Peleg Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Hi, I have currently a 100lb anvil and looking also for a bigger one, I've got an offer on this used John brooks 170lb (77kg) anvil for 575$, would you say its worth it? or otherwise how much do you think thats worth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyanchor Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 I would trade you a couple of Zippos for it, I'll even pay shipping on the Zippos, you pay the on anvil. How common and available are anvils in IS? If they are not common $3.50 a pound may be very reasonable. Brooks are cast steel, the one I have actually looked at seemed to have good rebound. That anvil looks to be in very good condition if it has a good rebound, it could keep your Trexton company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peleg Posted October 5, 2019 Author Share Posted October 5, 2019 I am actually looking for a bigger anvil than 170 cause theres a lot of agricultural machinery scrap lying around in my area that I can reforge, some of it is big and needs to be hammered on pretty hard. I dont think anvils are so common here, good new ones are extremely expensive, for example a German drop forged Ridgid Peddinghause 75kg (165lb) will cost you around $3500, that is about 2 times the cost in the US from my researches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyanchor Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Someone smarter and more experienced than me will come along to offer sage advice, but you can work some good sized metal on a 170 pound anvil. If you have the funds, and the Brooks still has a good temper, you could buy and use it, until you find the bigger anvil. I think most of us started out wanting the perfect big anvil, but used what we could find and worked up from there. Just my 2 cents and worth every bit you paid for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanglediver Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 So, the quality and size being their own variables, you're looking at $3.38/ pound. For size, 170 pounds is on the high side of what you might call a "portable" anvil. You could try a ball bearing drop test to gauge quality, this one seems reasonably intact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerrogerD Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 For a “used” anvil it looks pretty good. I have a JB, not as clean edged as that though. Ball bearing bounce is 90% + though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Brandl Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 That's definitely not a bad price for it. it's a fuzz higher than what I paid for mine, but I bought mine a good while back, and this one is in a little better shape than mine was. John Brooks anvils have become my anvil of choice over the years, and I have (and have had) more than a few. I'd buy it, especially given that it looks to be in pretty good shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conrad.blacksmithing Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 On 10/5/2019 at 6:08 AM, Smed72 said: I am actually looking for a bigger anvil than 170 cause theres a lot of agricultural machinery scrap lying around in my area that I can reforge, some of it is big and needs to be hammered on pretty hard. I dont think anvils are so common here, good new ones are extremely expensive, for example a German drop forged Ridgid Peddinghause 75kg (165lb) will cost you around $3500, that is about 2 times the cost in the US from my researches. I have a 112# NC anvil and I have forged 1.5" and 2" stock 75% of the time i have had it. Before i got this anvil, I also thought that I needed a big anvil. I hope that you are not forging stock over 2" by hand. 170lbs is the most you will need for forging by hand in my opinion. Others prefer a big anvil but I have grown to enjoy the ability to lean over my anvil and utilize more of the face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Working larger stock on smaller anvils can be done---keeping it over the sweet spot for example. However smaller anvils require more care when forging; a miss strike on a 750# anvil with a sledge might leave a ding; on a 100# anvil it may break off the heel or horn! Especially if you will be using less experienced strikers I would do the heavy work on an improvised anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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