Anvil

Sam06

A buddy of mine who lives down the road sold an Anvil on Fleabay. I had no idea how much they could cost. The Anvil was a Soding-Halbach I believe and weighed 390#'s. I helped load it in a guys truck we used my engine hoist.

He sold it for $4 a pound. The guy drove all the way from Alexandria VA(5 hrs) to get it. The guy who bought it also bought a bunch of other stuff from my buddy that he had laying around, Blacksmith tools one of those thing to get coal burning you crank a handle and it forces air into the coal stuff like that. He is 82 and hasn't done any Blacksmith stuff for 20 years and this stuff is just sitting around.

His son who is my age is on him to get rid of stuff and he has a bunch of stuff. He gave me a nice brand new in the box Miller-Smith Oxy Act head 48" long and hoses..........I tried to get him to take some money(That is worth about $600) but he wouldn't take a dime. He told me he bought it 20 years ago and never used it and he wanted me to have it(I help him out alot, till his garden help him move heavy crap) but I was floored. He also told me to get a bunch of lead he has.

I wish my Dad had done that.

Quick&Dead

Here in the midwest, old anvils always bring very good prices at farm auctions. They were made of good steel and stand up to decades of hard use. The anvil hardies also sell well, when can be found.
Most of the new anvils today are made in china and are of cheap cast iron or a poor grade of steel...so junk.

Ricci Wright

Well thank you Buddy.

Sam06

I believe that is the way he figured its weight FM.

What is the coal heating thingy called. He said the name but I either forgot or didn't hear it.



Ken this guy is like another Father to me. I hate to see him getting old but he is. I watched my Dad and several other older guys and it seems like at 80 you hit a wall and go down hill much quicker than from say 70-75.

jimdeere

Or you could just weigh it.

Brookwood

What is the coal heating thingy called. He said the name but I either forgot or didn't hear it.

Sam, I believe that coal thingy with the crank is called a FORGE. Used to heat metal to high temps for forming.

Sam06

jimdeere wrote:

Or you could just weigh it.

The bigest scale he had went to 350#

I wanted to see if I could lift it. I got it off the ground but there is no way I could have got it to my waist or in a truck bed. Two of us could have got in but its awkward with 2 people so we used the engine hoist I have. Maybe with a 2x8 under it or a pipe over it and 2 guys lifting but the engine hoist let us pick it up and move it around.

asop

If you are after practicality the ones made out of railroad rails will serve you well.

montanajoe

Cool thread,interesting info.

Locust Fork

Larry has wanted an Anvil for as long as I can remember. I told my uncle about this and he has been sending me links on Facebook all week. I have no clue what I'm looking at and cannot tell a $400 one from a $1000 one. I sure wish I had known these things were going to be part of my life when my Grandfather's estate was being sorted out. I think he had a few of them.....my uncle is more than frustrated by what happened to his things. Someone took most of it off and sold it for scrap because they didn't know any better. Its nearly always sad to look back on things your family had and wonder what ever became of them.

buschmaster

asop wrote:

If you are after practicality the ones made out of railroad rails will serve you well.

I have one of those. pretty handy. (actual section of rail, mebbe 6") that's all I need but I think a pro would want one with a flat top and cone arm like above pictures.

fatcat458

Brookwood wrote:

What is the coal heating thingy called. He said the name but I either forgot or didn't hear it.

Sam, I believe that coal thingy with the crank is called a FORGE. Used to heat metal to high temps for forming.
[/quot

Are you sure? l thought it was called a ''Bellows''

JamesRK

LF, every man who doesn?t own an anvil wants an anvil. I don?t know why. I know this because I was a man. I?ve found that I actually needed an anvil about once every thirty or forty years.

My late brother-in-law used to say his son could tear up an anvil. It must have been true because you won?t find an anvil on his place with a search warrant.

babun

The wife and I sold antiques for 5 years at the the Nashville fairgrounds flea market.
Anvils are GOLD not steel!!!

She was amazed that I could ask and get $500 for a decent mid sized anvil.

Quick&Dead

I have my fathers anvil he used all his farming life......also a few hardies for it.

I've never weighed it but I can pick it up and carry it ....a little way.

BTW ~ a hardy is an anvil accessory tool that fits into the small square or round hole in the top of the anvil...see here:
https://www.blacksmithsdepot.com/products/anvil-hardy-tools.html

Quick&Dead

forgemonkey wrote:

Quick&Dead wrote:

I have my fathers anvil he used all his farming life......also a few hardies for it.

I've never weighed it but I can pick it up and carry it ....a little way.

BTW ~ a hardy is an anvil accessory tool that fits into the small square or round hole in the top of the anvil...see here:
https://www.blacksmithsdepot.com/products/anvil-hardy-tools.html

The round hole is a ?pritchel hole?,,,,,,it?s used when punching holes, small enough to keep the metal from frog eyeing when you punch out the slug,,,,,,quite handy when punching nail holes in horseshoes,,,,,,,also can be used for a ?hold down? tool.

Thanks, didn't know that. I do know it has a nice ring to it when stuck with a 5# hammer.