I work for a railroad contractor, we have tons of scrap rail that we give away to people for this very purpose or for a drag behind their tractor if it's 8ft long

You mentioned that classes didn't work out earlier in the video. Yet, you now have a class of students very different than you imagined. And, you are a great teacher. Very natural and knowledgeable. Well done! Great video! Very helpful! And by the way, have you considered developing a class that helps others get started? A place to start blacksmithing? In today's world, you would find your experience and style of teaching to be highly effective. Consider it a possibility...

You say at one time you thought to teach classes but that didn't work out. Well . . . these videos have been the best teacher my 15 yr old son and I could have asked for. Thanks for passing down your experience and knowledge.

I can confirm, ask the maintenance crew for old track! Throw in a case of beer and they might even slice a piece off to your liking! The RR are always throwing out old track anyway.

I can’t be the only one who likes this mans videos before even watching them because I know it’s gonna be good.

i have never tried to blacksmith. But, i just ordered a Vevor 132 pound anvil which gets decent reviews. it cost $272 including tax and shipping. I'm excited to learn. You are an exceptional teacher. I'll be watching many of your videos. For me, i cant justify buying one of the new USA anvils because it wont be used everyday. Thanks for sharing your knowledge

My first anvil was a 12" piece of rail track but i welded it directly over one leg of my metal table , it worked very well being welded to the table helped alot

Very well done! I really appreciate the approach you took to anvil alternatives. My own intro into blackmithing was delayed considerably because the advice (being told) by those in the profession and on forums, that you can't forge on anything but a real anvil. It took me about a year before I ran into people who showed me the alternatives. At the 2 year mark I was able to purchase my 1st anvil, a brand new cast steel one. Finding a good used anvil, reasonably priced was like pulling hens teeth. The antiquers have Ruined the anvil market in my area. Since then, anytime I meet someone interested in Blacksmithing, I make suggestions to them on anvil alternatives like what you presented. A real anvil will come later. Thanks for the awesome video...

I injoy watching Black Bear Forge I have learned quite a bit from watching his videos. Please keep up the good work and teachings. You have taught me more then all the books that I have read and more than most of the blacksmiths that I have visited.

Man its a shame you never did teach. You do a great job. Love the channel.. love the vid. Great info

That peddinghaus no 12 is my dream anvil

I so admire and appreciate it when experts show us what can be done on the fly or the cheap. Love the fact you explain the pros and cons without saying, no, can't do it. Was on another channel and buddy was going on about how you can get a cheap anvil for $1200. WTF? Glad to see a number of comments including one who's grandpa was a blacksmith farrier and mostly used an old rail

I had multiple anvils when I was younger, including a 130 lb Peter wright, but since retiring and moving I now only have a 55 lb trip hammer die I use that belonged to my grandfather. He was a blacksmith pre and post WWI in Ohio. He concaved 1 end of it to form wagon tires and act as a horn.

TFS is Texas Ferrier Supply. They are local to me and I have one of thier 2 horn 100 lbs. anvils, and I'm definitely happy with the purchase.

I love going back and rewatching your older videos and seeing how far you have come. You are leaps and bounds ahead of me before this video and seeing you progression over the years, gives me hope for me and my channel. Keep it up

wow , you covered all there is to know , and then some .. holy cow ..

I paid a machine shop $120 6"r x 12"l 4041 round stock works great . 30 years ago people would pay to take them off their hands .

Was Nick Offerman studying this guy for his role as Ron Swanson?

Thanks Black Bear Forge. Very informative.

I was able to buy some decommissioned fork lift tines for about 30 each.. this was prob 3yrs ago. As far as I know they are some form of tool steel. I cut it at the thickest part and right under the bend. The 90 bend kinda makes a horn to use. Sitting upside down its about 20 inches long and about 5 inches wide. Ground and polished to a shine. The thing weighs at least 75lbs. Makes a great anvil backed by some 4x4s on end tied together.

This was very helpful! Thank you so much!

Thanks for the very informative video. Your effort is genuinely appreciated.

Great advice and knowledge. Thanks for sharing

Awesome video. Glad I went back and looked up some oldies.

I admire your familiarity and intimacy with the anvil. And your exposition is packed with solid information. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

18:21 and........ hes a hardcore 1337 gamer, nice setup, dual PC/Monitor and laptop so you can keep gaming even when nature calls. No downtime with this man during RAID; Very well done sir.....18:48 Professional pan in, nice, nice; expert in video editing and on his KZfaq game. All this AND a Master Craftsman, very inspiring. Just found this channel and you have inspired me to become a Black Smith 👍 👍

Great lesson! Thanks!

This is a great informative video. Thank you for the basic mini lesson.

Thank you top info just bought one !

