Bigger & Bluer... Better? Cheap 132 lb Amazon Anvil Review 

I ordered this 60kg anvil about a week ago, and it showed up today... I ordered the black version, not the blue. Turns out the difference is more than paint: The black ones are rated at H55RC hardness as opposed to H50RC for the blue ones. Here are some quick observations... 1. the anvil came in a wooden box - thin 1/4" plywood, but hey, its a lot better than cardboard, and it stood up better than what Roy describes here. 2. Both horns had broken through the crate, but neither was damaged 3. The sides of the casting are MUCH rougher than what Roy got in this video. That's probably not a functional issue, but its worth mentioning. 4. The round horn is NOT circular, it's a squat oval horn - not flat topped with a radius and then flat-ish sides - but definitely not circular like the one in this video. 5. There are several spots of bondo... not bad and not deep, but they're there in case you're bothered by such things. 6. The hardy hole is about 1 1/8 by (just under) 1 1/4 inch. It tapers down to be 1 1/8 square about 3/4" down the hole. 7. the pritchel hole 'overlaps about 1/8" into the top face. This just sucks because... 8. the horn is a solid 1/4" below the face (so building it up with weld to be level with the face would require a LOT more filler material, unless I made a cutting block there instead 9. the square horn doesn't come to nearly as sharp a point as the one in the review. Mine has about a 5/8, maybe 3/4 wide flat at the end. and... 10. the paint is HORRIBLE. This doesn't matter to me because I'm stripping it off anyway (to clean up the rough casting, mostly). There's no paint on the bottom of the bick, the square horn or the base, well there is paint actually, there are thick rubberey runs and drips, but not a good coating of paint, LOL. It comes off easily - almost like spray-undercoating or plasti-dip... so its really low quality paint, or so it seems to me. On the other hand: 11. The anvil's got good ring all around, no dead spots to speak of so its probably a good solid cast 12. The face surface is a little too rough to have been surface ground, but too fine to have been wide belt sanded, overall, pretty good, and clearly machine finished 13. the face is good and hard 14. I bounced a hard ball bearing on it, and bounced a 4lb hammer on it and neither left any mark what so ever Overall, I'm really happy with it so far. Shipping took 8 days from California to the east coast, and it cost me $245 on sale. For reference, the last used anvil I saw near me was 75 lbs, chipped and worn out beyond usability, and thoroughly rusted... and they wanted $600 for it - it had been decorating their front porch since the 1990's.

Ha! I have the 132. I like it. That paint was a BEAR TO REMOVE- like they dipped it practically. I’ve been using mine for a year now no issues. My Hardy was a mess but die grinder fixes all… wish it was 1” but mine cleaned up at 1.25” The size ratios are different to the 66 for sure. It’s a chunky fat lil beast. Mine came from Vevor but does say Acciaio - but it’s on the other side to the 66. After stripping I can see the induction hardening line - it’s pretty thick, surprisingly. Like 5/8” plus. Mine has good rebound, better than that copy for sure… luckily. God bless bro.

Thanks Roy. God bless you and your family too!

Great Anvil Review Mr. Roy. Thank you for sharing another Anvil review with us all.

Very nice job reviewing it Roy. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend Roy. Can't wait to see more videos. Forge on. Keep making. God bless. Keep teaching. God bless.

I upgraded to the 132 lbs. anvil from the 55 lbs. harbor freight anvil. A huge difference. The 14/ lbs. anvil helps get the job done so much faster and better. Also it does not get dented with every hit of the hammer. Good video. Thank you for the review.

Nice! I have made a railroad anvil and boy... After grinding on it for multiple days I wish I just bought one of these...

Great video. That hardy hole is crazy. Thank you for your hard work.

I recently purchased my first anvil from harborfreight. The nice 55lb one? Yep, that thing. I read some comments from people referring to Anvil Shaped Objects. I loved that term, so I took my die grinder and engraved in onto the side of the anvil.

