Anvil: 77 or 110 Pounds?

T

The Mighty Ginsu

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Aug 11, 2016
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251
I crushed the grill on my old diesel garden tractor, and a new grill costs about $800, because the John Deere company has no soul. I am thinking of using this as an excuse to get an anvil. I can beat the old grill back into shape if I have something to beat it on.

I looked at a whole bunch of manufacturers, and it seemed like Kanca was the best bet for someone not willing to spend a mint. The Chinese anvils supposedly fall apart, and I read things about other anvils I didn't like too much.

Question: will a 77-pound anvil be sufficient for knifemaking and most general stuff a tinkerer fools with, or will I soon cry bitter tears because I didn't go for the 110-pound job?

I don't see myself doing really big work.

I have never actually forged a knife, but I feel that if I get an anvil for general purposes, I should get one that will also be well-suited to knifemaking.
 
Knife & trinket makers can get by with a small anvil.
But bigger is always better.

Be sure whatever you are looking at is a real anvil.
 
I just read the specs on the Atlas model. That is impressive, it will be my next anvil.
 
Dan, if you get an Atlas anvil, I have a custom base for it. It is what I assembled for the testing of the prototype. We can find a day/place to meet up and I'll give it to you. Worst case, I bring it up next April to Harrisonburg.

If you look at the thread on the anvil as it was being developed you will see the base I made.
 
Save it for me Stacy, I'll be on the eastern part of the state in about 2 months, will give you a heads up when I'm a couple weeks out to arrange a meet up sometime/somewhere convenient. Thanks!
 
Lieblad said:
But bigger is always better
Click to expand...
In general, I'd agree here, but with the weights you're talking about, I think it's be more important to look at how good of shape each anvil is in, assuming you are buying used. Make sure the edges are smooth as opposed to chipped. Also make sure the top of the anvil is flat and not dished out.

Another thing to look at is how the base is shaped and how easy it will be to secure it to whatever your base is going to be. If you can secure it good enough, you can easily turn a 77lb anvil into a 500+lb one. The main benefit of heavier anvils are they don't move when you strike it (and they typically have a larger surface area which helps when flattening things). If all other things are equal, you could weld the 77lb anvil to a I-beam buried a few feet into the ground, and this would make it as good as the 110lb one.
 
A proper base and olting/clamping the anvil to it will usually double the effective weight ( as far as knife work goes). My anvil is on a 400# acorn table. It is like working with a 575# anvil. A good wooden base can add 100#.

The base should extend well past the anvil in all directions. If building a base from heavy beams or flat plates/blocks, consider a "bridge" base that leaves a little toe room.
 
The Mighty Ginsu said:
How about my question? Don't let me buy the wrong anvil. Think how bad all of you would feel.
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The Atlas anvil does not have a horn. How much you need a horn is dependent (sp?) on your uses. But, as Charles mentioned, the hardie hole makes it possible to fashion something to take the place of the horn, if needed (like cylinder-shaped objects to serve as the rounded portion similar to a horn). My needs are based on two things; making knives and other small blacksmithing projects, and my very small shop size. I had a 152 lb Peter Wright that was bigger, heavier, and had a larger footprint than I personally needed.
The perfect anvil for you, is going to be based on what you want/need it to do.
Sometimes bigger can be better and sometimes maybe not so much?
 
Ginsu,
I can't see you buying an expensive anvil just to fix a dented grill. An 8X8" post of wood buried three feet in the ground would actually be a better anvil for working out the dents. Use a dead blow hammer.
 
The Mighty Ginsu said:
How about my question? Don't let me buy the wrong anvil. Think how bad all of you would feel.
Click to expand...
The Mighty Ginsu said:
Also, how do you bury an 8x8 three feet deep?
Click to expand...
Ummm...a post hole digger.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-14-in-Post-Hole-Digger/1000377421
Seeing as how you have no information about yourself in your profile, it's hard to know what you might have or know. But my reading of the above question tells me you are too young to know how to dig a hole. But you also said you have a diesel tractor, so I'm not quite sure what you need.

