Plug Welds on Doyle/Harbor Freight Steel Anvil

[JHCC]

The issue of relative quality is only germane to the extent that the cost of quality affects the overall market forces. My contention is that the higher production costs to produce a higher-quality anvil at a higher price are what drove Alec’s anvil production venture under. Since those higher costs are not at play with the HF operation, they are unlikely to have the same effect. 

[Purple Bullet]

Sometimes a company will produce a product that is 80% of what you want because the last 20% would drive the price too high. If you are willing to add in the other 20% you can sometimes (and I admit that it is a throw of the dice) make something that's just what you want at a greatly reduced price. This just might be one of those times. I mentioned above the possibility of hard-surfacing the face. I found some hard surface rods online that claim 55-60 R as welded for ~$45USD for 5 pounds. Since it is a steel anvil, just normal pre and post heat should produce a sound new layer you can grind to a uniform face that should perform well. In fact, although I don't need another anvil, I'm very tempted to try that once I'm mobile. Of course, the list of projects to do once I'm mobile has grown to a daunting length. *sigh*.

[lary]

   Purplle Bullet hopefully somebody will take on that project to satisfy your curiosity.  Unfortunately, the cost of time and material could add up to an H13 anvil in that weight range.