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Heard a guy at the hardware store say all new anvils are junk
I was picking up some 1/4 inch round stock in Springfield last Tuesday and overheard a customer telling the clerk that any anvil made after 1950 is basically scrap metal. He was really going on about it, saying the steel isn't right and they ring too high. It got me thinking because my main shop anvil is a 150-pound Peddinghaus I bought new about five years ago. I've forged hundreds of knives and tools on it, and it's been solid. The face is still flat, the edges are crisp, and it rebounds a hammer great. I think sometimes we get stuck on the romance of old tools without giving modern manufacturing a fair shake. Sure, there are bad new anvils out there, but there were also plenty of poorly made cast iron ASOs back in the day. Has anyone else had a good long-term experience with a newer anvil they'd recommend?
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schmidt.troy3d ago
Funny how these old tool debates never die. My uncle swore by his pre-war vise, said the new ones would crack. Used it for years until the handle finally snapped. Thing was basically welded together with bubble gum and hope by that point. Some folks just like the story more than the steel.
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