Please Post your Tips on what you should be looking for when buying or making an anvil below please!!!

I once had the pleasure of running into a older large one. Claimed 200pds but was closer to 260. The face was severely beaten and cracked, the waist was heavily bellied and one of the feet had broken off. But enough about my personal life this videos about anvils...

I started with a sledge hammer head vertically in a stump, then apiece of light rail track already shaped for $50. Now i have a little cast steel anvil that a friend gave to me. i enjoy using them all for different purposes now. Great video Dan really helpful.

Started with a cheap rusted railroad track, forged a year on it, learned to make the thing better for my needs at the time (lots of edges en horne grinding!) made a little money, saved some money and then i upgraded to a double Horn, mounted on a wooden base, but outside in the weather the wood "worked" so i made myself a metal box, feet touches the inside of the box, filled it with white sand, Couple layers of lead. No magnets needed, no chains, no Bolts, not a loud ring, tool holders welded to the base, wheels to move it. Proper sollid base with a small footprint.

I can’t believe how cheap anvils are over there. Here in the US, that swayed Fischer would cost an arm and a leg...

First Anvil, A rock Second Anvil, A ledgde hammer Thrid Anvil, A piece of rail road Fourth Anivil, A small/cheap crappy one like 12 pounds for 40 dollar, It had a horn. Now I use 2-3, The sledghammer for a hole, the railroad as main Anvil, and the cheap one for the horn. Works ok/I'm getting by, Beginner.

In the process of making my first anvil from old rail at the moment, it has a nice ring when hit, looking forward to smithing, very helpful vid, thanks.

Really awesome information Dan! Thanks very much! Looking forward to that anvil repair! God Bless you sir!

thank you as a new blacksmith. great to learn anything to hone the craft

Today i got a 125 kg peddinghaus anvil and I think i fall in love Such a good anvil

Started blacksmithing about a year ago on the path to bladesmithing, started with a gas forge, and a 2" plate anvil shaped object, been watching your videos since day one, built a coal forge, found a 100# fisher which I use now, my dream anvil would be a 400# traditional, used a lot of your advice thanks!

Great info! Also... Anvil envy!!!😍

I cant believe you got that Kohlswa for £130! What a score. I just picked up a 40kg kohlswa to upgrade from railroad track and i am in love with it. It really makes working so much easier. Cheers Dan

I get that an anvil is a niche product, but it is quite amazing that when you recycle steel, you get something like .05$ a pound but if you buy an anvil you pay 5-8$/lb and its essentially a big chunk of metal. A V8 engine, full of precision machined parts, costs less than a 275lb anvil and weighs significantly more as raw metal (a basic engine, not a top-tier NASCAR motor). Wild.

Top video mate. Thanks for that.

All good stuff Dan, when you doing the refurb on the small anvil , been waiting for that. Keep well dude. Mat

I think it's more important to get ANYTHING that you can use as an anvil soonest, and if you have the desire you will eventually get a "proper" anvil, if that's what you really want. Glen (Glen GS Tongs) runs a full-time professional business with what some might call "shaped blocks of steel". I don't think any of his anvils are more that 60-80 pounds apiece (and he doesn't even bolt them down!).

thanks for the tips and what to look for.

Great video Dan!

Good info dude and nice and anvils. I hope to get a bigger one someday but my 1902 #100 trenton is great for now. I only outweigh it by 4lbs lol⚒on!!!

My first anvil was a length of railway line, then I got hold of a mint 2 cwt Brooks London pattern anvil. It's in a few of my video's I think. Fell in love with them and over the years picked up another four or so in different weights. Plus a 3+ cwt no name for stuff that really needs the beans. Still waiting to find my perfect Yorkshire pattern anvil though :) Kholswa are beautiful anvils, as are Grunsfors and Soderfors (sp?). In the states there are a few good brands like Peter Wrights, Hay Budden and so on. Nimbus are supposed to be very good as well on the new made front. Anvil's in America by Postman would be the go to reference for buyers there. Local library should be able to order it in. One other thing that's useful is the ball bearing test. Some sellers might not like the idea of you beating on their item with a hammer (sounds mad I know, but its happened to me... 'What? It's an ANTIQUE!!' ) so a little ball bearing can help you suss how lively the anvil is. It's just a quick and dirty rebound test really.

