Anvils and Punches

Today I decided to start hunting for a new anvil! The anvil that I have now is a William Foster that was made in 1829! The William Foster anvils were made in England and they have a wrought iron body with a steel plated forged welded on top. They are high quality anvils with nice rebound and ring to them. I believe the one I have weighs right around 100 lbs. I got my anvil from my grandfather; he collected all kinds of things. I got really lucky that I got the anvil. My uncles gave it to me before the estate sale for helping them get things ready. The reason why I am looking for another anvil is the steel plate that is welded on top of mine is in very rough shape. It has big chips missing out of the side of it and shows a lot of wear. It still has good rebound and ring to it, however I would like a smoother working surface.

So, this morning I drove down and visited an Amish family down the road. The father was home and we got talking. He showed me a anvil that weights around 200 lbs that belongs to his son. He was not sure if it is for sale or not. I could not tell who manufactured the anvil but it is in great shape. I plan on stopping by sometime this week to try buy it or trade a post vice towards it. I have 3 post vices that I have collected over the years so I won't miss one.

It was a nice day out so I decided to forge! I made a square punch out of a railroad spike and a round punch out of an old coil spring out of a car. My girl friend's father has been playing with some wood working tools so I decided to make a straight chisel (also out of coil spring) for his birthday. I had to try out my new square punch so I put a square hole in the chisel just for decoration. I will have pictures tomorrow of the tools I made today! What a busy day; I guess we will see what i get done tomorrow.  

Shain