That big hardy is nuts, i guess they just scaled up every dimension without stopping to think about it.

Hi Roy, Good review. For the money, I think these anvils are pretty good. I really enjoy your review videos. Thanks.

Great video and review and love that you are Christ centered!

It makes me feel good that this anvil has made it easier for people to access blacksmithing. I know that people are buying these and trying out the craft, but unfortunately I know. Lot of people aren't liking it either. My local Facebook marketplace is full of these for sale secondhand. Finished up with the paint stripped sitting on homemade bases.

I've had the 44 lb anvil for about 3 years and it's standing up fine. The specs from the supplier l bought it from lists the anvil composition as C45 Cast Steel. I believe Daniel Moss uses that steel to make his hammers. It would be interesting to see if Roy could heat treat the little one (you would probably burn through almost 100 lbs of propane if you tried to heat treat the 135 lb).

Really helpful! I especially loved your fun intro! (Yes, it is definitely bluer. I know a guy who did a youtube video on fixing that.... :D)

Loved that intro! Made me think of the commercial from Robo Cop. The 6000SUX executive car.

Damn looks so satisfying. Forging is the skill and hobby I’ve been missing out on. I don’t have that many years left but I’ve got to do this

The hole at the base of the horn was not intended as a pritchel hole, it was put there to give you a place to pass the socket wrench with extenders through to bolt it to your base. The Hardy hold was positioned so that it could serves both purposes; hardy hole and access for a socket wrench to bolt it down. But it seems you were able to make it function, well done. Take advantage of everything. They are identical because the same factory in china produces them, and a lot of resellers contract for a batch, with tiny tweaks such as paint color or name embossed on the side. They sell out because of the import limits for each reseller's order, then the next reseller gets their batch and puts it up. You will see a LOT of that on amazon, identical products sold by a dozen different resellers, with just the silk-screened name being different.

That was super informative. If I was in the market that would be a good option for one with some heft to it .

Thank you for the review!

I have been using the.132 lb for over a year 90% bounce back for 300 bucks free shipping I can't say enough good things about it

Thank you for this review looks like you actually used it and have some skill and technique.

Thank you for all you do 👏

Hi Roy!Thank you for showing !Alfred Habermann said for a long time !"show me a tool and i'll tell you what a blacksmith you are "Thats so true!Greeting #Bulatsschmiede from germany (Bulat the Blacksmith)😊🤙

I like the use of the chipping hammer Roy.

$10 they just scaled the CAD model up and didn't realize the holes. Also. Orange == performance

I'm currently learning on a 110lb acciao anvil, from our version of harbour freight. I had to pick thru the 3 or 4 they had on the shelf, and picked the best one. The hardy holes are sometimes out of alignment, and a couple had welded patches on the face. Mine is relatively square, and has a smooth face with no repairs. So far it has been great, once I got it bolted down. I have it mounted on a laminated wood block, which is in turn bolted to a 2' cube of reenforced concrete poured into my dirt floor. I also bolted a piece of 3/4" x 4" or so plate down between the legs, to act as an upsetting block. It took a bit to clean up and fine tune, but considering i paid around $280 (canadian) for a 110lb steel anvil, a bit of fine tuning is to be expected. Lets be honest, if we were afraid to make or modify our own tools, we wouldn't be doing this in the first place.

I bought one of those in 20kg also on vevor (mine did have the imprint on the site) and the hardyhole was kind of just another pritchel hole. So Ive been filing a lot to get this square. I also smoothed the round horn since there was a casting seam along the top. Other than that the face was pretty flat with no spots or smth.

That's the one I bought, but mine has a 1" hardy and it says acciaio 60 on the side and your right about keeping an eye out for them , they go on sale and sell out super quick!