I hope you do a video of the anvil repair. I started on a rail track anvil. And still use it occasionally. That being said, i wouldnt trade my two old fishers( 70# 1904 and 125# 1901) for a brand new anvil of any make. Cheers!

Anvil prices in the states are crazy. People act like their made of solid Sterling silver. Some get lucky and find one at a good price. I just gave up and bought a drop forged Kanca 35Kg anvil. It''s no 300lb beast but its a huge upgrade from the 20lb stake anvil I started on. Just don't ask what i paid for it. *cries* I... don't like to think about that. Lmao

I love the voiceover section dude! And you know I love all those anvils! I started on a block of granite! :)

anvil is life ;) have had a 100 pound for years, and have just come over a 700 pound one!! just need to make a stand for it, so it is possible to maover around ;)

Great tutorial Dan :-)

When you're starting out (like I am) you may as well not wait for the perfect one, just get something anvil or ASO. Gets you going and is cheap enough you can use it for miscellaneous fabrication, tinkering, and mechanic work whether or not you continue blacksmithing.

Would be great to see how you fix the sway in the last anvil you showed. Would give us a sense of what's involved if we purchase one ourselves. Cheers!

By first "anvil" was an 8 Lb sledge hammer strapped to a stump. Then I "upgraded" to a 17 Lb cast iron anvil. I finally just bought an NC round horn 80lb anvil and it's in transit right now. They're not huge, but I'm in the military and I don't really want to lug around some huge historic anvil every time I have to move, so I think it will be prefect.

Great job as always Daniel. Couldn't help but notice you stake anvil looks like the head of a Unicorn (just needs some googly eyes)

I have found an old Peter wright anvil weighing 388lbs that has some pretty significant damage on one side that someone has tried to grind out. I was thinking of welding a plate of tool steel on to give it a new face and to repair the damaged area with built up weld. Is this the proper way of repairing an old wrought iron anvil or is their a better way?

Hey Dan, I really like your channel and videos. I have learned alot from watching you. But I have question: can you or do you reface the corners(for square corners) on the avail? You see alot of avails with Nick's in them? How do you fix the? Hit me back ,thank you, keep'em coming.

If you're anvil heavy, I would take a couple off your hands gladly haha...just drop one or two in your carry on in September lol. Great video man and I'm digging that stake anvil you made. Looks great.

Good bit of information. Many thanks. The prices you mentioned are a bargain. I can’t find anything of that quality for those sort of prices. May be I’m looking in the wrong places. Where would you suggest are the best place to look for reasonable priced anvil.

Nice Dan. Still here just got busy😎

Could you not have posted this yesterday, you know, before I bought my first anvil?? 😆

Hey Daniel. Love your channel. I would love to send you a picture of an anvil I have been offered, but don't know how to do that. It would be my first anvil and don't want to screw it up.

I started with railway track anvil. There's a guy (only the same age as my own son) who makes them close to where I live. He's been smithing since he was about 11, following in the footsteps of an older family member. It has a pritchell and a hardy and a pretty flat face along with a pretty well shaped bick. It isn't hardened, although being a section of railway track it has work hardened over it's life. It is about 12 inches long in total and weighs about 12 Kilos. I mounted it to a log and fixed it down well with carriage bolts. That reduced the ring and made it very secure. It is a great little anvil for small mild steel projects. I'm an amateur learning as I go along for a hobby but recently I have begun to try a few more difficult (for me) projects so I began to look for a heavier anvil with a hardened face. Everything I could find on the likes of gumtree or ebay waas way overpriced, or was for pick up only but too far away for me to get to. I chased down a few that would have been worth the price, biut they were always sold before I contacted the seller. Then the smith I take lessons with suggested that I take a look at a German company who sell new anvils made by another German manufacturer. He has two of them (out of eight stations available in his teaching forge) I had already used them a few times (they are in the southern German pattern with a bick and a pointed heel with the the hardy just behind the bick and a pretty large pritchell just before the beginning of the taper on the heel) I chose to order the 35kg option as it will be large enough to make any project that I will be capable of for a few years to come, maybe for the rest of my life! It is cast steel with a hardened face and I have seen two of the 50kg versions that have been in use by everyone from rank amateurs to quite skilled hobbyists for the last seven years and they have hardly a ding in the face so I believe they are quality. My 35 kg delivered from Germany to the UK cost less than £300. I have not named the seller or manufacturer as I'm not sure if KZfaq rules allow this. If Dan wants this information to be placed on this channel I'll pass it to him on request and he can put it out for his subscribers to see, if he thinks it's worth it.

