$$ANVILS$$!

DanF

DanF

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Apr 17, 2017
Messages
1,437
Took daughter back to school today, on the way home stopped in an antique mall and saw these. Least expensive was $559 and less than 130 lbs. The Hay B in the second pic was 88 lbs and closer to $700 than $600. Crazy prices!IMG_20170820_165622.jpg IMG_20170820_165708.jpg
 
I feel much better about my $1.55 / lb., 152 lb. Peter Wright now, even if it is not pristine!
 
Yeah when I get into forging I'm not getting a anvil. I'll get a chunk of railroad track. Anvil would be better but railroad is cheap and usable.

I saw that Jantz has some really good prices on NEW anvils!
 
Knife freaky Knife freaky , I still have my RR track anvil and the 6.5"x 6.5" diameter piece of tool steel I started with, not a thing wrong with that, a lot of knives been made with makeshift anvils for sure!
If I had it to do over again, I'd go for the new, but the old one will last me the rest of my life.

Russ Andrews Russ Andrews , the post vise on the far end is a little over $190, but man, that thing is pristine! Had to walk myself away as they don't come up around here very often.
 
The post vise is a good deal. I've sold uglier for more. I'm a bit of a vise nut, as anyone who's seen my big one would know...

The anvils are way too high. Typical antiques shop with pricing all over the board. A lot of those places have absolutely no clue what anything is or is worth
 
Antique dealers and shops look at places like Ebay and decide what to list an anvil at. Also, those places rarely are firm on the tag price. Most price about 25% over what they will take.

If you go by there again, walk in, look the anvil over for a few minutes, and make an offer. The worst that can happen is they say ,"No".


When someone with a crazy price on an anvil or tool defends his price by saying that the anvil/tool is 100+ years old, I say, "Rocks are millions of years old and they sell cheap by the ton. Age alone does not add to the price ... condition and rarity is what determines that. These are neither rare or in pristine condition, and I'll offer $x a pound for it." More than likely that is three times what they paid for it, and they accept.

Looks like an old farrier's forge legs and flywheel in the one shot. What shape is the top in?
 
If you really want a good laugh, you should see the one anvil my local antique shop has.
One of those 1# blue painted cast iron anvil/paperweights
They want $50 for it

The real kicker is it has the brand name of the hardware store half a mile from the antique shop on it.
And they're $9.99 brand new
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Antique dealers and shops look at places like Ebay and decide what to list an anvil at. Also, those places rarely are firm on the tag price. Most price about 25% over what they will take.

If you go by there again, walk in, look the anvil over for a few minutes, and make an offer. The worst that can happen is they say ,"No".


When someone with a crazy price on an anvil or tool defends his price by saying that the anvil/tool is 100+ years old, I say, "Rocks are millions of years old and they sell cheap by the ton. Age alone does not add to the price ... condition and rarity is what determines that. These are neither rare or in pristine condition, and I'll offer $x a pound for it." More than likely that is three times what they paid for it, and they accept.

Looks like an old farrier's forge legs and flywheel in the one shot. What shape is the top in?
Click to expand...

About half of what was there was in "fair" condition, then to poor.
You're dead-on with making an offer, that was how I got my current anvil. They were ask a little over $500 and I offered them half. He danced around that for a bit trying to get me to take a hornless no-name chunk of old steel sitting next to the one I was interested in (at that time I didn't know it was a PW as it had been painted). I snorted in disgust and started to walk away and he agreed on the offer. I went back a month later with pics of the anvil cleaned up, showing what it was and he looked miffed. I still think he got a fair price at half off.
 
The Fisher in the first pic used to be the only one that vendor had, he was asking $469 for it back in the spring the tag read , "very rare". Now he has more and the Fisher has gone up to well over $600. but he has left off the very rare statement.
 
DanF said:
Took daughter back to school today, on the way home stopped in an antique mall and saw these. Least expensive was $559 and less than 130 lbs. The Hay B in the second pic was 88 lbs and closer to $700 than $600. Crazy prices!View attachment 752960 View attachment 752961
Click to expand...
These prices are not actually crazy...in my area $4 per pound is average now, and truly I blame "forged in fire" for this, all the wantabees knowing nothing happened! very much like the real estate mkt after the Loma Prieta Earthquake, IE: when I bought my Trenton #150, I paid $1.15 per pound (80s) very excellent condition...fast forward to 2018. Trenton was stolen! w/forge and tools by meth/tweaker (a relative)...devastated to say the least, just found an Ohio Columbian #115 nearly un-used :) (needs dressing) ...paid $4.20 per pound because of condition, seller threw in a nice stand and a champion blower, sellers knowledge is all internet learned no hands on, barely knows a Vulcan from an H-B, power wire brushed and oiled anvil wiping out small details, only my knowledge dropped the price! when all the "that sounds like fun" get a real taste of hot forging and get burned-out prices will drop when all those bought up eggs stop sellin!...waiting, It's a Love the smell of hot Iron thing, even my wife eventually began to like the smell...sorta kinda maybe :)
 
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Anvil prices went up befor forges in fire was even a thing. I remember when it was considered a good deal to get an anvil for $2-3 a pound and that was up from where it had been which was a buck a pound. The price of new anvils makes buying used ones impractical if you paying $5 or more a pound. And these new ones are much better quality.

