Recommendation? Saw makers Anvil

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Way-Barney

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Jun 4, 2023
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773
Good afternoon guys,

Are saw makers anvils any good for forging? what would be a value for 8x10 surface 1ft high. condition is good to excellent with super corners.
 
Sawyers anvils are fine for forging. It's no different than any other anvil excepting that sawyers don't/didn't need horns/bicks to turn scrolls or taper stock, heels or hardy tools, etc. so their anvils don't have any of those features.

As far as price, that size piece of steel is ~ 270#, so the 2 questions that you need to answer are: how much would it cost you to purchase a 270# block of steel and then heat treat it? How much is it worth to you to have someone else do it?
 
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As someone who really only forges knives I prefer a sawyer anvil or block anvil. Here in the US atlas knife and tool makes a really useful 66lb block anvil and some of their larger anvils are similar in weight distribution to a sawyer anvil. My dream anvil is a 200+lb holland anvils sawyer. For knife forging more mass under the work is really nice, you can learn to effectively forge without a horn or heel (in my opinion in most cases more effectively) you also don’t have those bits sticking out of the anvil ready to run into so can be a bit safer/takes less space. The larger face surface is really nice for flattening parts and gives a better reference surface for checking straightness outside of just forging, my current anvil has a decent size face and I keep it very flat so when I’m straightening blades with a carbide hammer after hardening I can use it as a accurate reference surface opposed to moving my surface block across the shop. I don’t know what typical anvil prices are going for by you but hardening an anvil can be a huge undertaking, personally I’d prefer just paying for a hardened anvil opposed to getting a block of material and hardening it myself unless the block was practically free.
 
Also to follow up from what I’ve seen in the US for reasonable prices if the condition is really good I’d expect a similar anvil here to be between $1000-$1500
 
If you look up Sea Robin Anvils or check the USAKnifemaker "Black Robin", you will see a couple things of interest. First is that the two anvils are designed square, but go beyond that by adding mass below the face. Nice for knifemakers. That's why saw makers anvils are popular.
At USAKM, you'll also see the little Atlas knifemaker anvil. With three edges, I think I like the idea of that Hardy hole on the fourth edge. That'd allow you to insert dies to mimic the lost functions of no horn or bick.
The important thing is decent rebound (carry a ball bearing to test it if you go to look), a flat face, and "recoverable" corners and edges. Some old anvils can be re-faced with a carbide mill and have the edges radiused and they are essentially brand new but with all that juju of past use.
Good hunting!
 
Thanks for the heads up guys,

I did not know they were well thought of, I had been thinking they were a "make do" kind of set up. The one I am looking at is mint, its been carefully covered at the end of the shift each day with an oiled cloth. Really looked after, there is a bigger one as well 12x10x17.
as usual, thanks for your valued opinions and advice.
 
Great for forging. Would be nice to have a hole for tooling
QfIMlwT.jpeg
 
HSC /// said:
Great for forging. Would be nice to have a hole for tooling
QfIMlwT.jpeg
Click to expand...
Oh yes, that's the baby!
I will have another anvil for the tooling.
It's so inspiring to see where your masterpieces are created.
Lovin that base also, nothing to snag or trip up over, I was going to make a square base but that looks sooooo.... much better.
I like the home made dog's head as well,
I just love the whole lot!
 
Way-Barney said:
Oh yes, that's the baby!
I will have another anvil for the tooling.
It's so inspiring to see where your masterpieces are created.
Lovin that base also, nothing to snag or trip up over, I was going to make a square base but that looks sooooo.... much better.
I like the home made dog's head as well,
I just love the whole lot!
Click to expand...
The hammer is from forged ironmongery in the UK
 
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