[TheForge] Results of smoking crack...

[Andrew Vida]

On 12/18/2011 9:47 AM, Ries Niemi wrote:
> I have never seen a yuppie anvil collector.

	I guess it depends on the precise definition one is using.  I attended
an auction in NE Pennsylvania about 15 years ago and all the stuff was
walking out the door for next to nothing.  The ONLY piece that brought
right money was the 2B Nazel.  Ron Bishop whipped out $10K cash and
hauled it away.  He knew what he wanted, came all the way from Michigan
to get it and was not screwing around a whit.

	Elliot, the smith whose auction it was, had two anvils in the 140-160
range.  Nothing to write home about, both being well worn.  I stopped
bidding at about $300 and those things shot up to $1350 and $1600.  The
two fellows bidding... well I won't say what their little war looked
like, but it was ugly and entertaining all at once and lets leave it at
that.  They were both yuppies judging by dress, demeanor, and the
glaring lack of any callouses on the hands.  I think they may have been
antique dealers.  I cannot imagine what they would have asked for those
things, but if they keyed the pricing... well I just cannot imagine
anyone willing to spend $3200 for a doorstop or something to put flowers on.

	To this day I regret not having snapped up the 1000T 4 post press that
waltzed out the door for $1100 but I got a 3RJ hardness tester for $125. :)

> But Yuppies? around here, we practically invented yuppies, and I have
> never seen one buying an anvil.
>
> A lot of the guys I see buying anvils at prices like these, the guys
> who buy new Nimbas, for example, which cost MORE than this, are guys
> who work full time, and want to buy a known, good anvil, as they have
> no time for scrounging- Union machinists, full time firefighters,
> Community College welding instructors, Boeing employees- I have
> personally talked to guys in all 4 categories who have spent money
> like this for an anvil.

I have no problem with paying right money for the right tools, 
particularly if it is related and essential to one's profession.  I've 
been openly opposed to the ill-advised penny-wise, dollar-foolish thrift 
so many smiths suffer from, but spending that kins of money on a used 
too, sight unseen and that as I recall appears to be cast... better to 
spend the $$ on a new one of known quality that stands a reasonable 
chance of being backed by the seller.
>
> Maybe its different in the midwest, but out here, the young kids
> scrounge, and the old guys are the ones with the FW's (fat wallets)

Tools like this are a LOT harder to find in WA than in, say, NJ.  But it 
seems just about every one, youg or old, scrounge there.  I think it's a 
Jersey thing. :)