Wasted $80 on a cheap anvil from Amazon

Bought a 55lb cast iron anvil off Amazon for $80 thinking it was a steal. The face chipped on the third use hitting a 1 inch mild steel bar. The rebound was terrible too, maybe 30%. I should have saved up for a proper steel anvil from a real supplier. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way?

3 comments

3 Comments

derek65628d agoMost Upvoted

Did you check if it was actually cast iron or just some cheap pot metal with a painted face? I almost made the same mistake but caught it when I read reviews saying the anvil was brittle as glass. Cast iron anvils are fine for light stuff like jewelry or tin smithing, but they just cant take the abuse of hammering hot steel.

alex_johnson26d agoMost Upvoted

Read a forum post where a guy tested track anvils against cast iron. Track steel won every time.

grace50828d ago

Heard a guy at a swap meet talking about how some folks use old railroad track as anvils and they hold up way better than those cheap cast iron ones from the hardware store... always wondered if that was true or just old timer talk. But it makes sense, solid steel is just tougher than cast iron for pounding on. Kinda wish I'd paid more attention to that advice before I bought my first anvil.