Great video. Great information. Thank you for sharing.

I'd been pondering what would be my first anvil...A buddy if mine is likely this state's #1 train enthusiast and told me to kinda drop his name at a RR museum but I hesitated for some reason. I bought a cheap cast iron anvilette at a discount tool place and set it on a lighter by the fire bit. Pretty poor but the guys each got to strike hot metal. I'll leave that one out there for them to hack on. This morning I helped an 80 year old buddy move some very heavy petrified wood to new house and I asked if he had an anvil laying around, but guy said he did and he did! I picked up a KL cast steel made in England 70kg for 77c/lb. Cleaned it up with flapper in angle grinder and it's factory faced with a plate. It's already an heirloom and has such a beautiful ring to it. Thanks again for posting these exceptional videos!!

Thanks for the information . 👍

I'm a machinist, 30 years now I've always wanted a anvil. I still haven't been able to get one. I learned a lot from your video. Thanks for your informative video.

Thank you for sharing.

I live in Alaska, my Anvil is built out of a train bumper from the Alaska Railroad. it's about a foot and a half thick, needed two tanks of oxygen to push through on the torch.

Started out with a piece of train track and it works, more or less. I found a lot of energy seems to be lost in flex if you're working on the edge. Then a good buddy had to close up shop, at least temporarily. I now have his 175 pound steel anvil. I've worked on it before so I knew what he was loaning me. Friends don't get much better than that.

The link is amazing, I've looked around already for anvil cost, and these prices are really good for the quality (and new) anvil.

Always wanted the one with the shelf after i seen it.

The main reason for rebound in your anvil is for longevity of work, it takes away the effort of raising your hammer all day long, so basically if you're a hobbyist blacksmith ANYTHING will work, but if you're planning on forging all day. You need an anvil to not destroy your body

Great video ! Thanks for the information. 👍

Great video, thanks!

As a full time welder I had the skill and the tools to take some RR track (which I came up on when a warehouse nearby was having their old tracks replaced) and weld it to the top of a stand I fashioned out of some sch40 steam pipe and an old plough disk. I cut and ground a nice horn on the front, though it's still flat on top and not very useful, and I drilled a 3/4" hole in the heel for punching (also made a small hot cut hardy to fit in.) I welded some 1/2" to the web of the track to add some beefiness to the ASO and spent a couple hours grinding down the top of the track to make a nice flat face (the very old rail was rounded off heavily on one side.) I have made a lot of leaves, corkscrews, bottle openers and even some bench legs on that little "anvil" of mine. Yet I feel that I become more serious as a blacksmith, I need to get more serious in the tools that I use. Right now i'm looking at buying a "mid-grade" anvil from either Emerson, TFS or JHM in the 120-200lb range to upgrade my shop. They range in price from about $700-1200

Nice information. Thaks for sharing

This is really one of your best video.

Nice watching on you sir

The brand everyone knows and wants in Finland is Lokomo. And in Sweden it's Kohlswa. Don't think either of them exist anymore. A pristine looking Lokomo 150kg or 300lbs is for sale for 1250€ and I found the same anvil sold for 650€ in an auction, some guy was lucky there I think.

Great info. my anvil is a Charles Zolty 1902 Trenton 100 lb I found for about 5.50 a pound. Thank you

I am no blacksmith, but as a woodworker it is nice to be able to just be able to do some basic forging, I got a nice piece of railroad track on a train museum, they always have more track than they can put on their yard

I live in Southeast Idaho, and Railroad track shows up at the scrap yard ALL the time. I literally just walked by a dozen pieces of track 5 feet long. This was the smaller track though, but it would still work better than a rock! All you have to do is wait a month or two, go to the scrap yard once a week to check, and some of that big rail will show up for sure! ......also, yes, I'm kind of obsessed with the scrapyard....

Im working a lot of overtime to buy a propper anvil! Cant wait to have it and start

So helpful. Thanks so much,. My dad had an old Anvil I got a hold of it but somehow my brother ended up with it which is fine he just lives a few steps away from me at least it's still in the house. I'm going to look around I bet people around here have no idea what they have hidden in their garage but again thank you so much very awesome video

Thank you John

Great Video and I've been looking for an anvil cheaper than a car. I've seen some old anvils in very bad shape going for $300-$500 but I mean rough. I had a old 60lb. Anvil I lent to a guy along with my portable forge and even a few tools and hammers. Never saw him again after a few months. It was my Grandfathers anvil so that hurt. I work in furniture so this anvil was perfect for making hardware, rat tail hinges and the like. So the search continues but here in Lancaster County Pa. There are lots of auctions and many farm auctions. Just about every farm had an anvil I remember as a kid. So you gave some very good info greatly appreciated. My mentor in furniture making worked in a carriage shop, black smithing end for 6 cents an hour. He was born in 1889 and died in 1981. But in watching and listening I learned enough to get by. I always wanted to build a forge. I have learned much over my 69 years in watching and asking a few question. And I have learned watching you so Thank You kindly for sharing your skills in the mastery of blacksmithing. I often say that everyone is an artist in some respect. And there are those as yourself who love and respect the skill of the art, which it truly is. With many many antiques in this area and restoring and making period furniture, I have run across so many beautiful iron works of the highest quality. As you well know, ones spirit can be seen and felt in a finely crafted work of art. More than just practical but artistically crafted. Peace! DaveyJO in Pa.

