Wasted $150 on a cheap anvil that rang like a church bell

Picked up a cast iron anvil off Facebook Marketplace for $150 last month. Looked fine in the photos but the second I hit hot steel on it, that thing rang so loud my ears were ringing for an hour. Plus the face chipped on my third project, a little railroad spike knife. Had to go buy a proper forged anvil from a guy in Ohio for $400. Anyone else fall for the cheap anvil trap or is it just me?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicehernandez8h ago

Is it just me or does this whole cheap anvil trap feel like how people buy a $30 blender from a discount store and act shocked when it burns out making a single smoothie? lol You pay for durability and silence plain and simple, I learned that the hard way with a $60 drill that caught fire on my third project. It's funny how we'll drop cash on the wrong thing twice before just buying the good version once.

miles_roberts12h ago

Cast iron anvils get a bad rap but honestly you probably just got a dud. I've been using a cast iron anvil from harbor freight for like two years now and it works fine for most stuff. Yeah it rings but you can wrap a chain around it or put a magnet on it to kill the noise. Plus $150 is nothing compared to $400 especially if you're just starting out and might lose interest in six months. Most beginners don't need a $400 anvil to make bottle openers and hooks. The chipping thing sucks but how hard were you hitting it? You might've been swinging too heavy or using the wrong hammer.

hannahsingh12h ago

Dude a harbor freight anvil holding up for two years is honestly impressive... most people beat on those things way too hard with a 4lb sledge and wonder why they chip. The magnet trick works decent for the ring but I just threw a beat up bicycle chain around mine and it's quiet as a mouse. Bottle openers and hooks absolutely don't need a $400 anvil either, you could do that stuff on a chunk of railroad track and nobody would know the difference.