Thought I'd share my new anvil

[mc556]

I have been doing pretty well locally selling knives and will be upgrading my membership in a few days.
That being said I was able to scrape together a few extra $$ to purchase my first Anvil.

I have been only doing stock removal but it is my hope to learn some forging skills this year to reach my ultimate goal of being a for profit/hobby axe maker.

This is my new to me 1879 ( my best estimate ) Mousehole 126lbs Anvil
I only had online guidance for shopping but the top is flat with minimal pitting and decent edges. I used a 1in 52100 ball bearing in a marked tube and got almost full rebound 90% in all the workable surface.
I realize this is on the light side for what I will need but I will buy a heavier one in the future.
I have a total of $375 into it which isn't great according to some but after looking at 6-7 others this one was in way better shape than any I had found over several months of looking.

I love history and wish I knew where this has traveled over the last 1xx years.. I have to admit old tools like this make my imagination run wild.

I will hopefully start on my forge next month. I have large commercial fire extinguisher that I plan to use






For the record due to the membership status thread I will be upgrading asap.
I think this is a great BB and would have never been able to get started without it.

 

[Grayzer86]

That looks like an 1879 to me as well. I have an 1896 Mousehole that is 168 lbs. it has good rebound and is nice to work on, plus it seems quieter than my wright. Don't worry about the cost if you are happy with it, an anvil is worth what you have to pay to get it in your area. I paid 200 for my 131lb wright and 100 bucks for my Mousehole, but I watched an 140 lb peter wright sell for 880 at a farm action this summer and it was in rough shape. Never even flashed my hand on that one.