I made it to the SOFA (Southern Ohio Forge and Anvil) Quadstate Blacksmiths Roundup this past weekend. The primary goal was to find an anvil… something north of 150lbs and south of $500 was what I had planned. Well, some things don't always go according to plan, which is why it's good to be flexible so you can adapt the situation you're presented with! Unfortunately, being flexible and adaptable are definitely not strengths of mine!
Anyway, according to the SOFA website, the event would officially run from Friday at noon till noon on Sunday. I arrived at the Miami County Farigrounds promptly at 12:10pm on Friday and assumed that by showing up "early", I would have a number of anvils to choose from…. not so fast! Apparently, I didn't get the memo about the market area being open to vendors and private sellers starting on Tuesday! And guess what day most of the people selling and buying stuff arrived?? You got it, Tuesday!
So, after I got registered, I set out looking for an anvil. I managed to find some anvils, but they weren't at all what I had envisioned buying. They were either really really big (and expensive) , really small (and still kind of expensive!), kind of beat up or from an unknown maker. I started talking to people about what I was looking for, and after about the 5th person told me: "you should have been here on Wednesday…", I started to panic, because I realized that I was a day late, and a dollar short!
I walked down the last row private sellers with a number of "plan B" scenarios swirling around in my head. I was just about to the end of the line when I saw a clean looking anvil that was perched on a Anvil Stump stand. I had heard of the brand and knew that they were cast steel and made in Michigan, but that's about all the info I had. I checked rebound with my pinball. It had good bounce and a nice ring and the more I stared at it the more I wanted to buy it! I wasn't the only person hovering over it and trying to negotiate a deal, so I knew I needed to act fast if this was going to come together. I used a life line, and called Lin Rhea (thanks a bunch, Lin!). I also texted him a photo and he confirmed that: 1) it was a good anvil; 2) it was in really good shape and 3) the price was fair… not a killer bargain, but I wasn't getting ripped off either. I hustled back over to the seller, laid down the money and breathed a huge sigh of relief! It's a bit smaller than what I had planned on buying, but it feels extremely solid in the Anvil Stump stand and I think it will serve me well. Here she is…
130# Mankel:
pic of the face:
I also picked up a post vise and a couple hammers:
Last pic… One of the SOFA guys I met last month at the mid-America hammer in came by my camp Saturday night with two tiny commemorative SOFA anvils to give to my daughters:
Thanks, Shane! The SOFA guys and gals are good bunch!
Topic: new anvil... (Read 996 times)
