Considerations.
Size. For bladesmithing, you don't Need a 400 lb anvil, you can probably get away with a smaller one in the 125 lb range. If you think you might be interested in blacksmithing, a 250 lb is usually all that is needed. If you're going to be moving it around very much, think about How you're going to do it and buy accordingly.
Price. Plan on paying somewhere around $2.00 a lb (If you get a mint condition Peter Wright for .50 cents a lb, don't tell me about it, I might cry.)
Condition. The smoother the surface you're driving the hot steel onto, the smoother the piece is going to be, and the less grinding you're going to have to do for clean up. You don't need a mirror surface ( although that would be nice ) but 1/4 inch craters won't work.
Edges. Don't let chipped edges keep you from buying it if it's cheap enough. All you need is a 2 inch section that has a reasonable edge to make the transition from blade to tang.
Flat. If you can find about a 4 by 6 inch section of the face that is reasonably flat, that's about all you really need.
Rebound. Unless you're going into this profesionally and will be hammering on this all day long, every day, I seriously doubt if you'll even notice that you had to hit the piece three more times than you would have if it had great rebound.
As with all tools, buy the best you can afford, but for just flattening out some blades, you don't really Need a whole lot.
As with everything else I say, this is just My opinion, take it for what it's worth !
Ray
