Stump Anvil

With a little work this will make a great little jewelry anvil , I mounted it to a nice oak stump and added leather tool storage . Thanks for a great tool at a reasonable price!

Praise first: This is a lovely little design and has excellent lines. This tool would be the centerpiece for the earliest exploration and settlement of new lands as well as an essential part of a military train.

Criticism: Minimal. The anvil comes partially cleaned from casting. The amount of grinding and polish needed is well within a metalworker's toolbox. Some guidance in heat treating the casting would be nice - but is not essential. I -may- beg my local friendly machine shop for a few minutes of mill time and then look to setting a hardened plate on the face. Finally my bias runs to square hardy holes, but the round thru hole can be modified with minimal effort.

Summary: Cute as a bug and made in America. Buy one. It will make you happy!

I received my stump anvil earlier today. I found it to be well crafted and very solid. It has taken me about 2 hours to remove the foundry marks from the face and horn, starting first with a flap disc of 80 grit, then 100 grit. I then went to a small belt sander and used 120 grit , 150 grit, and finished with 220 grit. The face is reasonably flat, but not perfect. I located a suitable juniper stump and drilled a 1 1/2 in hole for about half the length of the tang and went the full length with a 1 inch bit. I sized the hole to the approximate size of the tang with a chisel. I then brought the hole to full size using a large wooden mallet to pound in the anvil . I was concerned that if I tried to pound in the anvil without a guide hole I would either split the stump or damage the face. I will be using it to demonstrate early American blacksmith chain and nail making. The pritchel hole is ideal for the nail demo's. I recommend this anvil for light blacksmithing use.

My comment on this anvil is that as it says in the description, you get it rough cast. There is no machining to flatten the face and there is a seam running down the middle. The anvil is not functional without some work. Having said that if you have a grinder or something similar and a steady hand it does not take a lot of work to flatten the face.
There are a couple of gouges around the horn in the one I have, but they do not affect the functionality for bending. It is a pretty lightweight anvil for bending and light weight tapping, but works for that purpose.
Something that is not obvious from the picture is that the anvil is not straight from the horn to the heal. The face is a curve with a drop of about 1/2 inch if you lay a straight edge from end to end, so not really good for straightening something.
A reasonably good tool, but be aware of its limitations if you are wanting to start blacksmithing with it. It is better as a tool for someone who has some experience.

I want to second the first reviewers comments. This is a very good tool for a blacksmith teen actor due to its size and utilization capabilities. It is very serviceable. Excellent quality and a good economic value.