[TheForge] Old Anvils

[Ben Barrett]

I bought a ~210# fisher about 5 years ago, through the local classified ads,
for $200 from a knife-maker, but that was an overly-reasonable deal from
what I've seen (and some edges and the tip of the horn were badly abused,
although the body of the anvil is great and has good rebound.  I haven't
seen anything under $2/pound, since, and more often $3-$5/pound, but just
want to make clear that the market value does not represent the unique
circumstances which may be found :)
There are a few anvil dealers around the country, whose listings I sometimes
see on craigslist (one in SFbay and one around Phila, IIRC) who seem to
regularly get top dollar for their resales.  I realize that a good anvil is
generally "worth it" although I sometimes see them in the hands of
collectors or even store-window displays going unused and mostly unloved,
which is frustrating.  Here is a site-specific google search which should
show you some blacksmithing anvils (and not the anvil roadie cases which
commonly come up when searching just "anvil")...
http://www.google.com/search?q=site:craigslist.org+anvil+-case+blacksmith

hope this helps,

Ben



On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 4:31 PM, <dann at wctatel.net> wrote:

> 20 or so years ago,  I bought a ferriers' anvil  (guessing that it
> probably weighed about 140 pounds) from an aging blacksmith. He was a
> friend who had mentored me. That anvil had been in the blacksmith shop
> when his grandfather had taken over, in 1925.    Last Fall,  I was
> visiting with the son of my blacksmith mentor.  When I told him that I had
> his grandfather's anvil, he was delighted at the chance to buy it back.
> He remembered his grandfather working on that anvil, and wanted to share
> those skills with his adult son and teenage grandson. So I did the "right
> thing" and sold it to him for the same $280 (estimated $2 a pound ) that I
> had paid his father, all those years ago.
>
> Tonight I had a call from a different fellow looking for a good used anvil.
> As I am down to my last good anvil, I don't have an extra to part with.
>
> Its been 3 years since I've seen a good anvil sell at auction, but the
> last one that I remember was a high school shop close out, and that 120
> pound anvil went nearly $500.  Anyone know what anvils are selling for
> today.   I haven't priced the new ones, & haven't been to one of the UMBA
> meets at Centaur Forge / Burlington, Wisconsin in nearly 8 years.
>
> Dann
>
>
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