My New Emerson 100# Traditonal Arrived Today

[CrazyGoatLady]

I've been anxiously anticipating this since I ordered it on Friday. I did a LOT of research. So much I've been dreaming about anvils  Thanks to IFI, I went into the purchase with a very informed opinion. I can get a better picture if anyone is interested, but it's in the dump cart so I could lug it to the shop. The UPS guy said he was glad I didn't order a dozen more! The shipping label said it weighs 105lbs. Maybe i got a little bonus weight? I'm tickled pink. 

[Steve Shimanek]

Looks nice, happy forging!

[CrazyGoatLady]

Thanks Steve. It's a big upgrade from my 67lb. Vulcan with a broken heel and broken horn tip. Although I got my US $11.37 scrap price from it. It'll still be useful. I started with a RR track anvil. One day, there will be a Peddinghaus#12 in my smithy

[Frosty]

SWEET! A few pounds one way or the other is normal. I'll be watching to see it on a stand and glowy steel having the stuffings beaten out of it. 

Rock on darlin!

Frosty The Lucky.

[Daswulf]

Congrats on the new anvil. You get to be the beginning of its long career. If I ever get a new anvil, I'd sign and date stamp it.

[CrazyGoatLady]

Thanks Frosty! Im trying to decide on a stand for it now. I am so thrilled right now it's not even funny

I was thinking about that the other day, Das. I'll be the first smith to ever strike metal on it. I always read about the great grandchildren using Grandpas anvil. How cool is the thought of them using Grandma's anvil and she was the first to use it! I think i'l sign and date it. That's a good idea

[Frosty]

40 minutes ago, CrazyGoatLady said:

I think i'l sign and date it. That's a good idea

Use letter number stamps and put them somewhere reasonably prominent. Maybe inside the circle with the weight and model name. I'd definitely follow the upper edge around the circle. Oh yeah, don't put yourself under the tool!

What are you thinking about for the stand? Have a welder or leaning more towards wood? A sandbox is very nice, quiet, adjustable and only requires a few carpenters tools. Well a bucket for sand but. . . just fiddly bits.

Frosty The Lucky.

[CrazyGoatLady]

We do have a welder. We have lots of wood and there are various size stumps at my in- laws farm from a felled Katapa tree. My options are far ranging. I don't think I know anything about a sandbox set up like your talking about. 

[BillyBones]

The sand box is pretty easy to build. I am sure you will find one in the "show me your anvil satnd thread". Mine is more of a pedestal, 4, 4x4's with 2x4's ringing the top and bottom. It is narrow but i have a concrete floor and it is solidly anchored with angle iron and concrete anchors. I used turn buckles and angle iron to hold down the anvil. When i hit it it is a dull thud. 

John at Black bear forge did a video on tying down the anvil to reduce ring. Quite the informative video. 

Anyway i am envious of the new anvil, nice score. It is cool to say it was grandpa's anvil, but saying grandma's anvil is even better. 

[Chris C]

Well, well, well, CGL, ya dun went and did it, didn't ya?  That thing is plumb purdy.  I can see that smile on your face all the way up to Norman, OK.  Mighty happy for ya, but I'm sure I'm not as happy for ya as you are for yourself.  Can't wait to see it setting up on a stand and you pushing white hot steel around on it.  Hope you'll get some good pics or a video of your first session on it.  Very envious on this end!!!!!  Still lookin' for mine.  (all I want is a Refflinghaus #57....330 pounds.)

 

[CrazyGoatLady]

Billy Bones, thanks for information. I may seriously consider making a stand like this. I've just lightly tapped the anvil with a very small ball peen. It sounds very loud even with the light taps.

Chris, you suggested I should take a picture of myself hugging it. I'll refrain from such a public display of affection, but I might camp out with it tonight I would say ýou could have my little 67 pounder, but it isn't in good shape. Poor thing. I don't spend money on myself easily. Only what I need most of the time. My awesome husband kept telling me to get it because I don't get much for myself. He dug up some extra money to offset the cost and talked me into it. I decided a long while back I wasn't handing over the kind of cash people are asking for old, beat up anvils. If I came across a good deal, I would. But I haven't come across one. Rare as hens teeth. Your day is coming for a good one

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Good looking anvil even looks like the factory put a radius on the edges.

[CrazyGoatLady]

Thank you Irondragon. The edges aren't as sharp as I thought they'd be. I took sandpaper to the edges as there was a little burr on one side. But just with a little bit of sanding, they feel pretty good. I'm not going to touch it with anything else except hot steel. I'm extremely proud of it if y'all couldn't tell. 

[Chris C]

Bless yor little Texas heart, CGL.  I've got a 50# Vulcan that's in pretty good shape and has about 80% rebound.  I'm good to go................for now.  (Just looks kind of puny on that 20" diameter tree stump base!) But when I win the lottery, I see a Refflinghaus or Peddinhaus in my future.   (like I really need a Maserati, right? )  As far as the ring of your new anvil......................heck, I'd consider it a victory bell.  Just put in earplugs and ring to your hearts content.  I mean, why not let the neighbors join in on your good fortune?  

