[TheForge] How bad are the HF cast anvils?

[Steve Smith]

Just remember the BAM (blacksmiths assoc. of Missouri) lesson. A group of them
was going to hammer weld a new face on an anvil, but by the time they were into
the second (second?) beer, what was left of the top of the anvil melted away!
Watch your fire, coal gets really hot.

Steve Smith

Ken Showalter wrote:

> I have both the 110lb and 55lb same as HF advertises but from a local dealer
> in DE. The 55lb has a carbon steel face and the 110lb appears to be solid
> steel. They both have a nice ring and bounce to them , but as others have
> noticed in the  past they also have soft faces and ding easily. I plan to
> try and temper the faces using  a recipe from Alexander Weygers: The
> complete Modern Blacksmith ; Chpt 25: "How to make a small anvil from a
> railroad tie" where he shows how to temper an anvil in a coal forge fire
> using fire bricks and cast iron pipe, a tricky 10 step process that draws
> the entie face to a straw color before quenching. Looks like I would need a
> lot of help , may get BGOP to help me.
>      I tried to make an anvil out of a railroad tie but after using up abot
> $30-40 worth of gas with my cutting torch and still more to cut  I bought
> the 55lb anvil for $49  and just recently got the 110lb($62 with a small
> edge chip) for heavier work. They'll do the job for us partimers and
> tempered they may turn out to be a real bargain. HF does sell a 55lb cast
> iron version and it is a dud or a doorstop whichever you prefer.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Adam Whiteson" <adam@whiteson.org>
> To: <theforge@mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Friday, December 28, 2001 10:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] How bad are the HF cast anvils?
>
> > I would bet $$ that "cast steel" in this case is really just cast iron and
> > cast iron is not a great material for an anvil.  Someone in this list did
> > say, (this is a while back),  that he bought a bunch as student anvils for
> > a class he ran and that they did the job.  I guess it's surely better than
> > no anvil at all.  But they still cost $100 and that is too much to spend
> on
> > something that's really just a stopgap.
> >
> > Adam
> >
> >
> >
> > At 09:28 AM 12/28/2001 -0600, you wrote:
> > > From another list I've seen a request for information on the Harbor
> Freight
> > >110lb anvil.
> > >
> > >http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=46707
> > >
> > >They say its "cast steel."  Anyone ever seen one of these beasties?
> Their
> > >products are generally, uhm... "less than desirable", but you can still
> > >find some good deals.
> > >
> > >I know their cast iron anvils aren't any good, but I hadn't seen the
> "cast
> > >steel" before.  At 1/4 of the price of a Czech anvil, its starting to
> look
> > >good, if it isn't just a boat anchor.
> > >
> > >Thanks
> > >
> > >Michael
> > >
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