Can I use my cast iron anvil for blacksmthing?

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Hi Guys,
i have a small 50 dollar anvil and goy it from grizzly or harbor freight. Will it shatter and is it safe to be using it until I get a decent 100. -550 lbs.
thanks,
any help would be greatly appreciated because I am a total beginner and been reading and researching as much as I can want to get a small list together of the basic minimums that I need I already have my propane gas tank so that's the start
thanks
Jon
 
Surprisingly cast iron anvils have been around a long time. I ended up with my grandfathers anvil, about 80 pounds, couldn't figure why it had no ring. Did some research and cast iron ones don't ring of course.

Greg
 
The simple answer is yes!

These anvils seem to last quite a while and do better job of rebounding the hammers energy than just a piece of steel on the ground. With all this said you will be QUITE impressed when you do find a good anvil; happy anviling!
 
buggyman said:
The simple answer is yes!

These anvils seem to last quite a while and do better job of rebounding the hammers energy than just a piece of steel on the ground. With all this said you will be QUITE impressed when you do find a good anvil; happy anviling!
Click to expand...
Hi,
this is a cheap big box store anvil that files easily and scratches and dents on face easily.will this not crack when using a bigger 2.5 lb hammer. I was only using a regular hammer.

Jon
 
It's a shame that they don't seem to still do it, but maybe 5 years ago (maybe longer, I can't remember for sure) they used to import a cast steel version with a flame hardened surface for about $10 more than the cast iron version.
 
Well for 50 bucks I say just see what happens. If it dings have a welding shop braze on a piece of hard steel.
Good luck finding a larger anvil, I guess people collect them... Might be hard to find.
 
Non ringing anvils made for professional use have been around for a long time. They usually have a 3/4" thick tool steel top welded onto them. I had one many years ago,which was in perfectly fine shape. Thinking it was no good,I sold it,unfortubately. Later on,I learned about non ringing anvils.

A cast iron anvil will NOT last too long. The top will soon get compressed,messing up the structure of the cast iron.And then chunks of the fractured cast iron will begin to fall off. Sure,it will last a while,depending upon how hard you hammer on it. You really need a real anvil,or at least a piece of railroad rail.

I now have a solid tool steel anvil. It will ring like crazy. You don't want the anvil to ring as it will make you deaf!! I chained my anvil down TIGHT to the stump it sets on. Some other anvils require different deadening methods,like tightly wrapping an innertube around their waists. Go to a blacksmithing forum to find out more ways.

By the way: The value of an anvil is determined by how high a ball bearing ball will bounce when dropped on it. Cast iron is not going to give as good a bounce as a proper steel top anvil.
 
The top face of gramp's cast iron anvil has had some nickel weld added at some time to flatten it out, but its still in pretty good shape.
A friend knew I wanted to set up a black smith shop and I was looking for a better anvil. He tracked this gem down for me.
IMG_0822.jpg

Its a Hay Budden made in Brooklyn , pretty much silent, but has a great bounce. I offered him a dollar a pound for it, he thought it was about 250 pounds so all was well. After checking I guess I unknowingly stole it. Can't find this one in they're old catalogue but by the hardy hole size its at least 300 pounds.
Greg

IMG_0822.jpg
 
I use large rail road rails, they are easy to form and cheap to find....Tim
 
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