Good video! Thank you,!

Great Video. Thanks

Great job in sharing your knowledge and wisdom.. Good video with a clear presentation of the information.

great video, thank you

Good job buddy we all needed to know about different anvils I am lucky I am going to just stick with my NC anvil I used alot farrier work.

As I am not a rich man, I use an old Lug nut from an freightliner as an anvil substitute. Wish I could send you a picture but I use it for making arrowheads ,blades . I am relatively new to metal works but it's portable and can be mounted into a tree stump , so I can cold hammer on the fly, or in conjunction with a forge. It heated up a bit , so i leave the bolt out for air flow.

I actually have two railroad rail anvils that were made on a milling machine, got both of them at yard sales for about five bucks each.👍😁(I use them most every day)

Just finished watching. I kind of figured it would be a while before I can get a nice proper anvil. That's ok though I don't mind starting a little more primitive\basic to learn\see how to move metal. Big ole hunk of steel will do for now. Thanks again John, I really appreciate the help.

I just wanted to take,a,moment and,thank you,for all the vidio and information you are passing on to us newbies! Sincerely heath at Shepardsforge

I was given multiple pieces of RR track. I live by Norfolk Southern line and when they did a bunch of repairs they were all but begging me to take it. I haven’t tried to make an anvil yet, but I am getting a forge for Christmas and am in dire need of an anvil pretty quickly.

Wow i missed out on maybe meeting you on person, i lived in colorado 2 years ago and was looking for people to learn more about blacksmithing. Never made it any further south than the spings though. So glad i found your video!

I have the forged steel one you showed on ebay. I haven't used it yet but I figure it's enough to get started I got it second hand but it's in great shape. Gravel is coming for my blacksmith area next week! I don't know how many hours of anvil talk I've watched on KZfaq. Glad I finally made it to yours. I know of a used peter wright for 3$ a pound but it's smushed pretty bad. I still think about it when I go to bed at night though. Thanks for posting!

i got myself a nice 50lb one to start. it's new and i have to surface it properly with a flap disk before i can use it. addendum: i picked it up at princess auto (canada's harbor freight BUT with *less* chinesium) it's a good anvil, solid cast steel.

Thank you soooo much. Great video!!!!!

Thank You Sensei!

I have seen videos about forging kuhkri knives on sledge heads set in concrete. I don't have a link, but a search for "forging a kuhkri" should get you there. I forget the Asian country where the video was made. It was very impressive

Very much enjoyed your video. If there was one thing to add, people wanting to go the $200ish route might search eBay for specific steels. Just make a list of 10 or so tool steels and search those. You will often find short drops of billet in the $3 a pound range. Add to the price 10 hours of wearing out rocks on an angle grinder and having 1" hardy hole cut through with a torch and you may have something you won't ever get rid of.

New come to the trade. So personal Opinion might not mean much, but sure appreciate your time and knowledge. your are an excellent trainer. many thanks.

To my h to see a real black Smith and to share some of knowledge massive

Video very useful... I enjoyed looking on the Internet probably old world looks to be Good quality fair price

Scrap sections of I-beams work great for a cheap anvil. They’re much wider than rails and easier to anchor down. I have one. I do come across foundry anvils every once in awhile. I think they’re for long work like swords? I think you can get them cheap because they’re so heavy and hard to move.

Wow, some of these prices holy cow. That simple railroad rail sounds more and more enticing to get.

My first anvil was a 1"x4" block of steel, then a rail track anvil, upgraded to a 100 Columbia, sold it for a 100lb Emerson. Now I'm using a 50kg Church Window Anvil from Old World. I am looking at the delivery of a TFS 200lb smithy special for my larger work. Everything was bought with money generated from my blacksmithing and bladesmithing work. However, despite the anvils I have purchased I find myself using the massive 110lb 4140 block (I made it to look like a sawyers anvil) a lot of the time.

Thanks for the video!! Sorry to hear your classes didn’t work out, you sound like you’d be a great teacher or mentor.

