First anvil - Peter wright

[Chuyn]

I finally was able to get my first anvil. Took me a few weeks of asking around and I was fortune enough to check craiglist before going to bed. Found it 2 hours away from Reno Nv in California and immediately went the next morning.

The gentleman wanted $600 and included bunch of things such as a coal forge with a blower, multiple tongs and hardy tools, a metal working table, a blacksmith vice, a regular vice for the table, cut off bandsaw, and finally the anvil with the stand. I think it was a lucky find! He was a retired blacksmith that just wanted to sell everything together. 

I wanted to know if you guys could tell me about "blacksmith vice" not sure if that's the proper name and also about my anvil. I calculated that it was 174lb still haven't checked it in the bathroom scale. I can't tell if there's numbers in the side but I did see two symbols in the side which I'm assuming it's from the inspector or something like that. 

Thank you! 

 

[SLAG]

=  a post vise,  also called a leg vise

SLAG.

[Frosty]

The anvil looks pretty good, no major damage visible from here. The leg/post vise looks good too. Have you been able to open it all the way and see if the threads are working properly? I'd say you got a SWEET deal just the two pieces are worth it. What's the anvil weigh? You probably said but I don't recall.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Farmall]

Look like the weights marks are 1-1-24 which would be 112 + 28 + 24 or 164 pounds.  Does look like a nice anvil.  How’s the rebound?

[MC Hammer]

Wow, that sounds like a sweet deal!  If the anvil has good rebound and the vise threads are in good shape, yeah you have the $600 pretty much right there.  We've all watched you be patient and apply some wisdom so it's very nice to see that pay off.  Sure wish I'd found a deal like this when I was looking. 

Show us pictures of the rest of the tools and the forge.  If you decide to clean up the anvil, just use a wire brush on an angle grinder to get the rust off, then wash it with soap & water.  Let it dry really well, then coat it with your preferred oil.  I use regular new motor oil, but boiled linseed oil works too.

[Chuyn]

11 hours ago, Farmall said:

Look like the weights marks are 1-1-24 which would be 112 + 28 + 24 or 164 pounds.  Does look like a nice anvil.  How’s the rebound?

Thanks for the clarification. It's a 21 in the end if I looked correctly so its 161lb.

The rebound right in the center is about 90% and most of other places is around 70-85% percent according to my measurements. 

I was considering using electrolysis to remove the rust of the stand and anvil and I read that using warm or boiled linseed oil helps with the coating and rust. Is that correct or did I misread? 

Thank you MC hammer! I was very excited to find my anvil and I can't complain about the extra items! 

The post seems to open and close properly. Little hard to close and open but might just be the rust.

I don't have the table with me at the moment to add a picture. My buddy is welding some wheels. It's a decent size table weights about 500lb.

[Steven511]

Quite a good deal. I would have jumped on it myself had I enough cash

I guess I'll just have to be a bit more patient, wait for something at my price range to come around.

Nice find!

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Sweet deal indeed. From what I see in the pictures, double the price would still have been a good deal.

[MC Hammer]

Wow, yeah, you really got some other great tools in the deal.  You have a super head start.  Good things come to those that wait (and listen to Thomas' advice on looking for anvils)

[Pr3ssure]

if that anvil is 161lb it's almost the same anvil I have. Although yours is a little newer than mine but it's still a 161lb PW. Only thing mine has is the Peter Wright Patent and the numbers. Mine doesn't say England under, nor does it have the Solid Wrought around the second number. I can't remember exactly but that just means yours was made after a certain year where they had to put England on them, like 1910 or something like that. I estimated mine to be pre 1850 or 1860 since it doesn't have the Solid Wrought Stamp.

Neat though to see that someone has almost the same exact anvil I have.

[Chuyn]

Got her nice and cleaned. I just tried electrolysis for the first time and it was an excellent experience. I used some rust inhibitor that I got recommended at home depot but it didnt work as expected. Got some rust back on it after the oil dried up. Just gonna use the anvil like that and maybe in a few weeks try using something different.

Here's a picture after I took it out and pressure washed it. Seems like the previous owner painted her black. 

[tanglediver]

That cleaned up well, quite the find. You have the whole shop to go with it! 

[Glenn]

Paint fights rust really well. Use hot metal and a hammer to fight rust on the anvil face and anvil horn. A light wipe with ATF between forgings.

[Chuyn]

I went back to home depot and got WD 40 specialist. I got the rust resistant type and pressure washed it again and sprayed the sides of it. I read decent reviews of it and just wanted to keep the black/silver look instead of painting it. Worked out very good just with little rust came back.

Tried my anvil this morning for the first time and I gotta say I love it! Never used an anvil to work and it made a huge different compared to my crappy cast iron anvil and the piece of railroad track that I used. 

Now I just gotta find time to and make something! Thanks for all the feedback!