I guess people collect vises and anvils

[dennis thompson]

I was looking through Craigslist tools and saw an ad for about 30 vices and several anvils. The vises start at $100.
I don't know anything about anvils but the price of two of them was $900 and $850!:eek:

[Ole Anderson]

Been over dosing on YouTube for the last month. I did watch a few anvil and vise restorations. A popular machinist Adam Booth (Abom79)does like his old vises. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRq4Z3K0w4g

And the Essential Craftsman (looks like a banker but is a contractor building a house, one video at a time) loves his blacksmithing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJF52_4noZE

[Stan Calow]

" ]I was looking through Craigslist tools and saw an ad for about 30 vices and several anvils. . . "

There are ads there for vices too.

[Jim Becker]

" ]

There are ads there for vices too.


I see what you did there!

https://sqepwq.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mBGf5R-0uPkaUaeT6LmqGRycGHHhZsv2HHth7hVzw7D42iJZ9YmRepfMW Cwp5HhlpCiQiqOB3CjuMH0jL9OsqUTh107mnscQa-E_6nOw_cktlgS2B60MbsqRvetue1MjcO3TqxfaI6zqwWpdAM4n bfpD_HucF9bpY392xukOulIpBLq4SCgFyRfm0fnerAWYb-l20hi_JarYhuGaIcyjH4g?width=381&height=400&cropmode=none

[Bob Glenn]

I have read that when Sherman went through the South during the Civil War, he had his troops throw all the anvils they found into the swamps and rivers. The idea being, it would cripple the South's war efforts by limiting the manufacture and repair of needed hardware and arms. Thus, the scarcity of anvils.

[Darcy Warner]

The price of anvils has quadrupled in the last several years.

Go try and buy a good quality new anvil or vise. Used still seem cheap.

[Jim Koepke]

A good anvil is not going to be inexpensive unless you are lucky at a yard/estate sale.

A good vise is a similar investment.

My father gave me his Parker #106 vise. It was used in his business for years:

431739

Many of my childhood memories are of times spent using and 'playing' with this vise.

From searching the internet, information indicates the design of the 'nose' was changed from a ball to a cylinder in 1936. So this year it is at least 84 years old.

From the 1912 catalog > https://archive.org/details/CharlesParkerCoCatalogue1912/page/n21/mode/2up/search/vise?q=vise < the weight is ~80 pounds.

It is mounted with 5/8" bolts. The front of the bench had to have an angled mortise to hold this vise because of how the lower casting is done.

jtk

[Rob Luter]

I attended an estate auction many years ago that was primarily tools. The old boy had been collecting for decades and I picked up some exceptional deals on a Starrett combination square/protractor set and some Millers Falls planes. He had an anvil that was in the 150 pound range. I was hopeful to take it home. Seems to me the bidding started at about $300 and escalated rapidly. There's an Antique store in Walnut Iowa that had a whole batch of anvils when we passed through about 5 years ago. Seems to me they started at $4 per pound then. I had no idea. :eek:

[Jim Becker]

Keep in mind that the market for things like anvils isn't all that large anymore....anyone producing them is going to be addressing a specialized market and the costs will be commensurate with having a small audience for something of quality. :) So finding a stash of "antique" or at least used ones could be a nice opportunity.

Some forms of older vices really hold their value, too...and some sellers may not know what they have if there's something desirable in the pile.

[Walter Plummer]

Check this guy out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gqn6EBwPFk&t=6s

[Bill Dufour]

For a mind blowing experience look for "Wilton" machinist vices, specifically the "bullet models" and look at the prices being asked.
Bill D.

[Darcy Warner]

For a mind blowing experience look for "Wilton" machinist vices, specifically the "bullet models" and look at the prices being asked.
Bill D.

A new 5" Wilton bullet vise is well over 1k.

[Rob Luter]

A new 5" Wilton bullet vise is well over 1k.

Woah!

and 10 characters.

[Darcy Warner]

Woah!

and 10 characters.

My basic Kurt DX6 for my mill was 550 bucks. I consider that a pretty good deal really.

[dennis thompson]

Given the volatility in the stock market maybe I should be investing in vices and anvils:)

[Lisa Starr]

My son is an amateur blacksmith that forges mostly decorative things like fireplace sets. He's indicated that the used market for tools in our area has become ridiculously overpriced because of all the people wanting to get into the hobby after watching "Forged in Fire" and the like. His feeling is that in a couple of years the bottom will drop out of the used market.

[Ole Anderson]

Check this guy out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gqn6EBwPFk&t=6s Adam Booth is my fave YouTube guy.

[Thomas McCurnin]

I want an Emmett Patternmaker vise. One in perfect condition can run $1,000. I also want it magically mortised into my bench.

[Rick Potter]

My anvil is really nothing special to anyone but me and my son, but to us it is a family heirloom. My dad went to work as a welders helper in 1936, working for the Cleveland Transit System. He helped a welder replace/repair streetcar tracks.

After a short time on the job, his welder told him he needed an anvil, and offered to make one for him. Nothing fancy, just a 16" or so section of used streetcar track, cut to a point on the front and squared off on the back.

My grandson is also thinking ahead.

Another useful thing I picked up for a few bucks at a garage sale is a one inch thick piece of steel about 12" square. Use it a lot for straightening and flattening metal items. Family thought I was nuts to get it.

About a year ago I picked up two nice 6" vises at an estate sale for $6. Couldn't turn them down. I can see how it could become another addiction.

[Darcy Warner]

I want an Emmett Patternmaker vise. One in perfect condition can run $1,000. I also want it magically mortised into my bench.

I wish I could get that much for them, 600 is about average.

[Jim Koepke]

I want an Emmett Patternmaker vise. One in perfect condition can run $1,000. I also want it magically mortised into my bench.

There is a lot of work involved in that magic:

432051

It is for a Pattern Maker's vise of current production.

jtk

[Dave Anderson NH]

It's a lot of work to fully install an Emmert.

[John K Jordan]

Years ago when searching for a used anvil I was amazed at the cost, even at estate sales and such. I guess a good anvil is hard to wear out. My brother finally bought me a new one. I now have three, one small one I made from a piece of railroad rail. Nothing beats an anvil when you need one.

JKJ

[Ole Anderson]

Nothing beats an anvil when you need one.
JKJ Nothing like a good pun first thing in the morning to get me going. Thanks...

[Rick Potter]

Sounds like time for a playing of 'The Anvil Chorus'.

[Jim Koepke]

This seems to be enough anvil to meet my needs:

432240

It cost $3 at a yard sale.

jtk

[John K Jordan]

Sounds like time for a playing of 'The Anvil Chorus'.

Or maybe a good anvil shoot.

200 lb anvil, boom, straight up. Every year, up the road a bit from here.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvhjS03W6cc


https://www.wate.com/news/local-news/museum-of-appalachia-to-shoot-anvils-for-independence-day/

https://www.museumofappalachia.org/independence-day-celebration-and-anvil-shoot/

JKJ

[Rick Potter]

Love it.....

[Rod Sheridan]

I blame the interest in anvil collecting to a misspent youth..............Rod.

432283