Is this forge and anvil worth saving?

[Srgt. Hulka]

My Father in Law, who was a farmer all his life, passed away a couple years ago, and we are still, slowly, going through his stuff. My Mother in Law told me to go through his shop and see if there’s anything that I’d like out of it. Most of the tools have been since stolen, by a POS that was one of his helpers, but there is a couple things I’m thinking of keeping and trying to save, his forge and anvil. This thing is probably older than I am, and he used it when he was younger. It was probably his father’s and maybe even his grandfather’s. He even had a blacksmith shop, that has long since deteriorated and collapsed.
What do y’all think, is it worth trying to refurbish and get back in working order?

 

[SONIC SAAMI]

Save it
keep it
refurbish it
Yes,Yes and Yes

 

[Blutroop]

Nah you don’t want to put any money into that boat anchor of a anvil. Send me a address to have a delivery crew show up and get that out of your way.

Seriously though no reason not to unless it’s just not your thing. That’s a hand crank? Charcoal forge. Your either gonna be arm wrestling champ of your ao or never do anything with it.
They would look good in a shop though.

 

[HiDesertELR]

You could tie that anvil around the POS who stole the tools and...

Nevermind. That would be a waste of a good anvil.

 

[WDN-K-9]

See if you can find any forge markings on the anvil. It looks good and if it is a true forge and not a cast anvil it can be easily be resurfaced and the edges cleaned up.

The fire forge, maybe....depends on parts that are still there. Even if the blower can’t be rebuilt, the pan and chute could still be made to function. Coke fire and a small electric blower.

You are welcome to PM me and I can help you figure out some things or ask at the college. I sit on the professional advisory board for the College of the Building Arts iron shop and I was taught by Richard Guthery. I’m a little more traditional and lean more towards traditional pieces like old school shutter dogs, drive hooks, forge welds, etc, heck even nails. I have lots of things and know where to find some good stuff here and there if you are thinking about blacksmithing.

 

[BLEE]

Man, those are awesome! They definitely have value. American made anvils are very expensive. Both the anvil and forge can be refurbished and used. Try your hand at making yourself some custom knives.

 

[Downtown]

It's suprising how many little jobs a person can find if they've a small forge handy. Just being able to heat a small piece up for a bend is very convenient. And a anvil pretty much lasts forever. Keep them.

 

[WDN-K-9]

Man, those are awesome! They definitely have value. American made anvils are very expensive. Both the anvil and forge can be refurbished and used. Try your hand at making yourself some custom knives.

That’s very true. People wouldn’t believe the movie companies that are going around just snatching up old anvils for sets and scenes.

 

[Porksboy]

I have my grand fathers old anvil. Got it from my dad. The way it goes is when you are too old to lift it, It goes to the next geneation.
I want to build a forge and get into smithing. I already do a lot of alealing, heat treating and tempering and have made some knives. Want to do more and would like to try my hand at damascus steel.
Ive been looking for an old pan forge with blower, Ill probably end up making one.

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

Nah you don’t want to put any money into that boat anchor of a anvil. Send me a address to have a delivery crew show up and get that out of your way.

Seriously though no reason not to unless it’s just not your thing. That’s a hand crank? Charcoal forge. Your either gonna be arm wrestling champ of your ao or never do anything with it.
They would look good in a shop though.

It is a hand crank forge. I’ve used one a few times before. It’s not something that would be a hobby, but I may get it out occasionally and play with it. I told my MIL to save it for me.

See if you can find any forge markings on the anvil. It looks good and if it is a true forge and not a cast anvil it can be easily be resurfaced and the edges cleaned up.

The fire forge, maybe....depends on parts that are still there. Even if the blower can’t be rebuilt, the pan and chute could still be made to function. Coke fire and a small electric blower.

You are welcome to PM me and I can help you figure out some things or ask at the college. I sit on the professional advisory board for the College of the Building Arts iron shop and I was taught by Richard Guthery. I’m a little more traditional and lean more towards traditional pieces like old school shutter dogs, drive hooks, forge welds, etc, heck even nails. I have lots of things and know where to find some good stuff here and there if you are thinking about blacksmithing.

Oh wow, thank you WDN. It’ll probably be a couple years before I do anything with it, probably after I retire. I will look for makings on the anvil before I head home. If I can find something, I’ll post it here.

 

[308Gunner]

Fir sure keep both, anvils are going for a dollar a pound for old ones. I would look at getting it cleaned up and I would bet that the face is still good

 

[pmclaine]

But what's in the ammo can?

 

[S197]

Save it, there are some boxes in there also that I would keep. Anything metal should be saved for the forge. I’m sure your wife would like something made from her fathers old tools.

 

[Slash0311]

Keep it.

Ive done Woodworking all my life. Knives have always been in the back of my mind. Ive looked up anvils and stuff but the initial investment has kept me from it... For now.

Everyone has to start somewhere. I probably have $20-30K in my wood shop. I certainly didn't get here over night. Those could be good enough to start and possibly build on.

Good luck!

 

[Aries256]

Yep, I’d keep it

 

[BullGear]

Keep it. You'll never get it back if you ever wanted it again. Family things need to be kept in the family. You may ne3ver use it, but if one of your family members ever wanted it, you'd have it.

Don't sell family things, you will regret it.

