I'm not a blacksmith nor do I want to be one. But I am a car & sickle guy and need something solid to beat on to straighten brackets and sheet metal. Been searching for over 15 years and just got lucky in the last 4 or 5. I found a foot tall rail road track that I made a stand for and beat it like it owed me money. I gave it to a friend when I found some of these. The 2 little guys. The red one I found at a swap meet for about $35. I wire wheeled it and painted it. Don't believe I've ever struck it. The home made rail road track was made by my wife's grandpa. . 2 or 3 years ago I found this big guy with the horn broke off. Soda can for size reference. Guy said it was over 100 years old. I think he's right or close. Dunno what it weighed with the horn, but it's about 90 to 100 lbs as is. I really wanted to build a stand and use this one.. The next smaller one I found locally for $60. I don't think it's vintage and it's maybe only 40/50 lbs. I found a fresh cut tree and made a stand for free. I'm happy beating on it.
Anvils are among the oldest tools still in common use. They’re so old, we’re not even sure who used them first. They’re mentioned in ancient Greek and Egyptian texts, and can be found in Mongol history, as well. Some say metalworking, which required an anvil of some form or another, began in the area of what is today Turkey and Iran sometime around 6,000 B.C. Some of the oldest anvils appear to be found pieces of meteorites, which were incredibly hard because they comprise mostly iron. Anvils have evolved over time from stone slabs to bronze, then wrought iron or iron with a steel face. Blacksmiths want an anvil that is “lively.” A lively anvil causes a hammer to bounce back after each blow. In his book A History of Anvils, Sam Moore says the best test of an anvil is “to drop a one-inch ball bearing on the face from a height of 18 inches. If the bearing bounces right back into your hand the anvil is one of the better ones and will be easy to use.” .”
I'm just happy to have the use of one for as long as the neighbor leaves it with me. As to whether or not it's lively, I guess I'll never know...
For those of you using a piece of railway iron, I give you this one from the now closed Walter P Chrysler museum display. Humble beginnings.
Were they ever made with built up material on the horn? Or was this one repaired so expertly that it's held up to who knows how many years of continued use?
one i picked up at a local scrapyard. Owner (who i know) was using by his scalehouse. He didn't want to sell it but i offered a similar weight one for trade and some cash to boot. The one i traded had a couple broken spots and the table was not nearly as nice. I ground a bunch of chisel marks out of the horn and put it to work. Ive made several tools to fit it and made a few knives and muzzleloader parts on it.
The one I have had from my Grandad,,,is some were under too many parts,is about 1 foot + of RR rail,made into anvil. It's under the stuff,do to I got a big vise after,and beat stuff up on the vise . So I guess it's helping hold the floor down,mostly..
Most good older anvils were wrought iron, similar in makeup to today's mild steel, like a 1010 hot rolled steel. I found this out when repairing the neighbor's anvil where a leg was broken off. Weld prep for complete penetration, preheat, weld with nickel rod just because..., and postheat. My brother always said that I could break an anvil. Well I'm one up on him now. I've fixed a broken anvil!
I have this little one . It stands 3 1/4” tall , 6 1/2” from the point of the horn to the edge of the deck . No name or numbers
Do pexto pieces count ? I just added these to my collection. That big one is 41”. I made a Quickie mount from a trailer hitch receiver welded under my table. There when I need it and not when I don’t.
My 150lb Lakside on top of an almost as heavy oak beam. Champion No.203 blacksmith belt driven drill press. All 425 lbs of her hanging on an 8x8 oak beam. Took it all apart, cleaned and painted it. Some parts cleaned and wiped with beeswax/ motor oil paste. Both thanks to Uncle Donald!
I would have jumped on a 40 dollar anvil like a duck on a June bug, it will still work for pounding metal. HRP
Me too. They don’t “ring” due to a crack in it. That was also a test for forging before magnaflux. For instance if a forged crank doesn’t ring, it probably has a crack.
There are cast anvils out there that don't ring, it really doesn't matter as most of us are using the anvil for pounding and shaping steel & aluminum, not hot molten steel. HRP
Yes, doesn't mean it's cracked if it doesn't ring. Like HRP says its, its probably a cast anvil. A lively "ringing" anvil is a desirable feature mostly if you're trying to make a living at blacksmithing. A " dead" sounding anvil will meet 99 pct. of most people's needs,.... A flat, straight, hard surface.
I have a couple really "nice" anvils that ring so much that you can't hardly do any amount of work on them without wrapping a chain around them to deadn the noise and earplugs are a must.
There are some nice anvils in the H.A.M.B. community!! But how many of you have a Solid Gold anvil?? Well, I don't but I do have a solid brass one that looks like gold. My parents had a brass anvil on the kitchen counter as a paper weight when I was growing up. My Dad probably got it as a trinket from a specialty metals salesman when he was buying specialty metals for his shop. One day I saw a brass anvil at my sons house. I said your Grandpa has one of those brass anvils. My son gives me a funny look. My dad gave it to my son. I always wanted it. Several years later my son found this one at a flea market and bought it for me. I wet sanded it and buffed it. I use it on my desk for a paper weight. Several years ago another son of mine gave this one at Christmas. He knows the owner of Holland Anvil and their factory is not far from us. I use this one for a paper weight in the barn.
i kinda forgot about this thread until last night. this one i use the most is also at the top of this page. last year i took a length of an old belt my wife had in high school. made a loop hammer holder.. the little one i bought from eastwood over 16 years ago. i also bought the suggested hammer. the pair is sold to straighten stainless car trim and ive used it for that. lately ive used it making copper bracelets out of left over romex
While not an anvil, this serves me well. It’s a 5” X 2” X 20” piece of stainless steel I inherited from my dad. When we had the estate sale, everyone was looking for this and asked who got it
No pics but I have my Dad's old anvil. It is made from a chunk cut from the main driving arm off a wrecked steam locomotive. It has a horn shaped with a steam hammer and a nicely machined top suface. It weighs about 70lbs and has a nice lively ring. It's easily a 100 year old chunk of iron.
The Jalopy Journal
