mrfleck Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Hello everyone, I am completely new to this forum and to forging. I have been looking for an anvil and ran across one that is interesting and I was wondering if you have any advice / knowledge about this one and what you think I should offer for it. Here is exactly what the seller says about it and I have attached a picture: Quote Here’s my anvil. I was working primarily in gold and silver and didn’t do any heavy work on this anvil. I bought it new from Centaur Forge in 1972 when they sold Kohlswa for a few years. I consider it to be one of the best anvils ever made. They were cast from a steel specially developed for anvils. It was heat treated as a single piece with the face hard and the hardness diminishing as you go deeper into the steel. That makes it resist damage on the surface but the softer areas give it resilience and strength. It weighs 365 pounds What does he mean when he says it was cast from steel designed for anvils? I have been trying to find some history on this one. Looks like it is in great shape, but I have not seen it in person and have to drive 400 miles to see it. What do you think a fair price for this anvil would be if it is truly in great shape. Thank you for your time and I will continue to search the forum for any additional information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 They mean it's an alloy designed for anvils; usually a medium carbon steel. (Nimbas use 8640 for example) As for price it would depend in which country it was in on this WORLD WIDE WEB; you can make a great deal if you have US dollars and are buying it in Venezuela or other country with hyper inflation. Here in the USA it would go HIGH; looks to be in mint condition and I'd expect it to be over US$2000 Have you looked at the Nimba Anvils? If you are anywhere near Dayton OH USA there will be several hundred anvils for sale at Quad-State Blacksmiths Round-Up in Troy OH Sept 21-23 ranging from new to historic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevomiller Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Kohlswa are great anvils, that are still made but I don’t know of any current importers to the US. Ive worked on an older one that belonged to a friend and it was very nice, good rebound. As far as special steel, whatever, it’s a tough and impact resistant carbon steel, that’s about all you need to know (or realistically will find out). As for price where are you? Price vary from state to state, and radically in other countries. For instance, in Germany, France and Belgium used anvils sell for a third of what they do here in California. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 21 minutes ago, mrfleck said: new to this forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevomiller Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 TP posted at same time, good advice. As stated new, Nimba, Hoffman, Rat Hole and Holland US current anvils will be over $2k new for a big anvil of somewhat similar size and quality. Peddinghaus and Refflinghaus will be more. Did they give you a price? That might be easier to tell you if it’s reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfleck Posted September 6, 2018 Author Share Posted September 6, 2018 Thank you and I will go read the new to the forum post now. I am in Alaska, so finding Anvils here is pretty tough. He is asking 2000. Sorry if I did not follow all of the posting rules, I will go look now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevomiller Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 If it was me I’d offer $1500 max, but that’s me, especially if you have a 400 mile drive. Ping Frosty and some of the other Alaska smiths on this site, they might have other leads for you. If you don’t need a 400lb anvil to do your work (I don’t know what your desire or intended use is) buy a smaller one and use your savings for other tooling if you don’t already have it. Heck a Kanca 165lb anvil can be had under $1k, one dealer had 10% off for the holiday. Lastly, check that anvil out closely . I seem to remember reading 20 years or so back that there was a particular era of anvils sold by Centaur that were soft, but I might be confusing things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Steveo above has an interesting point on the era. Although that anvil is likely superior, it does look to have been "whizzed" to make the surfaces look better---something that might be a bit of a red flag and should be looked at with good glasses. At $ 1500 and ignoring the distance (did you need a vacation?) you pretty much can't lose money on it. At $ 2000 it becomes a bit more iffy but you are unlikely to lose much if circumstances required you to sell. Remember, a good anvil is an investment that retains pretty good value so it's only money deposited in the "national bank of iron" and not all expense/cost. No, you likely don't need a heavy anvil like that but dang, a big one can be a joy to use...they don't usually dance, even when you go neanderthal on 'em with a larger sledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 in Gold and Silver work it is usual to have your tools buffed to a mirror shine. (Unusual to need such a large anvil...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfleck Posted September 6, 2018 Author Share Posted September 6, 2018 Thank you all for your help and comments. I think I will offer him 1500 contingent on an inspection when I get there. It almost looks too good to be true, so I am worried about what may have been done to it to make it "look" better. I have a friend who works with gold and silver and his tools are much much smaller, so that also seems a bit off, I would agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevomiller Posted September 7, 2018 Share Posted September 7, 2018 Fleck check it closely but to Thomas point I think it’s just been kept polished and clean, if indeed gold and silver work was the owners mainstay. You don’t want any surface imperfections transferred to that type of work because the base material is too valuable to be sanding and heavy polishing the final product. Anything you take off the product is money down the drain or extra work to reclaim, unlike iron work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfleck Posted September 7, 2018 Author Share Posted September 7, 2018 I talked with him more today. He is actually a rather well-known metal smith and artist in Alaska.He made larger traditional items from gold and silver and has several museum pieces. Very cool stuff. You are spot on, he kept it pristine to minimize finish work. He is stuck on 2k though, so I may have to pass just because I am starting from scratch and need to buy many things to get started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 7, 2018 Share Posted September 7, 2018 Just getting started? Look through the thread on Improvised anvils and get a perfectly usable anvil for under US$100! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfleck Posted September 7, 2018 Author Share Posted September 7, 2018 Sound like a plan Thomas. I really appreciate the help here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevomiller Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Absolutely! Thats why I pointed out the Kanca 165lbs for about $900, and Holland has a 190lb for about $1k, and that’s if you need a premade anvil ($100 is one tenth that!!!).At the full $2k price you originally stated you’d have money to get much needed tools if starting fresh. You need a forge, some tongs, chisels, punches, hammers, maybe a cutoff hardy, definitely a good vise. Once you have these you can make a lot of your tools moving forward. Do you have any of these other tools or access to them? If not what’s your hoped for budget to get started? Do you have specific desires for those other needed tools, type, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfleck Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 I have about a 5k budget to get started. I have ton of regular tools, but none of the tools you list above yet. I think the best thing that happened is that I found this site before I spent any of my budget. I think I will spend the next couple of weeks reading a bunch of the posts here so that I am more educated before I buy anything. I just have not seen many of the tools come up for sale in Alaska so I thought I would check this one out. Thanks again for all of the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Good Morning, Mr. Fleck Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, a Blacksmith can make all of his Tools. An Anvil is an item that will be purchased. The Anvil in the picture is a bonus for someone who is making Blacksmith Jewelry. You would want to have a workhorse Anvil, a dainty Anvil and if you wanted it, a jewelry Anvil. Don't expect one Anvil to fulfill all requirements. How many pairs of pants do you have? Talking on the phone is different than showing up at his door with $1500.00 in $100.00 bills. Look, I drove for 6 hours just to get here and I have to drive 6 hours to get out of your face.......(or something like that). Get in touch with the Blacksmith group in Alaska, just remember, you learn more with your mouth closed. Enjoy the Journey, there is no end to it...... Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Mr. Fleck, Mr. Jerry Frost (a.k.a. Frosty), is a regular contributor on I.F.I. He lives in or near Wasilla. He can put in touch with the local anchorage Alaska blacksmith group, their members and resources. SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfleck Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 Thank you Neil and SLAG, I will look him up and see if I can connect with some local folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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