I chose my first anvil by someone who had one and wanted to trade it for my pocketknife,I said OK and got a 110lb.(approx.) English anvil.My next one is a 350lb.or so English anvil from a demolition job,so I guess it's salvaged.Either way,no money changed hands

The just get going is so true . A hammer something hard & and some hot steel and have A good time make your stess go away . thank you and God bless Dan

Working on building a bigger anvil, around 200 pounds. Would fork lift fork material survive welding it to the base of the anvil without loosing all of its heat treatment?

Find a big steel machine shop, they have all sorts of cubes, cylinders and rings make great anvils and swage blocks

Dan I see you were trying to fit some angle against the slope of the bottom of the angle, you could maybe bend some flat bar to come across the front and back of the anvil and have that screw down at an appropriate angle. Or use chain around it with hold downs on the side of your stump, that works really good for me.

my anvil stand is just an angle iron table cut to the right height, a piece of 11 gauge sheet metal as the top, and some square tubing with some more angle iron welded to it, all welding to the frame of the original angle iron table i have a chain i want to wrap around the anvil itself to reduce the ringing and weigh it down more so it doesnt bounce, i think its a 140 pound anvil, it doesnt weigh much less than me

Another obstacle to buy an anvil is the weight. If you don't have access to a forklift and/or trailer, it's quite difficult.

how do you tell what the anvils are made off? think mine are forged, they have holes around the throat i was told they were used to hold them when it was getting forged don't know how true that is though, all i know is they both ring like buggery!! got a weeee 30kg one and a 80 odd kg one i think it is i can lift it but it's a struggle lol

It's crazy in the US $5 to $7 per Lb. for a old anvil. Found one just like the $80 anvil you pointed out.($500)

My choices are new $300 with shipping 88# acciaio that i could build mass under, a

Thanks

My advise I always give for beginners looking for anvils is to forget about the London pattern shape. Focus on just the big chunk of steel at the heart of all proper anvils and you’ll find you’ll be tripping over tons of anvils. Tons can be done on just a simple block. And they don’t need to be huge. Especially as a block you’ve gotta consider that without a horn heel or feet a much lighter block will function similarly to a much heavier London pattern. And lastly the anvil face only has to be a bit bigger than your hammer face, don’t think a dinner table anvil will be better, it’s not, it’s a pain in the ass and gets in the way. In my opinion around 3-4 inches wide is ideal for most work without a striker.

That's another great video, thanks very much. A couple of questions if I can? Firstly why is it that few anvils are designed with a method of securely fastening them down to a base? They all need to be secured, yet seem to rely on the user coming up with some bodgy way to keep the thing from going mobile. I wondered if there was some specific reason. There's generally not even some flat or other feature cast in to make it easier. The other question is, would hard facing an anvil edge affect the hardness of the surrounding parent material? I'm very interested in seeing any anvil repairs you do. If you're interested, this is what we pay down in Australia for anvils. www.magnetics.net.au/product-category/blacksmith-welding/anvil/ ie an anvil your size would be circa 800 GBP. Used are generally no cheaper, with people asking at least that or more for something that is little more than an antique boat anchor. Meanwhile there are "collectors" who buy them just to boast how many they have. It's a shame for people like myself just starting out, but that's life.

Where can i find one because i want to buy one

In Australia that anvil would be 1500 even in that condition. 3500 in good condition

Quad State. My goal is to get one at Quad State!

Heavy Railroad track can be up to 0.8 points carbon and high manganese. That is some seriously tough steel.