I went into a local rummage shop here. Front and Center an anvil. I asked how much he says $500. I asked the weight he says 200lbs. I bend down and pick it easily up to my waste and say more like 75lbs. lol
 
I bought my first anvil at the very start of the growth of knifemaking as a hobby, about 5 years ago.

I paid 500 for a brand new JHM journyman, and that was a decent deal. I spent 4 years beating out knives and other ironwork on it and sold it in about an hour for 550.

I also lucked out beyond belief, for a 275 pound wright anvil and great shape for 500 usd.
 
I stopped looking for anvils months ago. For what they're bringing around here, I figure I won't be getting a decent one (200+lbs) for less than $1000, and probably closer to at least $1200. I've seen anvils that looked like they were dug out from under a barn (and probably were) for nearly $8/lb.

I've got a couple pieces of rail track, but when it comes time to upgrade, I'll probably just make a post anvil and beat on that for a while. Heck, for what some of these anvils are going for, I could get several feet of 5" square 1045.
 
Traditional anvils can still be found for reasonable prices, although "reasonable" gets higher every year. You need to be patient and diligent. Check sources regularly. Keep putting the word out that you are looking for an anvil. And don't feel you need to buy an anvil just because it is available. Do NOT get an anvil at a tool auction. You will be bidding against a lot of other people who have more money than common sense PLUS you will have to pay a buyer's fee on top of the purchase price. I see good prices from time to time but you may have to drive a distance to check it out or pick it up. Keep in mind that even a fairly cheap anvil is not very useful if all the edges are busted up or if it the face is dished. The edges are important and you should hold out for an anvil with good edges and a pretty flat face. Beware of painted anvils that can hide repairs or cracks. They may be fine but you will need to carefully inspect the anvil to make sure it is sound.

There is an ad for a 70lb HB anvil in my area. It looked to be in very nice shape so I called out of curiosity. He wanted $2500. I laughed and hung up. There is a 100lb William Foster dated 1831 on Ebay for $1850. Suckers only need apply. My 100lb WF made a year earlier is in better shape. If the one on Ebay sells I'll put mine up for sale the next day. I could use me one of them suckers.
 
I have bought a number of old anvils at reasonable prices (maybe 1 a year, but as a rule I won't pay more than a buck or so a pound for an anvil I don't need). My most recent purchase was a 120lb PW for about $60 if memory serves. Be patient and keep an eye out.

I can't imagine paying 5+ dollars for most used anvils when you can have a modern, cast steel anvil for that (shipped). I dig old anvils, they are cool, but a good new manufacture anvil is definitely better to work on, pound for pound. With a modern heat treat and a full steel body, modern anvils punch far above their weight class when properly bedded.

That all being said, I did consider dropping a grand on a 275lb HB in nice shape. But then I have enough anvils that I should be able to wait it out until prices drop again.
 
I visited a fellow in Suffolk who's phone number was given to me by a scrap dealer who said he regularly sold stuff to him. My scrap dealer buddy said the man had a place full of blacksmith stuff. I called him and he said he wasn't interested in selling anything, and he did not have unknown people come out to his place. I thanked him, and somehow we got to talking about knifemaking ... one thing lead to another ... and before long he invited me out to see his place, and said he might have some "Blacksmith items" he didn't need. When I got to his place, I realized he didn't need to sell things to make money. He gave me the grand tour of six barns and shops filled with antique tractors, cars, and farm tools, all of which he had restored. The barnyards were filled with plowing and soil tending equipment and old tractors, including several steam tractors. Then he took me over to two more barns filed with gleaming like new smithing equipment, fully restored and repainted. Many were arranged in a full setup of a forge or blacksmith shop. There were anvils, fly presses, forges, blowers, leather bellows, etc. sitting everywhere ... even outside as decorations. There was a beautiful full size shop forge near the barn door filled with dirt and used as a flower pot with petunias flowing out the pan and top of the stack. On a quick count there were around 50 anvils from 50# to maybe 1000#. I asked if any of the anvils are for sale and he said, "No, I just like to look at them." What he was willing to part with was a box of rusty old blacksmith hand tools and hardies as well as some rusty stove pipe. He said they weren't worth restoring. I asked what he wanted for the lot and he said, "Oh, I don't care, how about $200." I politely said no, which he seemed happy about. I asked him where he did all his restorations and he said, "Jump in the truck". We rode down the road to a huge ancient two story dairy barn. Inside was the biggest machine shop I ever saw. I don't think I ever saw one as large in the shipyard. Sitting everywhere was disassembled tractors and equipment. Funny thing was that there were no locks on any of the display barns at his home, and only a $5 padlock on a chain on the machine shop.
 
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