New anvil ?? (scratch the 50# anvil?)

[imskippy]

Is a 50# anvil any good for basic forging of small blades and cable damascus or is it just a waste of money? Thanks Skippy

[kbaknife]

Forging cable damascus is going to require some pretty heavy hammering/pounding.
Do everything you can to acquire the largest anvil you can get your hands on.
I would say the minimum weight for any serious knife making would be in the 150 range.

[imskippy]

Thanks Karl. I figured the answer was going to be get the biggest and best you can. I don't want to waste money either. I just was curious cause I haven't found any local yet but I'm hoping my dad will stumble on one next time he hits the flea markets in NY. Skippy

[imskippy]

ALright. I've been scouring craigslist and the bay to little luck for anything large enough that
I can afford. If I were to find say an 80 or 100# anvil would it help at all to mount it to say 100# of weight for a base? I'm thinking a stack of 25# steel plates from a weight set welded together or something similar? Just trying to find something that will work for me that I can afford so I can get to learning how to forge. Thanks Skippy

[Jeremy]

Check out the replies and links in this thread

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=110;t=001595

Just going by mass alone isn't the best way to judge an anvil, it's where the mass is.  Some non-tradtional (and cheap) anvils perform every bit as well as a heavy anvil.  For forging damascus or heavy stock reduction you'll want something beefy, but for general blade work... my anvil is around 75#

[Jack Denbow]

Check out yard sales and flea markets. I went to get a 50 lb. at a yard sale and when I pulled up this monster was sitting in a wheel barrow. The guy said he thought it was closer to 75 lb. I paid the guy the $50.00 and loaded that baby up and left in a hurry. It had stamped on the side 133 lb. Sometimes you can find them in an antique shops also.
Jack

[Ray Hammond]

Did it actually say LB on the side...or 133.

A great many of these are english and that's not LBS...If its an old english anvil and it says 133 I'd bet its even heavier than that, Jack.

Nice find. Looking for one that big myself.

[imskippy]

Jack, Thats what I hope to stumble on but so far everyone that I have seen is either really beat up and over priced or just way out of my price range.

Ray is refering to the english hundred weight system. I looked on anvilfire.com in the FAQ section. If 133 is indeed what it says then its 199#'s

[mwmwmb]

what would be this unit of measure, Stones? or something else.

[robtattoo]

The english weight system for anvils is in:-

Hundredweight (CWT) (112#)
Quarters (28#)
Pounds.

Therefore, if it's stamped 133, that equates to 1 CWT, 3 quarters & 3 pounds

112 + 84 + 3 = 199# total weight.

Unless it actually says 113lb or 113pds on the side, it'll use the old CWT/Quarter/pound system & weigh 199 pounds.

Just to really confuse you, in England we don't use the '#' pound symbol. We use the suffix 'lb'

Oh, and 1 stone = 14lb    :D  

Don't ask me what a kilo is though. Bloody Euro-weighs make NO sense!  

[mwmwmb]

Thanks Rob.

[Butts]

Thanks Rob?? Now I am more confused!