Luck to have you Thanks

Just found your channel, I am glad I did. You have some good info

Recently bought an 18" length of, what appears to be, medium-sized railroad track for $20. Even being later in life, I'd like to give metal shaping a go. If nothing else it will be a better surface than I have had in the past to smack metal for projects. One of my sons is interested in this too. He has problems getting hired so this might be an option.

Big Blu Hammer also sales there own Germany style two horn anvil. I would think they would be of high quality. There hammers are.

thank you for this video. i am just starting out, and can't really justify the expense of a true anvil, so i've kind of cobbled together (no pun intended) a solution out of an old iron shoe last that i fixed into a big block of wood. it's a true, flat surface and has just the right amount of striking area that i need. as i develop my skills, maybe i'll get a proper anvil. but for now, it seems to work for the smaller projects that i'm working on.

I've been using a 77lbs nc bigface farriars anvil which is cast steel for the last year and had,done sooo well by be. It's not great but,it dora,what I need. Will be upgrading this year tho I think!

First anvil i had when i was a kid was a big hammer head turned on its side and welded to a mild steel plate with four holes to mount on something like a stump i just used it on the floor my dad welded it on the plate

If I were to recommend an anvil brand to someone it would have to be Refflinghaus. They are cast steel, made in Germany and sold in the US. They seem to be the highest quality, though the price also reflects that.

I have a really old tractor weight that bounces great its odd not even vaguely anvil shaped but it works really well. I'm just not sure what sort of metal it is.

Whoah.. where'd you come from at the beginning there made me jump, :D

I did not realize there are that many sources of newly manufactured anvils. That's good to know. I think possibly one or two of the ebay items you viewed were ongoing auctions where the final price might well be higher than the current bid at the moment you looked. I bought my well-used Hay Budden on ebay over 4 years ago, love it, and prices just keep going up. Thanks again for your videos.

Just make life easy and visit any machine shop around you and explain what your doing. Ask if they have any steel remnants that you can look at and hopefully you'll get to browse around. They usually have lots of pieces stocked up somewhere. Alot of times they will have mild steel and even heat treated pieces.

Holland anvil in Holland, MI has some nice looking cast steel anvils. I've never banged on one, but I don't see a reason it wouldn't be a good anvil.

Big time fan. It's been a dream of mine to take up smithing and videos like this have definitely inspired me and now am taking steps towards it real. Like many new smiths, there are always questions. The main one I'm running into was mostly addressed in this video but I've got a wall. I too am a resident in colorado, but the local supplier seeks primarily ductile iron as opposed to steel. Would this be a suitable route to take? Pros and cons?

great vid， thanks

Just wondering but what are the parts on the anvil you showed 'in a friend's shop' with the little extension out to the side of the face?

I have a couple railroad anvils(no horns),A 1930's anvil vice(vice is long gone)Steel and pretty heavy for its size.I also have a 1912 vice anvil(i mainly bought it since it was a nice piece to have around)i use it to true up stuff since its flat compaird to the railroad anvils but i think its cast iron and no ring to it what so ever i also have the solid cylinder hunk of metal about 9 inches long and probably 4 inches in radius and it worked well for a while though i had to put it in a vise to hold it. But i must say all of the stuff now is far better than the 2x2 inch of steel i started out with lol. Thanks for sharing,your knowledge is a blessing.

For years I used a couple of Harbor Freight cast steel Russian anvils. Took a bit of work to clean them up to where they were usable, and they were pretty soft, but better than cast iron or mild steel. Shame they are no longer available, they were 110 pounds and rite at a 100$. After nearly 15 years of bladesmithing I finally broke down and bought a new one, a Reffinghause 330 pounder. What an awesome anvil.

Love you man from dublin ireland

When you switched to the computer room with the coffee cup, I got some strong Ron Swanson vibes. Now I can't not hear Ron when you talk...LOL Love you videos by the way, take care.

Sure, for forge welding you can use a sledgehammer anvil. You won't be striking that hard, and the chance to miss is minimal. However I wouldn't advice to use a sledgehammer, or any hammer that could be hardened as an anvil, since if you strike a hardened hammer on another hardened hammer, chips may fly off that can cause severely injuries. It's like someone is shooting bullets through your shop. At all times avoid hammer on hammer contact when striking hard. You had another video about blacksmithing rules, I only have 1 rule for blacksmithing I don't stray from : safety first.

Thank you so much. While it sounds a simple and logical still many would never even thought about it ( quality based on bouncing the ball). Actually, I always presumed that all the anvils are 100% cast iron. Regarding the railroad track. Would a welded block of steel at top of it be kind of solution?

I got my hands on an old Vulcan 90 lb for $155. The top has bad nicks and the horn is broke but I have learned a lot on it.