lifetime of the anvil, and then multiply by the difference in weight. Even if you only use it for ten years, that’s an extra 46 lbs of anvil for less than a buck a month. 

Or to put it another way, a 17% increase in price gets you a 44% increase in anvil. 

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QUESTION is the K anvil 150 including the weight of the stand or 150 free standing and the stand is thrown in on the deal (and will probably have to be modified of tossed by you)?

When comparing anvil weights you don't count the stand in and so that may throw the cost off. I've met a number of sellers trying to sell me scrap metal stands for anvil prices...

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7 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

QUESTION is the K anvil 150 including the weight of the stand or 150 free standing and the stand is thrown in on the deal (and will probably have to be modified of tossed by you)?

When comparing anvil weights you don't count the stand in and so that may throw the cost off. I've met a number of sellers trying to sell me scrap metal stands for anvil prices...

Yeah, the weight is including the stand and is also a "best guess". He doesn't know the weight unfortunately 

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The Kohlswa is the better weight for a general shop anvil - IF it is 150# by itself. With the stand included I would pass. Appears that someone has had a sander on the top. Funny that he says he knows nothing about them yet he knows that you won't find a nicer one for that price. 

Now the Kohlswa's stand removed and modified could be a forge. Fill that drum with dirt and make a JADOD instead of a JABOD ;) 

You can buy a brand new 125# JHM for around $750. Or you can do the improvised anvil route and get a LOT more weight for a LOT less, or even free in some cases. Just depends on your thoughts on what it is to be a smith..... using so called "traditional" tools or getting the job done with whatever works for you. 

You may want to see what Boeing Surplus Sales has on the racks since you are in Washington. I know a guy from CA who would go up there with a trailer to scrounge interesting items. 

Also NIMBA anvils is located in Washington too, and they give a lifetime guarantee. 

Holland Anvils is a new manufacturer and the owner is on IFI. Cast from H-13 tool steel and priced right. 

 

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I would bet the stand weighs north of 50 pounds. The type 1 Kohlswa anvils come in the following weights in pounds 70-90-114-200-284-354-672, my guess the anvil weighs closer to the low end 70-90 pounds. I agree with BIGUNDOCTOR if the price includes the weight of the stand I'd pass and go with the HB if it passes the rebound/ring test or buy new.

BTW...welcome, have you read this yet?https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/53873-read-this-first/

 

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7 hours ago, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

The Kohlswa is the better weight for a general shop anvil - IF it is 150# by itself. With the stand included I would pass. 

7 hours ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

I would bet the stand weighs north of 50 pounds. The type 1 Kohlswa anvils come in the following weights in pounds 70-90-114-200-284-354-672, my guess the anvil weighs closer to the low end 70-90 pounds.

I'm of the belief he's got terrible guess of weight. Doesn't the kohlswa look big? I dunno to me it looks at least 114 lbs on its own, but maybe my eyes deceive me. I will see if he can't get an actual weight of the pair. Do kohlswa put weight markings on them anywhere? 

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Being specific makes all the difference.  Extra $100 for negative or little weight gain.   (Isn't that a 1 to the left of the side picture so perhaps a 114?)  It's bolted to that stand so you could expect that they could remove it and place it on a bathroom scale---even if they had to borrow one from the neighbors!

So selling scrap for over $5 a pound---how do I get into that deal I have a non-working vehicle I'll gladly sell for that price!  (The stand; unless it the proper height for you it will have to be modified or replaced!)

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17 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Being specific makes all the difference.  Extra $100 for negative or little weight gain.   (Isn't that a 1 to the left of the side picture so perhaps a 114?)  It's bolted to that stand so you could expect that they could remove it and place it on a bathroom scale---even if they had to borrow one from the neighbors!

So selling scrap for over $5 a pound---how do I get into that deal I have a non-working vehicle I'll gladly sell for that price!  (The stand; unless it the proper height for you it will have to be modified or replaced!)

I agree, I need to know the weight regardless if I go see it or not. I will ask him to weigh it somehow. Where are you seeing the number 1? I have looked over the pics and I dont see it anywhere, unless you've mistaken the HB which has a 104 on it?

