Princess Auto Cast STEEL anvil

ScottRoush

ScottRoush

Joined
Jan 10, 2010
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Anybody familiar with this? $125 for cast steel 75# anvil...... They offer some cheaper cast iron anvils... but this one says cast steel. Probably not tool steel or hardened...but maybe a good deal???
 
Not familure with the Princess name, but I've been using a couple of cast steel Russian anvils for several years with good service. I did have to clean and smooth the surfaces up. One I keept as a normal anvil, the other I cut the horn off to use as a finishing bladesmith's anvil.

They could be a bit harder, but there not soft enough for me to woryy with re heat treating. Passed the ball bearing test.

Hope this helps
 
Thanks... I was hoping that it was one of the Russian anvils..but I just called them and the guy said it's Chinese. So.... it makes me wonder if it's just another Harbor Freight anvil-like object thing. He did confirm that it is indeed cast steel and not iron. I hate anvils.
 
I would bet money that anvil is not actually cast steel, but rather cast iron like all their other chinese anvils. I know exactly the anvil that you were looking at because we have a Princess Auto here in Red Deer and I looked at the 75lb anvil here. I grabbed a ball pien hammer off the shelf and dropped it on the face of the anvil....it was dead as a pile of lead. I actually think it's more a case of false advertising.
 
I'm not familiar with that particular anvil, but I have a Russian made 110lb. cast steel anvil that came from Harbor Freight 5 or 6 years ago. I use it with my portable set-up, and it's not bad at all. It doesn't have the best rebound, but it's ok. On a heavy base it works fine for most all applications. I did have to do a good bit of work to smooth out the milling marks on the face, and it rings like a bell if you don't dampen it somehow (I use a big magnet, also from Harbor Freight). I honestly think these were the best new anvils for the money I've seen. Nowhere near the best, but decent, and really cheap (I gave around $100 for mine).
 
I've never seem anything other than ASO (anvil shaped object) from princess auto or similar stores sadly.
 
The Princess Auto anvil makes a nice dull thud when you hit it.:thumbdn:...and they still call it "cast steel".:rolleyes: Anyways, I found myself an old 100lb anvil that was made in England (it has initials JB) on it. The guy I bought it from was a farrier and he said he almost didn't like it because he said it had too much rebound. :rolleyes: He wasn't kidding though...it does have a lot of rebound.:thumbup: It is made from solid cast steel with what looks like a tool steel face. It was actually painted black and I went through all the trouble to remove the paint and make it all nice and rusty looking again. It actually had about 3 different colors of paint on it....
 
Well I thought that was the case. So back to my rail for now. I'm putting an ad in the paper next week... if that fails, then to Emerson or Kayne & Sons and debt.
 
I made a suggestion in another anvil thread... If you can't find a 4x4 solid chunk of mild steel, then get a 12" piece of 4x4" or 6x6" square steel pipe/tube and fill it with concrete. This will make the square pipe really heavy and solid and you should be able to lay it horizontally on a stump and forge on it...this would be so cheap to make too. You can have sides and anchor feet welded to it if you want. I haven't actually tried this, but I think I'm going to just because...I think it will work. I have this knack for coming up with unique solutions to problems.:D
 
Good idea... but until I find some good thick chunks or an actual anvil, my inverted rail works pretty well. It has great rebound actually. But I just got back from the Smokey Mt. Hammer In and really enjoyed working on the big anvils there. People always say you don't need a horn for knife making, but the folks there made good use of em....
 
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