I covered the top of my horn with Hard surface welding Rods and it worked great, great hammer bounce, the hammer doesn't leave any marks👌

I love my 22lb vevor anvil it's a beast I'm planning to buy one of those 135lb anvils sometime soon

Wow that was a great video! Thanks

Thanks for the video.

Thanks man I'm wanting to start

I have the 40kg version of that anvil. Mine is probably a little over 50HRC and it was great for the price. The horn on mine is pretty soft like that one.

I got the small one and it's pretty good I use it and it's holding up good

Swedish made is always great too!

Good video. Good info.

I use a 15lb harbor freight anvil this would make a amazing upgrade!

Nice beard nice to see you upload a new vid!

Hey mate, good review. Just a slight niggling thing. Your rebound measurement should be to the bottom of the ball. Only the bottom of the ball gets to 0 in.

Greetings from Ireland ☘ I have several of the "acciaio" anvils and the shape can vary a lot between two types and from my experience if you order in Europe it's just pot luck which shape you get sent. My 132lb has the acciaio logo but looks completely different. The horn is a wide oval shape with less depth to it. The hardy hole is 1 3/16". I also have two 66lb, one is similar to yours with the round conical horn, but the other is more like my 132lb with a wide oval shaped horn. I also have a 22lb which looks nothing like your one. Mine looks much much smaller despite weighing exactly 10kg and has a more round horn. It's has no legs as such, just a stumpy body with four feet. I'm tempted to order another 132lb in the hopes that I get the one shown here but it's possible I'll just get the same again

I tried to get one of these all last year but they were out of stock. They kept telling me 2 to 3 weeks. I noticed they were finally in stock about a month ago but the price also jumped. Ive had the 66lb for a good while now and love it for what it is but need something bigger.

Didn’t recognise you Roy, cutting costs by eliminating razors! 1 3/8 Hardie is huge for any anvil!

I know I’m 10 months late, but the differential hardening makes sense with the pritchell being on the horn and large. They hung it from the ptitchell to quench …..

i wish these were available 10 years ago. I started too late for the cheap Russian anvils, and too early for the Chinese steel anvils.

I already have the 66# acciuo anvil that works pretty good even if it is somewhat small....would it be enough of a difference to make an upgrade to this one worth it?..I am just a hobby Smith making small projects anyway.

What were the hardness scratch testers? I'm brand new to knife making and I think that having testers would be better than simply guessing. I also hope that their available on Amazon. Thanks

Love the John Deere in the background 😃

If I didn't have a 119lb Peter Wright already, I'd get one of these and modify the crap out of it. First would be to cut/grind in a shelf around the pritchel hole, then smooth the horn out completely. If it's too soft, I'd fully hard face the top, using the opportunity to also weld in a sleeve to make the hardy hole a common size. The biggest downside it the lack of mass directly under the center of the face because of the spread feet.

Would you guys suggest getting one of these or going with just a railroad anvil to start our with

You could fix both the Harty and Pritchle sizes with a cheap threaded metal sleeve with something screwed on cut and wilded and ground flat or a peice a square tube and you could chamfer the edge of the Harty then round over the does into that....

Question on the hardy hole; would it be possible to tack weld some shim 1/8” liners from the bottom up to the top so you can use the smaller shank hardies? I would think if the hardy has a wide enough flange, enough of the blow force will radiate to the striking surface while the hardy stays square in the hole?

If you want to improve the repeatability of your rebound test, maybe you could rig up an electromagnet

Thanks for posting this. Going to have to get a Rockwell tester file kit now. Surprised that the anvil rings, being cast.

I'd like one of these but I definitely don't like that over one inch hardy hole haha.. so if I upgrade to a heavier anvil I'd like to make that hole smaller if possible.. maybe weld a 3/4in ID square tube in the hole? Not sure if that would work

I just purchased a 100 lb anvil from TFS and I wondering if you have ever work with one and what you opinion of it was.

What about welding a sleeve into the hardie to size it down?