Nice video Dan. How would you repair the sight edge damage on your main anvil? I have similar damage on my only anvil, 51 kg Brooks

330 lbs anvil for under 200 dollars that would be awesome. Can't find them for that price around here.

Your kohlswa anvil is a newer cast steel type; which is pretty much the same as the söderfors anvils; cast steel; quenched by a metered water column; => this means; wheel the mold with the fresh cast anvil inside in the parking lot and dump X cubic meter of water via a garden hose on it once the top is broken out of the mold. The X is determined by the weight of the anvil. Once the water has been converted to a nice cloud of steam; the residual heat of the body "tempers" the face. At Söderfors they take a grinder on it quickly to see the temper colours run. Kohlswa tend to be simple high quality medium carbon steel like C55 (same as most bahco/sandvik woodworking tools...really great quality steel)., resulting in a HRC 55 to 57 face; gradually softer body & feet. . Söderfors tend to be harder by using on average C75 steel, resulting in a HRC 60-ish face. Your asymmetrical line on the anvil is in fact where the mold broke open ... the part below will have been "protected" from the cold water; while the part on top will have hardened. If it was a milling line, it would have been completly straight. Great anvils that will last for generations; even in daily use.

I didn’t know one could choose their first anvil. Seems like usually you get what you can find. Good content though

First!!!! Hey Dan!

I think UK pricing is a bit different then Canada and US. If someone wanted $100 for that swayed anvil (USD) I would have paid out immediately - its more natural selling price is CAN / US is 800. A 640 lbs massive anvil sold recently for 14000 USD (nice condition used).

why not heat up the angle iron and let it take the shape of the angle of your anvil?it would fit tight and right against the anvil the whole way?

Biggest anvil I can get is a 50kg one because of the trolley it gets stored in when not in use 😅

Daniel Moss, sirSir reckon if your top face of anvil was fork truck tine 8" wide by 3 in thick or 200mm x 75 mm would that be sufficient or would it need to be hard faced or topped w a 100% welded on took steel facing?

I recently bought a pristine 280kg Wilkinson anvil for £250

Wax or paste on the threads will help sink them. Just in case you have to do it again.

Wow, anvils are cheap in the UK. Here in Australia, a 100lb anvil can easily go for $1000. For a 300-400lb anvil you could be looking at between $2,000 and $3,000 easily (used). I consider myself lucky to have got my little 82lb Peter Wright anvil for $250.

If your anvil is moving around when you hit it and you have to bolt it down. Wouldn't that mean you need a heavier anvil?

Would say minimum weight 70 lbs ,dents and dings can be welded and ground out and any usable shape should do for your individual needs

Good advice, Dan. Did you watch the vids I linked on my comment on your last video on the anvil rebuilding project? If so, what did you think?

In my neck of the woods, anvils are overpriced, very scarce, and often beat to snot. The anvil chooses you, you don't choose the anvil. Even pieces of train track are hard to come by. People get creative and even reperpose old, damaged welding tanks (filled with sand or concrete, use 18 wheeler break drums or use ASO from Harbor Freight. Our steel recycler stopped selling to the public - the tweekers even steal old copper phone lines (that are still servicing houses/businesses).

I'm looking for an anvil can somebody tell me where can I find one near to sterling Co.?

You know man , in a couple of vids you released about John switzer I made a couple of rebuttals pertaining to if he's an master blacksmith or nhee, I wanted to not like you dude I really did idk why but the more I watch your vids you really I feel like are trying to help people and not just get one over on them to get views , i think you may be the real deal man and for that I tip my hat brother , keep on keepin on and sorry for weird comment but kinda had to

whats Cheesium

PS make sure it has a solid mount wobby anvils are a sin lol

Yea I have no Anvil 😢

Anvils $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ + $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. The ring is just a thing. No bling to the ring.

Ah! You poor brits don’t have many fishers! They gave cast iron anvils a good name over here. Not /ALL/ cast iron anvils are trash. In the states there were a few anvil manufacturers that made absolutely usable anvils, only thing dead about them is their lack of ring. Also, as far as I’ve heard, in the states at least, railroad track is a 1070 ish steel with extra manganese for weather resistance.

85+ kg is a massive anvil