Buying an Anvil

[zardoz]

I drove 80 miles once to pick one up I 'won' on ebay. When i got there my jaw hit the floor, it was so small you could have put it in a shoe box!! The dolt had given the measurements in inches in the advert, although he had measured them in centimetres!

There was no way I could tell from the pictures as nothing else was in shot to give it scale! After picking it up in one hand and laughingly beating him about the head with it, i went home empty handed.

I still have no anvil 2 years later. The experience soured me on them.

Unless anyone wants to give me their old one (Real size please, not for cobbling pixies shoes)

 

[pedrobedro]

My anvil weighs 1cwt and I bought it on gumtree for £20 a few years ago. It's a nice size as I can still move it round reasonably easily so it doesn't have to be set up all the time.

 

[zardoz]

My anvil weighs 1cwt and I bought it on gumtree for £20 a few years ago. It's a nice size as I can still move it round reasonably easily so it doesn't have to be set up all the time.

£20 ! Nice bargain. Hope i can get a similar one (Yeah right just had a look now. they range from £100 for one that looks like its made out of chocolate thats been in the sun to £350 for 'good as new')

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Might be worth contacting the local blacksmiths association. The Wessex Guild of Blacksmiths used to have loads of old equipment left to them by retiring blacksmiths. It's where mine came from.
Also useful are farm auctions for anvils, swage blocks, ring cones etc.

 

[zardoz]

Might be worth contacting the local blacksmiths association. The Wessex Guild of Blacksmiths used to have loads of old equipment left to them by retiring blacksmiths. It's where mine came from.
Also useful are farm auctions for anvils, swage blocks, ring cones etc.

Cheers I will look into Farm Auctions. Never thought of them.

 

[Llama]

Anyone tried rail iron? We have plenty of that lying around NZ - you can have it for free if you can take a whole length.

 

[MattF]

Anyone tried rail iron? We have plenty of that lying around NZ - you can have it for free if you can take a whole length.

Quite a few have used sections of railway track. Makes quite a decent anvil, apparently.

 

[Premiershipman]

I should have got my hands on one locally but every time I wanted to visit, the place was shut.

I then went on holiday and forgot all about it until recently, and by that time it had gone, even though I am not sure he thought I was messing him about so said it had gone.

I would have got it for about £80 as well and it was full size .... d'oh !

 

[Chickenjohn]

I don't have an Anvil (would be nice!) but I do have a heavy old RSJ that I rescued from the Pikeys when the unit at the end of the row was vacated.

Have used it to beat out ridges in floor pans, Thai VW style.

Poor man's anvil!

 

[Son of a Steelman]

After a past lifetime in heavy steel & iron works I am now searching the northeast UK for a suitable 2cwt anvil for my son who, as of last Thursday, took possession of his first factory unit.

I cant believe that after all those years of stumbling over bruising anvils, even in the metalwork shop when I was a boy at school, that they are now invisible to me.

It seems the South have plenty on sale although I suspect some at least are cast iron and worthy boat anchors, whereby I loved the clear ring of a good forged London pattern single horn type with a hard face. Perhaps that is because that was the only type I came across in the works.

I read today that some believe work can be done on a twisted curved face but I fail to see how as the work material will only take on the twist and how on earth do you straighten on a curved face? Beyond me

If it needs repaired then get it to a machine shop with a surface grinder as I dont care how good you are with a 9inch grinder you will never do an equal job

I recall when I was an apprentice the dangers in passing to close to Harry the blacksmith. His right arm had the strength of 10 men and you could feel your ribs crushing as he applied the pressure in his single arm bearhug. I well recall how straight and level the work was that he produced even in a badly lit shop.

I still meet up with 2 long long retired Blacksmiths who recall their days on the mines and in the shipyards. I wonder if they realise the re surging interest in their old trade, or in the skills they have locked away that a new generation would love to have?

Anyway, I am wandering -

So does anyone think there is still time for me to get a letter to Santa to bring me the pressie anvil that I wish for?

 

[penfold]

Buy a nice new one from the nice folk at Vaughans.

 

[Shox Dr]

I'm sure santa will get in time, just hope he doesn't drop it down the chimney


As for the Anvils, for some reason they are highly sort after by people who put them in their garden FFS, so are willing to pay daft money for them, forcing up the price, the worst thing of all is when they get bored of looking at it, they will take it down the dump, who will weigh it in then to be melted down into something that won't last 3yrs before it back at the dump

 

[MattF]

I read today that some believe work can be done on a twisted curved face but I fail to see how as the work material will only take on the twist and how on earth do you straighten on a curved face? Beyond me

You ain't alone. I had a small, yonks old anvil which I eventually let the brother have, (he has it as a garden ornament. The wastefulness of that bugs me, but what the hell). That, unfortunately, ended up at the brothers because it had spent so many years sat underneath a tree in an orchard that the faces were completely ruined. Between the rust pitting and the fairly hefty spot on the top face where it had gradually been mis-shapen over the years when it had been used, it would have been a major task to grind it down to clean metal and level. Couldn't do anything on it without it severely marking the workpiece, so it was literally no use as was.

