reality check: anvil or a.s.o.? Any idea if these are anvils or hf level door stops?

it is an anvil but not something that you would want to forge on. I would try and find at least an 80 pound anvil, but the heavier the better.
 
I have a little one like that, that I use for peening pins, etc. It's not the best in the world by a long shot, and it dents pretty easily, but it works ok as a peening base.
 
Thank you for replying. Yeah, I'm sadly aware I want a much heavier anvil - I should have been more clear: right now I've just got a 12 pound sledgehammer head in a stump and can't see having the money to get a proper anvil in the visible future. At that price I would not expect much at all, just hope the metal is sufficiently better than the ASOs I see so many warnings against that it will work for light duty. I'm thinking of it in relation to the things like the 4" cube of steel from Old World Anvils and other things I've seen recommended for the wanna be bladesmith with no money.

Do you think it would be a complete waste to try learning to forge some small knives? I'm thinking woodworking marking knives, small carving knives, a paring knife, etc. I've only tried a few times using the sledgehammer head as an anvil mostly because I've lacked anything like proper tongs and was working with short pieces. Other than lack of experience and tongs I think my main problem was a lack of a decent reference surface under the workpiece - had a hard time understanding what the metal was going to do when hitting it on a domed surface. Of course I don't know what other problems I didn't know enough to even notice.

I bought some polarbear forge water jet cut tong blanks and finally got around to bending the first set into rough shape, still have to do a little shaping and make the pivot pin.

Thanks again,
Fitzhugh
 
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