Recommendation for an Anvil

[esantoro]

I need to get a better anvil for setting caps on tubular rivets for my bags. I currently use a small anvil from Tandy, which is fine for Jiffy rivets but not for tubular rivets and caps. Can anyone recommend a good bench anvil.

Left to my own devices, I'd order this 55lbs anvil from Harbor Freight:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...?Itemnumber=806

By the way, what is the square hole for in the Harbor Freight anvil?

Thanks,

ed

[Luke Hatley]

ED, i do have the harbor freight anvil, you have seen a 5# one on the bench before.

i like the heavy one( 55#) for setting copper rivets.

the square hole is called a "hardy hole", there are a lot of different items a Blacksmith

will make, too help him make these items he will use a "Hardy tool"

when i bought mine it was 29.99 0n sale....

[Andy]

Esant,

I use a hunk of I-beam as an anvil, works great!

Andy

[gtwister09]

I need to get a better anvil for setting caps on tubular rivets for my bags. I currently use a small anvil from Tandy, which is fine for Jiffy rivets but not for tubular rivets and caps. Can anyone recommend a good bench anvil.

Left to my own devices, I'd order this 55lbs anvil from Harbor Freight:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...?Itemnumber=806

By the way, what is the square hole for in the Harbor Freight anvil?

, fullers

Thanks,

ed

As Luke mentioned the square hole is called the hardy hole. It is used for swages, chisels, fullers, hold downs and other tools. Here's the first page that I googled...... Information for Hardy Hole

Regards,

Ben

[barra]

I have a length of railway track about a foot long as well as the base from an old fashioned iron.

Barra

[TwinOaks]

If you have acces to a scrap yard, you can take a relatively small hunk o' metal and set it in a smallish bucket of concrete to achieve an anvil.

[esantoro]

Thanks for your responses.

I'd love to snatch up the Harbor Freight anvil on sale for $30. HF is extremely kind on the shipping for a 55 lbs anvil.

I like the railroad track idea and I'll keep on the look out.

Ed

[barra]

Oh and I use one of these but disregard the artsy fartsy paint scheme (it's just the only example pic I could find). They are really handy and easy to come by. You will find them in bric a brac stores and get used for door stops. They have multiple surfaces for different applications.

Barra

[Art]

Hi Ed,

I have the small Tandy, a real small (but very nice) Heritage, a 33 lb from MSC or Grizzly. For serious work I have a 288lb Hay-Budden. The Hay has a hardened face with a wrought iron body and is good for knife or blacksmith work, the others except the heritage are hunks of cast iron and are plenty good for rivets and the like. I also have a two foot piece of 20 inch H-Beam which is mild steel and can take a pretty good walloping without cracking. I wouldn't trust the cast iron ones for anything serious, but then leatherwork isn't very serious in anvil terms. I have set #8 Brass burr rivets on the 33 lb without a bit of trouble, and that's about the toughest thing you'll ever set. Also a lot of the big vises (the inexpensive ones from China) have an anvil type platform that I have occasionally used to set things; they're big and heavy and work well.

Art

I need to get a better anvil for setting caps on tubular rivets for my bags. I currently use a small anvil from Tandy, which is fine for Jiffy rivets but not for tubular rivets and caps. Can anyone recommend a good bench anvil.

Left to my own devices, I'd order this 55lbs anvil from Harbor Freight:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...?Itemnumber=806

By the way, what is the square hole for in the Harbor Freight anvil?

Thanks,

ed

[SCOUTER]

Art...

"I have a 288lb Hay-Budden."

Sweet!

[Rawhide]

i would just get a flat steel plate, this way when you have that large piece that's hard to hold, you can lay it on your bench and the rise of the plate is not enough to make holding the pieces awkard while setting the rivet.

Marlon

[ArtS]

Here is one on ebay that appears to be a handy design. http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Machinist-Vise...1QQcmdZViewItem

ArtS

[esantoro]

Thanks for the additional replies and information on the hardy hole, which looks interesting.

Sometimes I have a bit of trouble getting the heads of tubular rivets for my handle assembly to stay positioned properly on an anvil surface, while I hammer on the caps from the other side. Are there any special tools do help do this? I have the small round concave button-looking anvils from Tandy, which can't be used. I also have the concave hand-held setter from OTB, but this requires me to put force on the rivet head down into the rivet cap, and the caps set better when force is applied from the cap end down onto the rivet post.

Ed

[bcurrier]

I use a 3" thick, 10" diameter piece of stainless steel that I found in the cut-offs section of my local steel service center.

Bill

[esantoro]

I never imagined I would start getting so into anvils.

How I wish I could afford both the space and the price for this one on ebay: item #200218172835

Ed

[esantoro]

ED, i do have the harbor freight anvil, you have seen a 5# one on the bench before.

i like the heavy one( 55#) for setting copper rivets.

the square hole is called a "hardy hole", there are a lot of different items a Blacksmith

will make, too help him make these items he will use a "Hardy tool"

when i bought mine it was 29.99 0n sale....

Luke,

I've been looking around the net for hardy tools. Many seem to be about 1 inch wide. Is that about the width of the hardy hole in your 55# harbor freight anvil?

Ed

[Luke Hatley]

ED, yes the hole in mine is 1" square.

[esantoro]

i would just get a flat steel plate, this way when you have that large piece that's hard to hold, you can lay it on your bench and the rise of the plate is not enough to make holding the pieces awkard while setting the rivet.

Marlon

Hi Marlon,

I know exactly what you mean about positioning awkward pieces.

Ed

[anvilcustoms]

I never imagined I would start getting so into anvils.

How I wish I could afford both the space and the price for this one on ebay: item #200218172835

Ed

Be careful, anvils can be addicting!! I've been collecting anvils for 17 years now. I've bought and sold somewhere around 600 anvils or so.

A couple of years ago, I had the LARGEST Hay Budden anvil known in existence at 701 pounds. It came off the Missouri-Pacific Railroad.

I just purchased a 255 pound Arm & Hammer anvil.....best anvil ever manufactured.

That Fisher Horseshoe anvil that you mention was a GREAT BUY! I would have bid on it if I had remembered to. Probably worth closer to $1500 or so. The HORSESHOE emblem on the side is extremely RARE on a FIsher anvil.

Anyways, check out some of my MINI anvils that I make right here in my shop.....

[bcurrier]

Now those are some cool little anvils! Do you sell them? If so, how much?

Bill

[anvilcustoms]

Now those are some cool little anvils! Do you sell them? If so, how much?

Bill

THANKS!!

They range from $99 to $199....each. I've been making these for 8 years now. Probably a little over 400 made/sold.

[RichardCollmorgen]

I got a disc of steel about 1 inch thick and 12 inches in diameter from a local steel fabrication shop. They had several that were cut offs. They only charged a couple of dollars, although steel prices have really jumped up recently. I sanded the top very smooth and eased the edges and coated it with some neatsfoot oil. Works great. Like somebody else said, the low height makes it easy to hold work pieces in place.

[esantoro]

Thanks for all the responses. I'll keep on the lookout for scrap steel.

What is it about an anvil that can be so addicting?

[esantoro]

I'm so close to getting this 15 lbs anvil

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...Itemnumber=3999

as well as HF's 55 lbs anvil.

ed

[esantoro]

i finally pulled the trigger on a Harbor Freight order. When I saw the add for the 15 lbs anvil, I couldn't resist. I also got the 55 pounder as well as a bunch of other cool toys/tools I had been putting off for a complete order.

It's good to keep old Harbor Freight flyers, because you can punch in the item numbers and pull up products that don't seem to come up online any other way.

ed