The Armour Archive

Hey folks, this one I've got to share. A company that is owned by grainger sells two of the peddinghaus anvils, now owned by ridgid. Their price on them is competitive with everywhere that I am aware of on the net.

Today only they are doing a 30% off sale, and the anvils are shown as being free shipping. I called the company to confirm they are offering free shipping on a freakin anvil, and they confirmed that yes they are. This means you can get the $1,800 Peddinghaus #12 anvil for $1,260 and free shipping.

I just ordered mine, as I've long coveted either a big peddinghaus or a mid-sized refflinghaus anvil. Anyone in the same boat might want to do so as well. Sale is today only AFAIK.

http://www.zoro.com/ridgid-anvil-28-12- ... /G6217811/

http://www.zoro.com/ridgid-anvil-25-in- ... /G6194027/

*I have no affiliation with this company. I just have a spreadsheet of things I want to buy with websites that have the most competitive pricing for those items and an e-mail address that collects marketing for those companies so I time my purchases with advantageous sales. This one is unusually good so I decided to share it.

Wow... That's a HELL of a deal.

:in an awed voice:

They accept anvil orders to Alaska...

Ohdeargod....

Dam, anyone want to spot me a few grand?

A quick wander of the web shows me that anvils have become stupidly expensive.

If I had any way to justify this, I would get one.. but I don't use the anvils I have now enough to merit owning another one. I have always wanted one of the forged ones...

Must be good. Don't need another anvil....

Wade

wcallen wrote:A quick wander of the web shows me that anvils have become stupidly expensive.

If I had any way to justify this, I would get one.. but I don't use the anvils I have now enough to merit owning another one. I have always wanted one of the forged ones...

Must be good. Don't need another anvil....

Wade

If you are worried about space you can always keep it at my shop!


I'd love to have a Peddinghouse though I would prefer one with a continuous face on it and not the step down bick end. I have a Peter Wright for that.

Zoro is a good company to deal with, have always gotten good customer service from them.

Johann ColdIron wrote:

I'd love to have a Peddinghouse though I would prefer one with a continuous face on it and not the step down bick end. I have a Peter Wright for that.

Thats funny, I have a smaller "bulgar" anvil that has the face continuous with the horn and at least for armour work I've never made use of it. I'm looking forward to having a north german style specifically in the hope that I find uses for those 2 extra 90 degree corners...

Hopefully I don't hate it.... if so I guess I'll have to save up and get a refflinghaus after all!


And Wcallen, yeah, I bought my current anvil new something like 11 years ago now and paid a lot less than I'd pay for the exact same one now. At least in my part of the world, trying to find used anvils is just not particularly viable. They are either asking a ton of money where you might as well go new or the anvils are terribly abused with chunks missing or noticeable depressions in the face... etc. etc....

Wish I had the cash...........

I still live in the past.... ( I guess not unreasonable for people interested in armour).

125# Hay Budden - $75
150# Hay Budden - I think about $100.
New 160# Kolswa - I think it was about $400.
And I attended the Lynch sale.

So I can't complain.

Wade

515# mint "Blacker" Fisher $350
410# Trenton $200 (what I paid for what I traded for it)
165# HB $15 (what I paid for what I traded for it)
165# PW $100
134# HB $150
112# PW $150
91# Arm and Hammer $75 (what I paid for what I traded for it)

I won't count the 66# Sodefors I was given as I passed it on at the same price...
Now my 125# Powell was only $40 but is missing the heel---great face and ok horn though.
My 1828 William Foster was $5 but is severely damaged bought it to try a refacing on it someday---as well as making a knife from some 1828 steel!
My oilpatch bridge anvil I over paid at $250 though...

I lust after the big NIMBA but can't justify it as it would cost more than the rest of my stack put together!

WinterTreeCrafts wrote:

Johann ColdIron wrote:

I'd love to have a Peddinghouse though I would prefer one with a continuous face on it and not the step down bick end. I have a Peter Wright for that.

Thats funny, I have a smaller "bulgar" anvil that has the face continuous with the horn and at least for armour work I've never made use of it. I'm looking forward to having a north german style specifically in the hope that I find uses for those 2 extra 90 degree corners...

Hopefully I don't hate it.... if so I guess I'll have to save up and get a refflinghaus after all!

.

It might be a case of grass is greener on the other side. Just seems that work (especially hot) would balance better without the step there. The corners I use but I have a stake with sharp corners for when it matters.

Thomas Powers wrote:515# mint "Blacker" Fisher $350
410# Trenton $200 (what I paid for what I traded for it)
165# HB $15 (what I paid for what I traded for it)
165# PW $100
134# HB $150
112# PW $150
91# Arm and Hammer $75 (what I paid for what I traded for it)

I won't count the 66# Sodefors I was given as I passed it on at the same price...
Now my 125# Powell was only $40 but is missing the heel---great face and ok horn though.
My 1828 William Foster was $5 but is severely damaged bought it to try a refacing on it someday---as well as making a knife from some 1828 steel!
My oilpatch bridge anvil I over paid at $250 though...

I lust after the big NIMBA but can't justify it as it would cost more than the rest of my stack put together!

Must be nice. The last anvil I saw selling up here was a 75lb Vulcan in not very good condition, and it was selling for something like $350 or $400...

Ugh if only I had the cash. You can't find an anvil of any quality in the southwest for a decent price. Even beat up and broken anvils are going for like $500 or more. I am literally seeing better prices on ebay!

112# anvil in GREAT condition purchased in Albuquerque NM about 2 years ago for $150; the Sodefors 66# I was given was in Socorro NM. I believe these count as Southwest USA.

The secret is to stop looking in expensive places! (People who are net saavy and trying to make money selling an anvil will be asking high prices compared to folks who have one they would be willing to get rid of cheap. Only 1 of my list was purchased through the net, though 1 more was traded for.)

Note there are deals out there: Stake plate and a lot of nice stakes US$200 Albuquerque NM
https://albuquerque.craigslist.org/tls/5236023241.html

I am never looking in expensive places. They are just super super rare here, and always priced for the collector and not the metal smith. My partner is a meter reader and there is a house that has a DOZEN anvils out in the yard, just rusting away. The owner will not sell a single one because he once owned a comedy business called Acme and used anvils as his logo.

Prices overall have gotten plain stupid. There are a few "dealers" who snap up much of what becomes available, then jack the prices way up for resale. In the west, prices seem to be generally even worse. I think it's partly because there are just fewer anvils "per capita", and also because the CA-based "artist-blacksmith" boom of the last several years has driven the prices way up. Those people will pay prices for old tools that I wouldn't pay if I had Donald Trump's $$.

You can still get lucky, though. Just gotta be at the right place at the right time. I recently got a 150# Fisher in great condition for $200. I consider that to be a very good price in today's market. As WTC mentioned above, people are regularly asking $3 - $5/lb or more for anvils that have been horribly abused. Flea markets and estate sales are generally the best producers of affordable anvils.

I am keeping an eye out since they pop up occasionally but I am not confident I will find one any time soon. I am going to hit the scrap yard after we move and look for as big and heavy a solid piece of steel as I can find and bring a ball bearing with me. I'd be happy with just a square piece since I can always build stakes and holders and that kind of stuff. I do have a big post vise already because they seem a lot more common and way cheaper. Not as cool a collector item I guess.

Yes my local scrapyard had a bunch of 8"x8"x4" chunks for 20 cents a pound. I've been picking them up every now and then and tossing them to students for US$15 70 pounds IICC. The big stuff I can't move---they have a naval gun barrel in pieces where 1 piece weighs 40000 pounds

Thomas Powers wrote:they have a naval gun barrel in pieces where 1 piece weighs 40000 pounds

O_o

Local U does/did explosives research for the Government. I still remember when there was parts of a Mig in the bonepile at the U.

Tomas have you considered scrapping as a side busness?
I know the real job keeps you busy commuting Mexico.
But it seams you have decent luck finding pieces and know how to ship things in flat rate boxes.

So I ordered both the big peddinghaus anvil and a Miller 350p MIG welder on this 30% coupon, maxing out the $2,000 discount limit on the coupon for sure.... Zoro was listing the welder at ~$5k whereas most sites you could get it for about $4.2k. @ 30% off its 3.5k so I'm still ahead by a fair bit.

The welder just arrived today and my heart sank as the driver moved the pallet to the rear of the truck and we noticed a gigantic gash down the side of the box. Someone either dropped a crate on it and a corner caught or a fork tore it or something big and heavy. It went right through the box and scratched the hell out of the welder's case and took some paint off.

The driver suggested that I reject it and I agreed. After dropping $3.5k I'm not really willing to put up with any amount of damage, even if its just some scratches and paint on the welder's case.

But then I had an idea, and called up Zoro and told them that I'd like to return the welder *but* if they offer me a partial refund I'd keep it. We'd fill out a damage claim and the freight company who damaged it would compensate zoro.

I sent pictures, they got back to me saying it was only cosmetic and offered $300. I asked them to bump it up to $500 to cover my trouble to paint the case to keep it from rusting through in a decade and they offered $550.

So I am now the proud owner of a new scratch n' dent Miller 350P for less than $3,000. Can't complain too hard.





I am going to weld ALL of the things! (I hope this pulse function will be worth the upcharge from a 252....)

PS:

Lincoln Ac-225 Arc welder now for sale! $175 (w/ bunch of electrodes).

Or, free with the purchase of 2 bandsaws....