Down here in NZ, we don't have much selection... particularly anvils. I have an NC Short Sugar, which was about all I could get at the time, in the given time frame. It's OK for cold shoeing/plating etc. but most of my business is hot. It still gets the job done, but I just don't like it much. The only other anvils availaible were O'Dwyers (Mustad) 20 & 40kg and the 38kg Centurion, and the little blue devil anvil from Kerckhaert. I didn't like the blue devil, but they have brought out a new anvil which looks interesting and wondering if anyone has seen one or has an opinion of what they're like;
looks like a hybred between a stalljack and anvil............I like it; unlike my brother George I say if It works in your business; then buy it and try it.........and have a cup of coffee
It looks like it may have a flat horn instead of a round one. That might be an issue, if it does. Regards
I guess anvils are like farriers - we don't all work the same, so there is more than one style of anvil. Probably a personal choice of what you get use to and like. I have yet to see a flat horn on an anvil. I've seen oval shapes, round shapes, but not flat. No need for a flat horn if you got the flat table surface. I used a Future I with an oval shape for many years, but the problem was it was a right handed anvil and it was "different" trying to use it left handed. I now got a Future 3 because even though it is a right handed anvil, it turns around ok to work left handed.
Indeed John. George, Pretty hard to get a suitable antique anvil for the van here in NZ and you almost never see decent anvils on the NZ equivalent of Ebay. See current search http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Sea...Search_keypresses=0&generalSearch_suggested=0 But speaking of antique anvils, I just got offered a >200 pound shop anvil for free... I'm going up to a farm to shoe a couple of stock horses and the guy just wants the thing out of the way, been in the shed for 50 years he knows of, just sitting there. Hopefully it will be in reasonable nick/restorable.
I like the long beak on the Ebay one. The brands you mention just aren't available here and one off freight kills the idea of importing one Basically a choice between NC short sugar and the Mustad stuff... I used one of these for years. Nothing wrong with it just a bit soft. Or this one. Chris has one of these.... but just not in love with it or Kerckhaert one above.
Picked up the anvil today. No idea of the weight, But it is 13" high, face is 19" x 5", horn (including table) is 13". The face needs a bit of work, but should be able to sort it with a grinder in a couple of hours. Edges should be ok once I'm finished with the grinder.... ...all in all not bad for free.
I would recommend not doing anything with a grinder until you have worked on this anvil for at least 30 days. You then might decide that she's just fine the way she is and you haven't removed any of that precious tool steel face...
Good advice guys, thanks, but there is a 1/8" depression in the face. George yep the offside edge looks deliberately rounded, and the inside edge is in not too bad a nick mostly... it's just that dip in the middle of the face.
Anthony, you'll regret removing that tiny 1/8" depression. That dip is the sweet spot for straightening or leveling heavy stock. It's a plus not a minus on a large shop anvil. That is comming from someone who messed up an anvil with a grinder (I didn't need to use), my anvil was worse looking than yours but by grinding it perfectly flat it became a miserable anvil to work on and part of the face broke loose shortly after this dumbass "Fixed it".
Anthony, What Brian and George said about using it for a while first. If you do decide to violate the surface of your anvil, get a 7'' hard, cupped grinding wheel for an angle grinder. Take the sharp edge off the wheel on a piece of scrap, and grind with the wheel flat on the face, moving in a figure eight motion, with light pressure. Finish with a 36 grit soft disk. As to my anvil, I use a JHM 125 lb that has the cams in the heel. From a moral stance, I will not use the cams for shaping heels, but they have come in handy for pricheling holes around clips and various blacksmithing projects. My shop anvil is a 230 lb old beauty that needs some edges welded up, but seems to have worked fine for the last 15 years even though it's sitting 10 feet form the welding machine.
