Wich anvil is the most sought after for collecting and or using ? Peter Wright , Fisher , Haybudden others ? And why ?

in my opinion the most sought after is the one you're going to buy next...and the best is simply the one you have :)

The number of people who collect anvils verses say just hoard them is very few and they probably specialize to a degree---bridge anvils, stake anvils, anvils made prior to 1800, etc. Each group would have different "wants".

For use it depends a lot on how their smithy is purposed. I would love to have some modern copies of early medieval anvils made exactly as the originals were made; I'd bet there wouldn't be but a handful of people in the world with the same "dream"; more would settle or even prefer for the original shapes but modern materials and methods of construction.

As for using anvils many folk dream of owing a large Nimba; others one of Jymm's colonial H13 anvils.

I think this question about anvils is a bit like the "Why does every body else's metal stay hotter longer than mine when forging?"

This is a very old anvil that has a bit missing from the hardened steel face where it has delaminated from the wrought iron body, it weighs about 60 pounds.

It was last used a few months ago by a young blacksmith as a loan until he could find one suitable for himself. This he has now done, and it is awaiting its next challenge.

If anvils could speak, what tales would this one have to tell.

The best anvil is the one you have and use, the most sought after is the one you never find.

John; I too have a "loaner anvil" for students and it too is damaged, the heel was broken off, but the horn and the face are quite nice and I don't worry about students messing up the face of one of my "good" anvils.

I find that a student will either find their own anvil fairly quickly or drop blacksmithing in a fairly short time and so the anvil can be re-loaned to the next one.

I have a Haybudden 127# its seen some use thats for sure looking at it if you can like the beauty of a anvil I find it a nice looking anvil the face has some marks here and there and the edges are chipped out and rounded . You guys are saying if I'm readin you all correctly its the utility of the anvil regardless of who made it . I'll be using this one till a better one maybe shows up

Well there are "tiers" of anvil quality and all the upper tiers are quite usable.

My upper tier for modern anvils would include Peddinghaus, Nimba, and Jymm's H13 repro anvils. There are probably others that I have not had a chance to work with.

Then a medium tier that includeds most of the other modern cast anvils that use low end of medium carbon steels.

The lowest tiers should not really be called anvils but rather "Anvil Shaped Objects" and all the cast iron ASOs fit into that one---I have used a cast iron anvil and had my cherry red workpiece *dent* the face of the anvil when I hammered on it---UGH!

On older anvils there are a lot of very good brands in the upper tiers shading down to medium tier, (I consider Vulcan's lower medium tier and Fisher's upper Medium to lower upper tier depending on what you like in an anvil) And a whole lot of low tier anvils the most of which were scrapped out as soon as a chance came to do so.

It is an artifact of preservation that bad tools tend to get scrapped and made into other things while good ones are cherished and preserved. I have run into Old cast iron ballpein hammer heads---but very few of them lasted to make it to the modern fleamarkets compared to steel ones!

Wich anvil is the most sought after for collecting and or using ? Peter Wright , Fisher , Haybudden others ? And why ?

There was, a while back, a BIG London style Kirkstall on ebay. 300+ lbs iirc. It even had the side shelf/turning clip. Unfortunately it went for more money than I even possessed... that's was the most sought after anvil. That's my story and I'm stickin to it!
-Aaron @ the SCF ;)

Edited August 28, 200817 yr by the_sandy_creek_forge
atrociously grammer and speling

I See the usual suspects from armour archive are also here hehe I like Nimbas anvils, but i'm partial since I have their gladiator.

But people with little money and perhaps equally small desire to drop a huge amount of money into a hobby/career that they might not actually stick with, might find this advice helpful. I've gone to my local steel supplier and they have giant billets that are cut-offs and and you can easily find a chunk of steel that puts railroad track to shame for quite cheap. Often the cut off billets sit there since very few people go hunting for them and they might be able to give you a good deal.

Always tell people your a blacksmith and they will generally take pity on you lol.. Most steel yards appreciate people who appreciate metal as much as they do and so more often then not they'll do you you the favor over someone else. Failing this you can usually look up a railroad company and ask them if they have a section of rail track you can have. Failing that call your local ABANA chapter (Artist Blacksmith Association of North America) and ask them for advice.

Whack that metal :D