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Opinions of BK Sydney Anvil condition


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Hi everyone,

I picked up a BK Sydney 392 anvil the other day and just wanted your opinion on condition and areas you would consider repairing. It’s not too bad, bit of misuse markings (looks like it was damaged with an oxy torch) and the face is dead flat but has a nasty little hole next to the hardy hole. There are also all these little gouges all over it, I’m not sure what they are from.
 

Thanks in advance, Dennis. NSW Australia.

 

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Before you do anything to repair the anvil use the anvil as it is for a year, or 2000 hours. Use caution with any heavy hammering on the heel or around the hardie hole as the divot beside the hardie hole and the cut at the edge of the hardie hole may have weakened that area, or provided a path for stress cracking.  An improper repair of the anvil can do more damage than good.  A portable hardie hole can be used when a hardie hole and heavy hammering is needed.

The two divots at the step would be a consideration for not doing heavy hammering on the horn.  

Gouges may have been caused by using the anvil as a work table for a cutting torch. 

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Thanks for the information and quick response Glenn! 

Yep that sounds like a good idea, I’ll get some hours up on it. From what I have read that generally seems like the consensus before considering repair. As much as I would love to fill in that hole on the face I don’t want to do further irreparable damage, however I would like it restored at some point.
 

What qualities would I expect from an anvilI with repairs such as this one would need? Will it perform worse but look good? Or could it maintain its integrity and function as good as before the repair with the added bonus of looking “better”.

I am a skilled welder and I’m confident in my abbility but I have never welded anything remotely close to an anvil so if I choose to repair it, I think I would take it to the boilermakers in town, they are always repairing heavy plant and machinery (obviously I would walk them through the Rob Gunter method).

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Read and reread the Rob Gunter method.  During the year of use on the anvil (2000 hours) you can locate someone that has experience repairing anvils.  Contact your local blacksmithing group for a place to start.  Another reason for listing your location via your name and profile.

That anvil has lots of usable surface to work on as it is.  Depending on what you are doing, some of those imperfections may become usable features.

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Knowing the quality of the BK Sydney anvil and looking at the size of that monster I can tell you that you have bugger all chance of damaging the anvil by hammering on it on the heel, the horn or anywhere else :) Having said that, BK are not Swedish steel and do deform with time just like Peter Wright. 

Can we know what you paid for it? There is an ad for a 160 pounder on gumtree asking $1600 for it ... oh mama ... 

It seems the anvil was used more like a stand for a metal worker to cut and grind rather than forging. If the previous owner was that rough with it with torch and grinder, I hate to see what he had done forging on it.

The little holes and cuts would be more a cosmetic consideration rather than structural. I would weld them shut using the appropriate pre heat and the correct rod, but leaving them as they are would be just the same, so ... leave them alone since you are just getting started. The anvil looks like a gladiator sporting his scars. 

What do you intent to forge? Do you have a forge? Hammers? Tongs? 

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Hi Marc,

yeah it’s a big hunk of metal alright, I did read that BK Sydney just put the Total weight in lbs on the side rather then hundred weight, so this one would be 392lbs or 178kg.  I had to take my engine crane to get it on the back of the ute. I paid $1200 for it, overpriced but realistically I probably won’t ever sell it and will get at leas $1200 worth of enjoyment from it in the next few years, so I’m happy.  
 

I have an old 9kg LPG cylinder modified as a forge and I also have a hammer that I made at an everleigh works class. I just need a couple of tongs to get me going, the rest I can accumulate or make over the years.
 

I’m not sure how long it’s been since this anvil has forged, it had been sitting in a shed On the floor for maybe...decades By judging all the other rusty tooling and equipment that shared the same fate spilling out onto the limited space on the floor.

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We suffer the highest prices for anvil in the world as far as I know, so your price for that is well below average for Australia and in particular NSW. 

If you are in Sydney, check the markets for tongs ... in Fairfield on Wednesday the "Trash and Treasure"  on Sundays in Prestons the Flemington markets on Saturday, Balmain, Roselle, Blacktown ... you never know your luck in a big city :) 

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Irondragon- yeah, the more I look at it the more usable space I can see. 
 

Thomas- yep it’s AUD and I’m happy with the purchase
 

Marc- I’m down on the southcoast so sydney is a bit far to go looking. I was going to buy a couple pairs of tongs through Gameco but pretty much all their tongs are sold out. I’ll just have to stay vigilant on gumtree and eBay. I might even go to everleigh or another blacksmith course and spend a little extra on a weekend course that I can make some basic tools. I have been to a couple of Eveleigh Works courses and Matt is really helpful and seems like a top bloke! 

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7 hours ago, Dennis22 said:


 

Marc- I’m down on the south coast so sydney is a bit far to go looking. I was going to buy a couple pairs of tongs through Gameco but pretty much all their tongs are sold out. I’ll just have to stay vigilant on gumtree and eBay. I might even go to everleigh or another blacksmith course and spend a little extra on a weekend course that I can make some basic tools. I have been to a couple of Eveleigh Works courses and Matt is really helpful and seems like a top bloke! 

 

Try Wollongong markets or Kiama, Gumtree, Ebay. Tongs always show up.

The race fury is with anvils not tongs. Funny though because for each anvil you need an average of 10 to 20 tongs. May be people buy carpenter pincers?:)

All my tongs are Gameco or flea market.  

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  • 3 years later...

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