Rojaws Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 So, Ive given up trying to find a used anvil. Theyre all either far too far away, massively overpriced, or utterly knackered. Or all 3. So Im looking at buying a new Vaughans anvil from Anvils.co.uk and just suck up the price. Question is, which size to go for? Im a beginner, and I dont plan on making 6 ft long swords for a while yet! Im thinking a 84lb one would be a good starting point, and go on from there...seems to be a good middling price.. Advice please :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 First, have you read through the improvised anvil section? Could get an anvil thats not listed as an anvil for a lot less money. If you truely want a new anvil, I'd say you'd probably be better off in the 100-200# range. Just an opinion of someone with few details on what you Do plan to forge on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Welcome to IFI... I always suggest reading this to get the best out of the forum. READ THIS FIRST Finding anvils kinda depends on where in the world you are located, hence the suggestion to edit your profile to show it. Have you tried the TPAAAT approach? Never heard of an SH anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Welcome aboard Rojaws, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many members live within visiting distance. Why is that important? The wider your contact base the more likely you'll be able to find resources, equipment and tools in this instance but an anvil is about the easiest piece of equipment there is. Honest, no fooling, anvils are just a ting to hammer hot iron on. Anvil is NOT defined by horn, heal, hardy hole, weight, material or shape. It is just a HEAVY THING hard enough to back the hammer under the material you wish to forge. That's IT, PERIOD. Improvising an anvil is well covered here, often by me and my experiences around a camp fire. Typically I only had a good hammer and chisels to start with and made the rest on site. Later I brought tongs and hack saw blades to replace the knackered blades in the saw in the drill tool box. Believe me brother, once you discover in your soul how little the tools actually matter you'll free yourself to being a blacksmith. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojaws Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 (edited) Im slightly North of London in Bedfordshire.... I currently have chunk of old forklift truck fork that i use as an improvised "thing to hit things against" but would really like something a little more dedicated to the task! Im not devoted to any one thing.. I like knives, hooks, leaves, pokers.. if you can make it out of hot metal, I like it :-) Im half hoping that this post works on the principal that now Ive given up trying to source a second hand anvil, Ill find 3 on ebay tomorrow :-) Edited April 10, 2019 by Mod30 excessive quoting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 It's usually once you get an anvil, then more appear around you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojaws Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 yup! like buses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 "Ill find 3 on ebay tomorrow :-)" Well if you like going the expensive route....I always have better luck getting OFF the net. Have you asked everybody in your local pub? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.P. Hall Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 I bought a 225# forged no-name with some rough edges and a bit of sway in both directions, and the very next day an absolutely perfect 130# Fisher popped up. I still have not forged on the 225. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Might want to read about quoting. Quoting the post just ahead of yours is frowned upon. It uses bandwidth and a lot of members have to rely on dial up or pay for bandwidth. The quote feature Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojaws Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 Yup, put the word out as far and wide as I can.. asked friends on more rural locations to look out and ask around.. Someone did point me in the direction of one. It turned out to be a vaguely pointy lump of rust that had been sitting in a garden for about 80 years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 OUCH; anvils were more densely populated in cities than in the country! (Pretty much all factories had a smithy back when; as did car repair shops, hospitals, sugar refineries, float plate glass works, schools,---all places I've tracked anvils to here in the States!) Been many a year; but there was an anvil in an antique store in Monmouth in the UK when I was there that was reasonable....(before the bubble). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojaws Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 Yeah, the states and oddly Australia seem to have the best availability.. You lucky beggars in the land of the free! waving your Harbour Freight and Milwaukee tools in our faces :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 And the UK had better prices! Of course you may want to make an anvil hunt on the continent before it becomes any more difficult! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojaws Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 Dont xxxxx start me on that one!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnytait Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 I just had a look on ebay for used anvil prices to see how bad it is. I found a used 51 kg Brooks anvil with a 'buy it now' price of £750. A brand new Brooks anvil the exact same weight.. New.. from Brooks costs £606.43 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 Ebay is not the place to look for fair priced anvils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eventlessbox Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 Cheaper to buy new than on ebay. Safer bet usually too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 Have you contacted Iron Dwarf a member of IFI in your area? He may have a idea where you can find an anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 Rojaws, The 2 qualities an anvil or any other "hitter against." has to have are: A. hard enough that it won't dent when you hit it (that's why here in the US Harbor Freight 45# cast iron anvils are a waste of money, they dent up quickly) and B. heavy enough that it will not move around when you hit it and waste energy. I have always heard that about 100 pounds is the minimum for most blacksmithing. That said you can compensate for a lighter anvil by mounting it on a heavier stand. A 50# anvil on a 150# base should work very well. Thomas makes a point about per capita anvils in the US 100+ years ago but also most homesteaders and farmers had an anvil and forge to do small repair work and avoid having to take a day or so to go to the blacksmith in town. A small blacksmithing set up was as common as gas or arc welders are today on farms. A turn of the 20th century Sears or Montgomery Ward catalog had complete blacksmithing set ups (forge, anvil, tongs, hammers, files, vice, etc.) for what today strikes us as extremely cheap but which, at the time, was a significant investment. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 At the local historical farm they mentioned that for any major work they took it to the local blacksmith shop 2 miles down the road. Sears Roebuck pushed the slogan "Every Farmer their own Blacksmith" and pushed a lot of low quality tools as well as intermediate and high quality stuff. Big difference in local conditions: Back in Ohio you might have 4 farms to a section each with a "basic" smithing set up. Out here in New Mexico you might have 100 sections to a ranch and a bit more than basic smithy associated with it. A factor of close to 400 to 1 in the amount of smithing stuff laying around...Better off looking into the mining camps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 I'm still trying to figure out what a SH anvil is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojaws Posted April 11, 2019 Author Share Posted April 11, 2019 Second Hand :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 I've never heard of that brand. What do they cost new? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 Those are hard to find; most of mine are at least third or fourth hand...Luckily a lot of old ones are still around---they wear like iron! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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