I've seen you do a "drop test" on various anvils, so have a question about the drop. The base of the test is wood and it completely touches the anvil. Would that not also dampen the rebound of the ball? True, it is all relative, same test and dampening on all anvils, but would you get a more accurate test if the base only touched on the far edges (1/4" strip of wood on 2 sides) or on all 4 corners 1/4" feet? Seems like the wood would do a bit of dampening itself?

So this holds up better than the harbor freight one?

watched it all the way thru.... I ordered one thru walmart. 132lb for $245

What do you think this vs the new hf Doyle personally

Do you recommend taking the blue paint off of the horn?

The rebound is weird. I’ve seen tests on the 66 lb models, also seemingly RC 50+, and the rebounds were all between 70 to 80%. With testing to 50+ and with more mass, I would also expect a rebound of 70%. So either the tester is causing friction against the tube, draining some of the energy from the rebound, or the anvil has some defect. The other anvils had the expected high pitch ring, while this one had a shorter, lower pitched ring. I’d be curious to see the test with a smaller ball bearing, as this one seems rather large. Since I’m considering the black version, claimed to be RC 55, I’m interested in these tests.

I got a RAILROAD TRACK anvil - I found a decent price on it...

I'm no blacksmith. QUESTION: What are the flakes of material coming off the heated steel randomly as he hits it when cooling?

Is it worth paying the extra money to get this over the 66lb one for a beginner knife maker?

Roy, if I found this for less. But, I'll only post the link with your permission, since you have the affiliate link.

Throw some paint stripper on a few and you'll find massive pits filled with bondo.

Where’d you get the clear tube for the ball bearing drop?

Whats that anvil made from has a ring to it..

make an adapter for the hardy hole so you can still use the tools that you allredy have

Price at Christmas is $6 per kg. (60kg, $360)

delivery quality??? who delivered it? dhl? ups? fedex?

You should start every video with a similar voice over.

I'd guess that the holes are giant because they just blindly rescaled the drawing from a smaller anvil with no adjustments.

It hasn't quite been a full year later, but would you still recommend buying this anvil today? I'm still really new to smithing and don't have everything for my smithy quite yet, but when I'm ready to upgrade from the little 10 lb anvil I bought at an auction I'm hoping I don't have to sell a few limbs for it lol I still need to get a bench vise and a forge, but for the most part I think I have a decent start on the tools! I just have a little bitty anvil that might only be good for practicing with making nails, keychains, bottle openers, and other really small projects.

I wanted to like this but that would have made the likes 666 and that just didn’t feel right 👊🏼😂👍🏼

The paint my guy....the horn is hard....the paint is letting them scratch..

no link what the hell

Can’t you just weld a better steel on the top if you want?

Way, wayyyy, WAAAYYYY TOO MUCH MONEY FOR THAT ANVIL.

Worst comes to worst weld a leaf spring onto the face DONE!

I have a 66 pound version of this anvil. My comment before watching this video after about 15 seconds is.....the lack of dressing on this anvil before use makes me want to cry. Top is rusty. Edges are sharp all the way around. Hardy hole is jagged. Just looks.....unprofessional.

WELD UP THE HARDY AND PRICHER HOLES SMALLER!!!!!!!!!!!!

How exactly do you expect to test an anvil in one video?? The only thing you could possibly care about is the longevity of it, like over years and years of banging on it, which obviously is impossible to do in a video. There is a zero % chance any hunk of steel like that would fail upon first use... This is like saying I'm doing to test this patio paver today by walking on it... you're just hitting a very hard chunk of steel with a much smaller weaker peice of steel a couple times... nothing is going to happen... The only thing i'm genuinely interested in and didn't see you answer (you could of later i didn't watch the whole thing) is if this puppy comes with free prime shipping LOL...

It’s cheap. Cast it off flippantly in pure disgust. Thank you very much.

First! ?

Much like, socialists, democrats, and marxists? they are always the same thing no matter how hard you scratch?