What constitutes Hoarding? | Page 2 | Sorta Like Blacksmithing | Forum

OK, it's a different market, but in Leica cameras (almost no other brand) "collectors" have indeed altered the market, in weird ways. As in cameras Leica and their dealers couldn't sell new, so they go out of production, and then all worldwide inventory is sucked into collections overnight, and started trading for more than they did when new.

It doesn't appear that those sorts of behavoirs affect the market for blacksmith tools - a new anvil is quite costly, but you can buy new anvils of very high quality, and if you can swallow the cost and the shipping, they are available.

Larry, on the other hand, seems to be engaged in "market making" - as in "buy things that look interesting" and then "try to sell them for more than he paid".

I personally am not a hoarder, rather a very optimistic project starter. So my shop is full of tools that will someday I swear really for sure be put to use on great projects. But in the mean time I'm busy buying other stuff to support other great projects.
Really.

Just to reactivate an older post since I am making my way through all the great stuff here. 🙂

I had dabbled quite a bit at other peoples forges for years before I got serious last year. I had moved to Ohio with my wife and all my friends were back here on the west coast.

My first anvil is a small rail anvil that had been cut into an anvil shape. I used it primarily for armor work in the SCA for friends (I don't fight anymore). My first forge was a Tim Lively style charcoal knife forge made from an old air tank. I had some really good ideas for an adjustable tuyere and while the plan was good, it wasn't perfect, but it worked beautifully anyway with an old hair drier I found for $1.50 at the thrift shop. I even added a foot switch from christmas. 😀 I lucked out and found a beast of a post vise locally (8" jaws). Set up my forge area next to my mother-in-law's house and started working.

It was awesome. In previous years, I had been stuck in the "I'll get my gear together, then build a forge" mentality. Last year I just started.

I upgraded my anvil with a slab of 2"x9"x12 steel from the scrap yard. Dressed one face flat and made a cradle for it on my anvil post. That worked even better.

Now, we moved back to the Pacific NW at the end of April, I gave away my forge to a friend of a friend who also wanted to get started, including the hair drier and switch. Since getting back, I have been stone broke, so am simply waiting until the new job starts to pay to make a new charcoal forge (smaller this time). I also got to see friends on Labor day and use his forge to do some work and he gave me an old Army anvil (100lbs I think) that he rescued from the scrap truck at the National Guard base he works at. I almost had puppies I was so excited.

I researched anvils and looked for a traditional anvil for months even while still working on what I had and I have about finished all the hot work on my first knife and I made my first set of tongs as well. I have a long way to go, but I am excited again and looking forward to meeting and learning from many of you.

My main point is that I talked to some of the people out there on Craigslist and Ebay who were selling multiple anvils and they were always pretty set on their price and were not smiths themselves. I also met a member of the WRABA group I joined out there who had the most wonderful shop, went to a hammer in at his place. He had a row of like 20 anvils under his workbench aside from the three ranged around his forge. I asked about them and it was obvious I was a new smith, he said he would acquire them just because he had to have them, he never used most of them. I probed through a friend and that was a little bit of a bone of contention among the members who wanted to encourage new smiths, because he had money and would usually snap up anything that came along in a respectable radius from his house near Oberlin OH.

I'm just really glad I went for it and started with less than the "Perfect Anvil" Thats not to say I won't drop the grand plus for one of Steve's Rhino Anvils when I can and add it to my forge, but I'm good with what I have.

Regards,
Tim Boman
Olalla, WA

Grant;12803 wrote: Seems like you might be comparing 1908 "new" price to current "used" price. Current "new" price is closer to $6 - $8 per pound. It is kinda cool that in 100 years that anvil is still worth what it sold for new.

Based on this info, I really scored on my 110# Trenton made about 1880 for $350. It was on consignment at the farrier supply. Kinda choked on the $350. My other was a trade deal... Around 150 or so pounds, ( I've never weighed it ) also a Trenton for around $200 trade.:spin::spin::spin: