If You Love old equipment and 1,000 # anvils -In Tuscany

sdelivery said:
This is why I can't find an affordable anvil!
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Generally, the answer is yes, since this guy lives in Europe, he has mostly drained that continent, however, there all too many hoarders on this continent serving the same function; I am satisfied with only two, a nominal 300# and a small one about 30#.
 
What impressed me was that most of the anvils outside were in good to excellent shape. I have about a half dozen, the majority of which need restoration work. My main anvil is a little over 100 lbs.. I bought it from a local farmer. The bick was broken off so I fashion a new bick and welded it on. The face was in bad shape and I replaced it with a piece of semi leaf spring. That was before I had my mill so I fashioned a carrier for the back of my 8N tractor to mount the anvil in an inverted position and dragged it down our paved road. After leaving a one mile trail of sparks, the old face was gone. I flattened the body as best I could as well as the piece of leaf spring, clamped the two together and welded the entire perimeter to exclude as much air as possible. Later, at an anvil repairing workshop, er heated the entire anvil in a large coal forge and with the help of another person, we move the anvil to a large anvil and forge welded the new face with sledges. Back at home, i ground the arc welds down and squared up the sides, Later, when I bought my RF30 clone, I cut the hardy hole and pritchel hole. I have been using that anvil for forty years since with no sign of wear.

We had good success with repairing damaged edges with hard facing rod. The weld area was preheated to around 300ºF and the edge was built up in small stitches with the fresh weld peened imediately after the weld was applied. The preheat prevented the anvil face from cooling too quickly so as to have an adjacent brittle region.

The big guy and the little guy.
The chowdered edge on the side is actually an artifact from the welding process. I intended to put a radius on that edge but haven't got arourd to it yet. I also made the bick for the hardy hole resting on top. It was made from a piece of truck axle.
Anvil 1 .JPG


I also made a small anvil from a piece of railroad rail which is in my shop. It has square edges all around as I made it for working sheet metal. Anvil 8.JPG
 
Pre WWII, almost every farmer had an anvil. A lot of anvils were sent for scrap iron to help the war effort. Post war, as farmers quit farming, their anvils were sold off. That supply dried up over the years and it is difficult to find one in a farm auction nowadays. My ex was a farrier and bought old anvils whenever she saw one. She would restore them and sell them. The anvils that I have, with the exception of the two mentioned above, were remnants of her collection.

When I last checked, used anvils were selling for around $4/lb. And that was regardless of condition. You can buy new anvils from Centaur Forge in Burlington, WI, They have a fairly good selection in both size and style.
 
Great way to stay married:
"Hey honey let's take a vacation to Italy- I want to look at anvils"
 
I would imagine the shipping cost for an anvil would be high!

Centaur forge sells,

Atlas knife and tool
Cliff Carrol
Emerson
JHM
Kanca
Mathewson Metals
NC Tool
Scott
TFS

If a guy wanted a general use anvil say 150#. What would be a good brand to buy?

I see used anvils from time to time, the prices are out of sight.
 
markba633csi said:
Great way to stay married:
"Hey honey let's take a vacation to Italy- I want to look at anvils"
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Hey honey, I found one I like. Shipping back to the states will take six weeks for only $1,200. (I’m guessing here)
Still married?
 
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