 

[Maggot]

Man, those are awesome! They definitely have value. American made anvils are very expensive. Both the anvil and forge can be refurbished and used. Try your hand at making yourself some custom knives.

Yep, from back in the day when American steel was the best...except maybe for a bit of small batch Damascus for blades.

 

[MK20]

The forge looks serviceable as is. put some heavy weight oil in the gear box (or John Deere Corn Head grease) and it should work fine. The anvil can be built back up in worn areas with the correct type of Stoody rod

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

Worth a bit of time, if you are so inclined.
You can reblood it to the Old Gods, by smashing that thief's hands on it, with a bull peen hammer.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

My Father in Law, who was a farmer all his life, passed away a couple years ago, and we are still, slowly, going through his stuff. My Mother in Law told me to go through his shop and see if there’s anything that I’d like out of it. Most of the tools have been since stolen, by a POS that was one of his helpers, but there is a couple things I’m thinking of keeping and trying to save, his forge and anvil. This thing is probably older than I am, and he used it when he was younger. It was probably his father’s and maybe even his grandfather’s. He even had a blacksmith shop, that has long since deteriorated and collapsed.
What do y’all think, is it worth trying to refurbish and get back in working order?

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It dont take me many hours to get to Shreveport. I'm on my way.

 

[BLEE]

It dont take me many hours to get to Shreveport. I'm on my way.

I'm in Shreveport, already! Are you close, or in NC?

 

[Vodak]

Both worth saving. Even if you're not interested in having them for yourself, sell them off or give them to someone who wants to put them back to use.
If you're going to try to repair the anvil do a fair bit of reading on it first. You can do more damage than you're fixing by improperly welding the corners back up. It's also still got enough square edges to work with as is. You can grind a bit of a radius from the horn back to where it's still sharp at the heel where the keys are sitting in pic 3. That will both prevent the edge chipping further, and prevent "cold shuts" where metal folds over the steps left in the work by the sharp edges. The other side's pretty beat, but you could either smooth those chips out and use it as is for drawing metal out or build up and hard face if you want sharper corners all the way around. Personally I'd just smooth out it a little bit with an angle grinder and flap disks and use it like it is.

 

[Maxduty]

Sell that anvil off and buy one if you want it. That thing is a pile. No cost effective amount of resurfaceing will fix that thing. I'd pour some coke into the forge to see if it's worth salvaging too before i made any decisions.

 

[CSGambill]

That anvil needs some serious help. The mounting holes are a nice touch. I'll check out my copy of Anvils in America and see if I can find who made it. Good luck with the restoration.

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

But what's in the ammo can?

LOL, I don’t know. I haven’t been able to open it yet. It’s STUCK. I’ll find out tomorrow.

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

I'm in Shreveport, already! Are you close, or in NC?

Im in Shreveport too, but the forge and anvil are in Richland Parish.

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

See if you can find any forge markings on the anvil. It looks good and if it is a true forge and not a cast anvil it can be easily be resurfaced and the edges cleaned up.

Here are the marking I could find on the anvil. If there’s anything else, it’s covered with rust. Maybe a good wire brushing will reveal more.

 

[Vodak]

Fishers are cast body's with a tool steel face. You can see the seam pretty clearly in the picture of the heal. They're supposed to be very quiet compared to other anvils. Other than working around the chipping I think that thing will be very serviceable for hobby work.

 

[Maxduty]

you can see the weld around the tool surface. Feel free to cut it off, but good luck with the cost of having that resurfaced. If you're handy with a welder, with the the nickle rods that'll be needed, you can weld a new one on.

 

[WDN-K-9]

Fisher is a good anvil. Forged face cast body, just as others have mentioned. Clean it up and use it. You can still do a lot with that anvil. Horn looks good and the step is still in good shape so it should be suitable for any off sets and bending on small scale where you need a good sharp bend. I would use it and learn, then keep it as a spare and upgrade. Make sure the face welds is still good and make sure it has good rebound. Do you have any hammers?

 

[BullGear]

Sometimes it's not about whether or not the product is useful or can be rebuilt. The value is in the fact it's from a family member. Sometimes it's worth saving for that alone. Wouldn't it be nice to set up a replica of that man's shop? If you can't do that, just put it up so that maybe another generation may take on that task. I'd love to have something from my grandfather or even great grandfather.

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

Thanks for all the replies and help guys. I’m going to wire brush I, clean it up and oil it, first and put it in the corner of the shop. Use it as needed. If the time comes it needs to be rebuilt, I’ll look into getting that done. It’s certainly nothing I could do without causing further damage to the anvil.

Sometimes it's not about whether or not the product is useful or can be rebuilt. The value is in the fact it's from a family member. Sometimes it's worth saving for that alone. Wouldn't it be nice to set up a replica of that man's shop? If you can't do that, just put it up so that maybe another generation may take on that task. I'd love to have something from my grandfather or even great grandfather.

This right here. You’re exactly right.

 

[CSGambill]

 

[acudaowner]

yea for making something old work again .....

 

[Lapuapalooza]

I have my great grandfather’s flywheel bench grinder and spring powered drill press. They are not worth restoring, but too valuable to throw away.

 

[BullGear]

I have my great grandfather’s flywheel bench grinder and spring powered drill press. They are not worth restoring, but too valuable to throw away.

Glad you kept it and didn't scrap it.

 

[Lapuapalooza]

I have every intention of getting them up and running. Along with a few other 100 year old pieces.