[CrazyGoatLady]

I hear you! I feel like I just bought a new Cadillac. I can't quit admiring the hardy and pritchel hole. Opens up so many opportunities as I've had to figure out ways around not having them. When I get rich selling all the beautiful hand forged items I make on this anvil (haha) I'll buy ýou the that Refflinghaus.

P.S. My neighbors aren't real close, but they already get the pleasure of all kinds of work being done around here. My husband is running a drill as we speak

[Chris C]

Love it.  I'm all the time makin' noise.  If it isn't my wood working equipment, it's my target range gettin' a good workout.  No peace and quiet for my neighbors.

Oh, and get to work selling all those beautiful hand forged items......................I'm really praying for one of the "hauses".

[CrazyGoatLady]

He and my son are building a mansion of a chicken tractor. There's even been a little blacksmithery added to it. Including a piece my son hammered out. His first piece

[Chris C]

Good for him.  Did you make the latches and hinges?

[CrazyGoatLady]

I made the door pulls and latches for the old tractors. This one, I just bent some horseshoes into hooks that got welded into a keg dolly they were throwing out at my son's work place. We'll use the dolly to lift the tractor to help move it along. 

[Chris C]

Cool!  Traditional "git-er done" blacksmithing.  But with this new "high-stepping" anvil, you ought to be able to turn out some top-of-the-line "smithed" parts.  As I said, I'm anxious to see you working on your first part.  You ought to nail it up on the wall in your work area.

[Rmartin2]

So what was it about the Emerson that you decided on it over the other anvils? What other anvils were you looking at?

[CrazyGoatLady]

Chris, I make decorative things but I like making utilitarian, useful things better I think.

Rmartin2: It came down to I felt it was the best anvil I could afford. It's cast from 4140 tool steel, heated all the way through. Nearly every review was positive. In those price ranges, I looked at TFS and JHM closely. But decided I liked the cast steel as opposed to the ductile iron. Which I'm sure works just fine. But the more I researched, I kept coming back to the Emerson. I like the look of it, and now actually seeing it in person, I like it even more. I looked at Holland, Rat Hole and Nimbas. More expensive than I could afford. I already knew Peddinghaus is out of my range, but that is still my goal. I would have gotten a heavier one, but there again, a little more than I could afford. Reading on IFI was very helpful in making the decision. There is so much feedback from smith's who have used them that I was sold on it after I felt like it was the one 

 

[MC Hammer]

Now that you have your beautiful new anvil, multiple deals on great old anvils will start popping up 

I like your thinking about being the first smith to use that anvil.  You are the first caretaker of it.  I often wish I knew the history behind my anvils.  They could easily have 5 or 6 past smiths that owned them or just one.  

[Neal the smith]

CGL: I'm rather jealous of you, though happy for you too of course. The prospect of being the first smith on an anvil is really exciting. I'm very happy using my old, beaten-up anvil for now, but when I take the leap to a shiny new Perun, I'll certainly be stamping my name and the date for prosperity. Congratulations on your purchase.

[Chris C]

CGL, you are so fortunate to be on record as being the first owner.  Suggestion:  Keep the receipt of the sale, along with stamping your name and year of purchase on the anvil as has been suggested.  Make certain the receipt is passed on to the next owner, when the time comes, along with a separate note for each successive owner to enter their name and dates on the list so the anvil always has a recorded history of ownership.  That may sound slightly silly, but..........................................here's why:

My plan in life was to be a school teacher.  I played the violin as a child and young man and eventually in the Oklahoma City Symphony.  While in High School, my parents purchased a violin for me from William Lewis & Son, a prestigious stringed instrument house in Chicago.  (so prestigious that when I went there to try out different violins, I actually had the opportunity to play a Stradivarius violin.)  I chose a violin made by French maker by the name of Jacques Bouquey, meticulously crafted in 1729.  I received, along with it a document speaking only of the physical aspects of the violin, but not of it's past history.  At the time that made no difference to me.  Years later, it dawned on me, that I was not the owner of the violin, but merely a caretaker.  Questions starting coming to me.  I desperately wanted to trace it's history..........learn about who cared for it previously.  The only people who could help me in my search were the folks at William Lewis and Sons in Chicago where my parents purchased it.  Unfortunately, their building burned to the ground about 5 years previously and every record they'd accumulated since their founding in 1874 was lost to the fire and smoke.  Crushed by such a historical loss, the firm folded and faded into history. 100 plus years of written history gone forever  I can pick up that violin today and wonder how many people have owned it?  How many have touched it, played it, lovingly polished and cared for it over it's 290 years.  Who were they?  Where did they live? How many countries did it reside in? How/when did it come to the United States?

I'd imagine that beautiful piece of steel you have will stand a good chance of being around even a lot longer than my violin if cared for.  Keep a written record with it to pass on.  Keep it in a safe place.........and make duplicates.  That history is precious.