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That's a top shelf anvil and you wanted him to drag his bathroom scale to the shop and pick up a 150 lb. anvil twice to prove he's not a Liar? What did you expect him to do in the face of that kind of insult? You have NO manners boy! that gentleman was far nicer than I. I would've told you to stick your money where the sun don't shine, NEVER contact me again. :angry: Your edress would be in my blocked filters.

I'm ticked just reading your last post. 

 

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9th picture down; clearly stamped K*, I clicked on the picture to put it in a viewer and then blew it up and about the middle of the waist curve on the left hand side I see what could be a 1 stamp.

I figure he had a lot of folks telling him his price was crazy---especially if he wants to sell the stand at anvil prices and he KNOWS the anvil doesn't weigh 150 and rather than admitting to his shenanigans he gets mad instead.

100# anvil will morph into a travel anvil; but 150#+ anvil is a "shop anvil" and can last a Career!  (Wasn't Francis Whitaker's anvil around 150-165#?)

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If it was me and I had that budget, I'd just go new. You can get a new 110 pound Kanca double horn for 660 and shipped in the us for 13. The HB is a nice anvil for sure, but it is awfully close to new price. 

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6 minutes ago, Frosty said:

That's a top shelf anvil and you wanted him to drag his bathroom scale to the shop and pick up a 150 lb. anvil twice to prove he's not a Liar? What did you expect him to do in the face of that kind of insult? You have NO manners boy! that gentleman was far nicer than I. I would've told you to stick your money where the sun don't shine, NEVER contact me again. :angry: Your edress would be in my blocked filters.

I'm ticked just reading your last post. 

 

Uh Frosty, did you misread what I posted?  I clearly stated that he was guessing the weight, and knew absolutely nothing about it. He isn't even a Smith, it was his grandfathers. Taking his "best guess" on weight and shoveling out $800 doesn't seem like a wise first purchase. Especially when that's almost a full paycheck for me. I sure as hell couldn't guess a weight just because I dragged it across the shop a couple times when it got in my way.

Why do I feel like you and him are kindred spirits, if not the same person lol. So bitter! Not everyone interested in the art is going to be a pro and know everything.

And if you think my "polite" message was exactly as I typed it here, that's wrong. Here, I simply abbreviated a MUCH longer, MUCH more in depth conversation in an effort to keep it brief. B) Cheer up mate

18 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

9th picture down; clearly stamped K*, I clicked on the picture to put it in a viewer and then blew it up and about the middle of the waist curve on the left hand side I see what could be a 1 stamp.

I figure he had a lot of folks telling him his price was crazy---especially if he wants to sell the stand at anvil prices and he KNOWS the anvil doesn't weigh 150 and rather than admitting to his shenanigans he gets mad instead.

nailed it. And good eye, I didn't catch that in the pic. Oh well, too late now <_<

4 minutes ago, sfeile said:

If it was me and I had that budget, I'd just go new. You can get a new 110 pound Kanca double horn for 660 and shipped in the us for 13. The HB is a nice anvil for sure, but it is awfully close to new price. 

I've definitely thought about that. I can get a 2 weeks used baby rhino w/ stand locally for a couple bills more

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I may be wrong, but I read frosty's post as dripping with sarcasm except for the last line. I believe he was insinuating that the guy selling was just being a snobby jerk, and not directing any animosity towards you. If he is asking that much for something it shouldn't be that big of an inconvenience to verify what they have.

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I was just thinking that Frosty needed to check his blood sugar; I get that way when mine is in the 60's. Though I try to delete the posts I write during those situations...(Yes there could have been *more* and *more* curmudgeonly too!  But I expect that the UN would have stepped in with a pre-authorized doughnut strike...)

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I got no dog in this fight , so i'll give ol Frosty the benefit of the doubt here and recon the seller should keep his anvil take it off the stand and use it as a chair suitably positioned of course. 

as for the money , it's a great deal for a first buy !  not to deter you , but if you are sure i'd go for a new one that way you are assured of just what it is that you are getting  ie no cracks that are "fixed and camouflaged etc.

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