Burned $200 on a cheap anvil from a flea market in Nashville

I picked up this beat up anvil for $200 thinking it was a steal, but after two weeks the face started chipping off and I found out it was cast iron with a thin steel plate welded on. Turns out the ring test and ball bearing test are real, I just ignored them because I was in a hurry. Anyone here ever gotten burned on fake anvils or old beaters that looked better than they were?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_bell11d ago

That $200 lesson is rough but common as hell with flea market anvils. The real kicker nobody talks about is that even some old Peter Wrights and Hay-Buddens have been welded back together after cracking straight through the body. I've seen guys brag about their "vintage score" only to have the heel snap off on the third heat. The ring test is your first line of defense, but you gotta check the whole thing for repair welds too, especially around the waist and base. Cast iron filler rods make a sound close to real steel if you're not paying attention. Next time bring a decent file and scratch the hell out of the face before you hand over cash. If it files off like butter instead of skidding across, walk away.

elliot_roberts11d ago

I'll push back a bit here because my first anvil was a beat up cast iron flea market special that cost me $80, not $200, and that thing has held up for 5 years now even with a steel plate welded on. The face chips a little but I just grind it smooth and keep going, works fine for light forging and farrier work where you're not swinging a 4 pound sledge all day. A lot of guys on here act like anything less than a perfect Peter Wright is garbage, but half the time they're just repeating what they read on Iforgeiron without ever actually beating hot metal on one of those "fake" anvils. If you paid $200 and got a solid hunk of iron that takes a beating without cracking through the base, you might've overpaid but you didn't get burned.