Eventlessbox Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Makes a good fire starter at least. Not good for too much else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lsat Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 On 5/2/2019 at 12:21 PM, JHCC said: Other than Mousehole (The Undisputed King of Anvils), of course. Still, it will do. I have the opportuinity to buy a 200ish pound mouse hole...I already have a 170# hay budden, would the mouse hole be better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 All other things being equal, of course! This being reality, however, it’s all about condition, condition, condition. (And price.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lsat Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Really? I guess I know less then i thought I did, but assuming the condition is the same, is it a user prefferrence, or a fact? The guy who has the mouse hole estimated it at 170 so I guessing its higher, but weight aside, is mousehole a better brand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Ah, John and I have a friendly spitting contest going on, I let people know how superior a Soderfors anvil is and he jumps in with his completely unverified Mousehole claims. We're just funnin each other. Joking aside it's the smith's skill that makes the difference once you have a good quality anvil under the work. I'm not talking a particular maker or shape, a good anvil is heavy enough it doesn't bounce around much and is hard enough not to deform under the hammer, a smooth face is a plus. A hundred lbs. of smooth limestone works just fine but I have an ultramafic boulder that's smooth as glass and dense as a politician's soul. Unfortunately that boulder is the size of a pickup truck cab, I'd have to build a shop around it to use it. Oh well. Like John says, condition and price are the main factors once you get away from the cheap cast iron junk. Take a small bearing ball, a rag to wipe it off with and see how it rebounds. Take a bathroom scale with you when you go look. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 41 minutes ago, Lsat said: is it a user prefferrence, YES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 Depends on what you are doing with them too; if you work as a document courier buying a dump truck is not a plus! Mousehole will probably have a larger sweet spot for heavy work and the HB be better for ornamental work. HB is an excellent brand; They are close enough in size that I would use face condition and the Ball Bearing test to differentiate, Note the Mousehole will be stamped in CWT and the HB will be stamped in Pounds. "Anvil Envy" is a terrible affliction for modern blacksmiths---especially hobbyists! I suffered with it for many a year with the 410# Trenton and 469# Fisher only holding the symptoms in check for a short time---having a friend with a 750# West exacerbates the issue. On the other hand IIRC Francis Whitaker used a 165# anvil during his career as a world famous ornamental smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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