So to answer your above question about the anvil, I'd re-read the above responses and then buy the one you feel you can afford.
 
Just to add some info for you:
When removing dents and bends in something like a grill or body panel, the metal needs often to be heated and the surface on which is being hammered against needs to be firm, but not necessarily hard. A wooden block or post works well. If you hammer the metal against a hard anvil with a hard hammer, the metal will stretch as it moves and the whole thing will get warped … or may break in the case of a grill. Use a dead blow hammer and a post anvil make from wood, or a hard anvil with a wooden plank mounted on top to avoid ruining the piece you are repairing.

For doing metal shaping/re-shaping, I have a bin full of things of varying density to hammer against. Hardwood, softwood, horse stall matting, rubber sheets, stacks of newspaper, old Teflon cutting boards, and thick cardboard. I have hammers/mallets in plastic, rubber, wood, lead, brass, steel, and rubber coated. To repair a dented grill, you have to determine what it is made of and form a plan on how you need to move the metal. It may be as simple as pounding it out from the back while sitting on the ground. I don't recall ever seeing anything like a grill that requires a steel anvil.

To put an 8"X8" (20X20cm) post in the ground, dig a hole about 3' (1m) deep and set a 6' (2m) section in the hole. Fill with packed earth.
 
weo said:
Ummm...a post hole digger.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-14-in-Post-Hole-Digger/1000377421
Seeing as how you have no information about yourself in your profile, it's hard to know what you might have or know. But my reading of the above question tells me you are too young to know how to dig a hole. But you also said you have a diesel tractor, so I'm not quite sure what you need.

So to answer your above question about the anvil, I'd re-read the above responses and then buy the one you feel you can afford.
Click to expand...

A post-hole digger? You mean dig an 8" x 8" square hole three feet deep MANUALLY? Like a SAVAGE? Really disappointing.

I've very young. For certain species of trees.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Just to add some info for you:
When removing dents and bends in something like a grill or body panel, the metal needs often to be heated and the surface on which is being hammered against needs to be firm, but not necessarily hard. A wooden block or post works well. If you hammer the metal against a hard anvil with a hard hammer, the metal will stretch as it moves and the whole thing will get warped … or may break in the case of a grill. Use a dead blow hammer and a post anvil make from wood, or a hard anvil with a wooden plank mounted on top to avoid ruining the piece you are repairing.

For doing metal shaping/re-shaping, I have a bin full of things of varying density to hammer against. Hardwood, softwood, horse stall matting, rubber sheets, stacks of newspaper, old Teflon cutting boards, and thick cardboard. I have hammers/mallets in plastic, rubber, wood, lead, brass, steel, and rubber coated. To repair a dented grill, you have to determine what it is made of and form a plan on how you need to move the metal. It may be as simple as pounding it out from the back while sitting on the ground. I don't recall ever seeing anything like a grill that requires a steel anvil.

To put an 8"X8" (20X20cm) post in the ground, dig a hole about 3' (1m) deep and set a 6' (2m) section in the hole. Fill with packed earth.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice about the metalwork. I didn't think about stretching the metal. I don't run over tractor grills very often.
 
The Mighty Ginsu said:
A post-hole digger? You mean dig an 8" x 8" square hole three feet deep MANUALLY? Like a SAVAGE? Really disappointing.
Click to expand...
Not sure why this is so disappointing.

Or why you are afraid of a little manual labor (you might want to rethink knife making if that's the case).
But if that's the case, you could probably rent one of these
https://www.drpower.com/Power-Equip...MIiaDkxuuo5AIVgRx9Ch2YBws8EAQYAyABEgItjvD_BwE
From your original post, it seems like you are on a tight budget, so I gave you the cheapest option.
 
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