 

[norlander]

Anyone tried rail iron? We have plenty of that lying around NZ - you can have it for free if you can take a whole length.

yep-welded a piece of channel on the top to give me a flat section.

 

[Son of a Steelman]

Buy a nice new one from the nice folk at Vaughans.

aaaah....... 'Afraid an old Steelman's money doesn't run to this expense. Perhaps those nice folk at Vaughans will see there way toward a Xmas offer for me!

 

[Son of a Steelman]

I'm sure santa will get in time, just hope he doesn't drop it down the chimney


As for the Anvils, for some reason they are highly sort after by people who put them in their garden FFS, so are willing to pay daft money for them, forcing up the price, the worst thing of all is when they get bored of looking at it, they will take it down the dump, who will weigh it in then to be melted down into something that won't last 3yrs before it back at the dump

Strange you should say that. Today I passed a garden with not one but three anvils standing in a row. If it becomes more desperate then I will have to build up courage to knock on the door.

 

[bobw1]

Have you tried your local reclamation yards? My anvil turned up in a pile of about 9 or 10 only a mile or so from my home. It weighs 238lbs if I've done my sums right and cost £180. It dips by about 4mm or so over it's length, has other damage as well. It has a used look about it. They had another one the same type that was pretty immaculate no crushed edges, or chips just a bit of rust. When I dropped a ball bearing on it it bounced up a couple of inches, if that and rolled onto the floor, my one it bounces so high I can catch it. Apparently in an anvil rebound is king, an anvil can ring like a bell and have no rebound. Lot's of info on anvils and forges on the knifemaking forums. As for the straightening bit I think the idea is that you find the right spot on the anvil and hit it straight, using the dip to your advantage. It seems to work. People use all sorts of things as anvils, Forklift blades (tines), bit's of railway line (in other countries) sledge hammer heads or lumps of metal from the scrappy's set in a bucket of concrete, fabricated ones all sorts of stuff. Google "post anvil" for some ideas.
Good luck with your search, you'll have a big smile on your face when one turns up!
Bob

 

[Son of a Steelman]

Have you tried your local reclamation yards? My anvil turned up in a pile of about 9 or 10 only a mile or so from my home. It weighs 238lbs if I've done my sums right and cost £180. It dips by about 4mm or so over it's length, has other damage as well. It has a used look about it. They had another one the same type that was pretty immaculate no crushed edges, or chips just a bit of rust. When I dropped a ball bearing on it it bounced up a couple of inches, if that and rolled onto the floor, my one it bounces so high I can catch it. Apparently in an anvil rebound is king, an anvil can ring like a bell and have no rebound. Lot's of info on anvils and forges on the knifemaking forums. As for the straightening bit I think the idea is that you find the right spot on the anvil and hit it straight, using the dip to your advantage. It seems to work. People use all sorts of things as anvils, Forklift blades (tines), bit's of railway line (in other countries) sledge hammer heads or lumps of metal from the scrappy's set in a bucket of concrete, fabricated ones all sorts of stuff. Google "post anvil" for some ideas.
Good luck with your search, you'll have a big smile on your face when one turns up!
Bob

Hi bobw1. My smile will be like a sunrise if it has a ring like a bell and the ball bearing bounces back up a half to two thirds high.
Truly I would like a "real" one with a flat face as God intended. It may have slight rounded corners & covered in rust which I would soon sort out
Over my life time I too have used a myriad of things to help me flatten or straighten something. A good chunk of bulb rail from The Consett Iron Co. was probably the best if a little narrow

At one job I found a 2mtr x 4mtr x 150mm plate left- lost (previous occupier I presumed) in high grass outside in an old large defunct stockyard. I soon put my name on it and in no time had the best workbench in the factory to the envy of the other Artisans left with Mickey Mouse 5mm tops.

 

[Shox Dr]

people use all sorts of things as anvils, Forklift blades (tines), bit's of railway line
Bob

I've my eye on a forkfift tine it must be 6" wide. I just cant make my mind up where gas axe it. The upright part is the least marked, but do I cut it on the return. So it's 'L' shaped. I could them make a pocket at the side of the bench. Or do I leave it flat and weld it to a piece of I beam?

 

[brightspark]

I've my eye on a forkfift tine it must be 6" wide. I just cant make my mind up where gas axe it. The upright part is the least marked, but do I cut it on the return. So it's 'L' shaped. I could them make a pocket at the side of the bench. Or do I leave it flat and weld it to a piece of I beam?

keep the radius and weld it to i beam then mount on a section of tree trunk. depends on how large the metal is

I've my eye on a forkfift tine it must be 6" wide. I just cant make my mind up where gas axe it. The upright part is the least marked, but do I cut it on the return. So it's 'L' shaped. I could them make a pocket at the side of the bench. Or do I leave it flat and weld it to a piece of I beam?

id cut it leaving some overhang on the bend and weld it to some heavy i beam to get the weight up and raise the working height