That cheap anvil I got from a garage sale finally cracked on me

Picked up a 100-pound anvil at a flea market in Nashville for $40 about 6 months ago. Thought I scored a deal until it split right down the face last Tuesday while I was drawing out a 1-inch round bar. Chipped a piece off too, almost hit my boot. Anyone else run into those old cast iron anvils that look good but just don't hold up?

3 comments

3 Comments

harperg7628d ago

Yikes, that's a scary close call with that piece flying off. I actually read an article from a blacksmithing blog a while back that said those old cast iron anvils from the early 1900s are basically junk for heavy work. They look cool but the metal is too brittle, it's not like proper forged steel. A lot of them were made for farm use, not serious shop work. You're lucky it didn't hit you square in the foot, that could've been bad. I'd cut your losses and save up for a real steel anvil, even a beat up one from a railroad salvage place would be way safer.

the_viola28d ago

Hold up @harperg76, you're buying into blogger hype. Those old farm anvils have been holding up for a hundred years doing exactly what they were meant for, and that piece probably flew off because someone before you abused it, not because the whole thing's junk.

morgan_martinez27d ago

Feel for you man, that's a rough break literally and figuratively. I had a similar scare with an old anvil I found at an estate sale back in 2017, it looked perfect with a nice flat face but after a few heats it just started chipping off little bits. Took me a while to realize it was that cast iron junk everyone talks about, not the good stuff. Scary how fast it can happen too, one minute you're hammering away and the next there's a piece flying past your leg. Glad you're okay at least, that could've been way worse than it was. Now you know though, those old farm anvils are usually just boat anchors in disguise for any real forging work.