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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Vulcan Ironworks Anvil
- Thread starter JM Wands
- Start date
but,,,,so are anvils
!! Thanks for the info,,,,,JM
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2001
- Messages
- 3,623
JW
I work off a 150# vulcan, and there better then a RR iron but there not the best, not a great deal of rebound. I brought mine from a farmer that was going bankrupt, it was in almost perfect condition, no nicks or chips on the face and I paid $125. I would think that $200 might be a touch high for a 100# vulcan but if its in good shape and you need one right away, the little you might save by looking around might not be worth the looking. I would offer him $150 for it, take it or leave it, but thats just my opinion, now if it was a peter wright, you had better jump on it.
If you have a radio station around you that has on the air sales, call in and tell them on the air that your looking for a good anvil, thats how I found mine, after calling in I received 5 or 6 calls from people that had anvils and wanted to sell them, and some times people don't care how much, they just don't have any use for the darn things and want them out of the way. You might pick up a real bargin.
Good Luck
Bill
I work off a 150# vulcan, and there better then a RR iron but there not the best, not a great deal of rebound. I brought mine from a farmer that was going bankrupt, it was in almost perfect condition, no nicks or chips on the face and I paid $125. I would think that $200 might be a touch high for a 100# vulcan but if its in good shape and you need one right away, the little you might save by looking around might not be worth the looking. I would offer him $150 for it, take it or leave it, but thats just my opinion, now if it was a peter wright, you had better jump on it.
If you have a radio station around you that has on the air sales, call in and tell them on the air that your looking for a good anvil, thats how I found mine, after calling in I received 5 or 6 calls from people that had anvils and wanted to sell them, and some times people don't care how much, they just don't have any use for the darn things and want them out of the way. You might pick up a real bargin.
Good Luck
Bill
- Joined
- May 31, 2000
- Messages
- 173
$2.00 per pound is about right for a decent anvil.
Take a steel ball bearing (about 1½" in diameter) and drop it on the sweet spot of the anvil from about 3 feet up, and if the ball bearing bounces at least half way back up from where you dropped it from, you're on to a good one.
Take a steel ball bearing (about 1½" in diameter) and drop it on the sweet spot of the anvil from about 3 feet up, and if the ball bearing bounces at least half way back up from where you dropped it from, you're on to a good one.
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2000
- Messages
- 265
Some Vulcans are better than others, the quality is variable. I think the price is a bit high also. You can buy very good used anvils for $3.00 lb. One good one is worth having, a poor one is not.
Testing the face with a ball bearing (marble size or larger) will tell you how hard the surface is. Think a 18" drop will work just as well and makes it easier to catch the ball bearing if it bounces off a rough spot. You can check the entire face this way for soft spots.
Some are so soft they get dented from a 18" drop of 1 1/2" bearing, not an anvil to pay big dollars for.
A really good anvil will bounce the bearing right back in your hand just like a rubber ball. Hard faces don't deform and take less of your energy to forge on.
You can make a very good anvil for knive forging out of a piece of railroad track. Welding a piece of road grader blade to the top will give you a very nice hard and smooth top surface.
Testing the face with a ball bearing (marble size or larger) will tell you how hard the surface is. Think a 18" drop will work just as well and makes it easier to catch the ball bearing if it bounces off a rough spot. You can check the entire face this way for soft spots.
Some are so soft they get dented from a 18" drop of 1 1/2" bearing, not an anvil to pay big dollars for.
A really good anvil will bounce the bearing right back in your hand just like a rubber ball. Hard faces don't deform and take less of your energy to forge on.
You can make a very good anvil for knive forging out of a piece of railroad track. Welding a piece of road grader blade to the top will give you a very nice hard and smooth top surface.
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2001
- Messages
- 729
Has anyone checked antique shops for anvils? I found four at a shop last summer. Three of them were in really good shape. They were marked at a dollar a pound. I considered buying them all, and selling three. As it is, I only bought a 135# one for $100. I could have made some cash on that deal I suppose. In my opinion, anyone who buys a brand new anvil is nuts! They are out there, just gotta find the right one!