My anvil, weighs 100lbs. Made locally in the small town were I grew up and belonged to my grandfather once. Don't know how old it is but probably atleast 50 years old.
GUYS WAIT!!!! Are these anvils 1965 or older? I'm so scared right now that some of them might be newer than 1965. I'm going to need to see some ID's over here. Am I being detained? Am I free to go?
I take it that he's trying to be funny, but there's an old proverb that I think may be appropriate here: "Everybody loves a little ass, but nobody likes a smart ass".
I know its not a anvil..but it has one built into it..sort of. I found this little unit sometime back in a drawer of a old work bench that came out of a old barn that got torn down. I managed to get it freed up and working again , it is missing the thumb screw that was used to clamp it down. Not sure of the make or age of it . I have some other ones similar but not as old. Sent from my SM-T387V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I've never had a dedicated anvil, always used the one on the back of my vise, but a couple years ago a friend brought me a section of narrow gauge railroad track. I mounted in my old power hacksaw, put on a fresh blade, and turned it loose. Forty-five minutes later we had two sections, each about a foot long, which have made nice little anvils. I'd post a picture but mine is still in storage somewhere.
My anvil would make a blacksmith cry! I got it in this condition but I still use it often as is. Oddly the horn and the tail ring a little bit when you hit them. My son made two log stumps for me. I purchased some huge nails at the lumber store and nailed my anvil to the stump. I found the 24 inch tall stump very comfortable to work on. So much so that I took the extra stump and mounted a 5" Prentiss Vise on it. A lot of times it is really handy to have a vise on a 24 inch stump. Here is the vise on a stump.
The ones with depressions in the bottom were a favorite for a once popular activity; Anvil shooting! One anvil was buried in the ground, inverted, up to about the feet, gunpowder was poured into the depression, a fuse inserted, and covered by playing cards. Another anvil was then placed on top of the buried one, feet to feet. Light the fuse and watch the fun! Prizes were presumably awarded to the highest or loudest bang. The unpredictability of where the anvil might come down possibly led to the cessation of the sport.
Hey great forum I just discovered it a couple days ago . I don’t have an anvil but a short piece of I- beam
Here’s mine Hay Budden 1895 Here’s a list of serial numbers corresponding to manufacturing dates for the Hay Buddens
Here's two that I have. The large one came from the trunk of a scrap car that came to wreckers I worked at. The small one came over with my Father, a cabinet maker, when he came over from Germany. The stand under the large anvil was an old router case. The hammer holders are discarded bearing races.
I’ve two. I’ll get pics up later. But 15-20 years ago me and pops would go to the farm auctions, any anvil that rang went for 2-2.50 a pound. Probably more now. We shaped a lot of stuff on them, handy as heck when needed. I too have a few pieces of RR track, but don’t use it often
I scored another anvil yesterday, someone painted it grey so I'm going to have to strip the paint off to see it there is a manufacture name or date. HRP
The price was right, I couldn't pass it up. I was surprised to see the mounting holes, right now I have too many irons in the fire so I haven't started cleaning it up yet. HRP
In general, metal forming on an anvil is done when the work piece is red hot & soft. If you are forming a red hot piece of metal the paint will eventually burn or catch fire. I wouldn't paint the top or the horn. I don't think I have ever seen a painted anvil now that I think about it.
I just looked at "iforgeiron.com" and I guess some guys do consider it OK to paint them. I stand corrected!! but I vote for the de-rust and oil look!
You guys probably already know this. The rail road ones are work hardened from the wheels on the rail cars. If you decide, like I did to clean yours up real nice and flat on a horizontal mill and make it look real good, your cutting all the work hardened steel off. Ask me how I know
I was helping my neighbor finish up cleaning out her garage, she is selling the house where she was born & raised and she ask me if I wanted a piece of rail road track her dad used to hammer on, I looked around and didn't see anything, she told me it was outside behind the garage. I took a photo, but since I walked to her house I was wasn't going to pick it up and carry it down the street, looks like I have a railroad anvil to add to the collection. HRP
I have two factory made anvils, a couple of farm made ones, some railway rails, some vises of various sizes with anvils. They all get pounded on.
Now you guys are causing me to have anvil envy. I have one in my garage, but it belongs to the neighbor. He lets me use it for repairing it... And I made the base out of 4x4 scraps from his wood shed. So win-win, I get an anvil to use, he has a neighbor who repairs stuff for him in a heated garage during the winter.
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