Have you ever seen another brand new anvil? Everything you mentioned, except for the hardy, is very common on new anvils. Seriously, you're complaining about not getting a free t-shirt? Hot-forming is standard on hardy tools. Pitting on horns is almost unavoidable, and usually dressed by the smith, not the anvil maker. Same with just about everything you have complained about.
You can continue to settle for half assed work and terrible customer service. I however will continue to hold companies (especially American companies) to a high standard, especially when I lay down a significant chunk of change with them on a product.
That looks like an awesome anvil. I don't see anything wrong with it at all, and I think your criticisms of the anvil might be unfair. Relax and enjoy using that beautiful piece of iron.
Oh the anvil is alright, but I’ve seen and used some of their other anvils and this is definitely sub par quality compared to those. I have to be careful where I do a set down on this because the deep pits in the surface from being cast too cold leave marks in my work because they jut into the radiused edges. And the company is pure garbage, not at all what I expected from an American company, and thats what hurt the most about it.
definitely not. Modern cast anvils should have a damn near perfect hardy hole, and little to no porosity inside, must less on the actual outer surface of the anvil. Not to mention some brands go the extra mile of polishing out machining marks. To me this anvil is on par with the quality of the cheap budget chinese anvils most beginner smiths are buying these days, it has almost all the same problems. Altho thats unfair to the chinese brands since many of them have damn near perfect hardy holes at least lol.
Really appreciate the honesty here. I was interested in buying one of these myself eventually. The exact model you got in fact, as it kinda resembles some of the old Kohlswa anvils, and being that I already have a large 440lb Kohlswa , I kinda like the idea of having a smaller one with narrower face for some work. Being that this anvil looks just like one of Kohlswa's models that is very rare here in the states, and could be bought brand new and made out of modern matierials it seemed like a good one to go for. That being said, after seeing the issues in yours, I was a bit put off but may have still considered until I heard about how the company treated you. the blacksmithing community has always impressed me with its ability to be considerate and helpful to everyone. So for them to treat you that way is inexcusable to me. And considering theres a few other brands making very similar anvils out of the same modern materials. I see no reason to support them. I was also planning on buying some of their axe eye drifts, but after seeing in their own photos on the website the low quality they come out of, (and the fact they sell their rejects which look almost useless) and now hearing about how aweful the company treated you, Ill take my money elsewhere for not only any future anvil, but also any future tooling aswell. All that being said, I hope the anvil does serve you well and at least makes up for the terrible situation they put you in.
I have a 140 London pattern from them and have no complaints theres a little porosity on the surface as soon as you get past the surface its solid. But honestly my experience for the money on a cast steel anvil they are the cheapest pound for pound and they do the job. Is it a soderfors or a refflinghaus nope, but its a lot cheaper. They are cheaper than the ductile iron anvils but theres really nothing wrong with them neither. That pour does look a little cold. But i honestly dont think you'll have a problem with it. I had a Vulcan that was full of air pockets and i beat the crap out of it and had good rebound never had a problem with it. It will probably last 10 lifetimes. The soft surface will work harden where its hard underneath thats done because it wont chip as bad. Wish you well.
Thanks for the review Jared. It looks pretty nice from a distance. However it's not hard to see some cosmetic issues remaining and those you felt needed dressed. The concerning part : is the external porosity a thru n thru issue? That would have been my 1st question come to mind. As you stated you felt like there were pockets of porosity in the interior. That would only have been brought to light by your drilling of the pritchel hole. I can understand that folks is folks and bad days happen. I can understand that a casting can be less than purfect. I can even understand that QC issues are a reality. However I wish things had gone better for both parties involved. Hope all goes well with the anvil from here out. Now I've only seen one Holland in person. That said there is in my opinion a marked difference between yours and the other in external appearance and perception of quality and pride in craftsmanship between the former and the latter. Best of luck sirSir. 🙏well wishes, positive energy and Blessed days Crawford out 🧙♂️
Good ole American engineering and product and most definately customer service are not what they at one time were. I had very simular experience with Paragon when I bought my heat treating oven. Although they pissed you off atleast they talked to you. Paragon refused to talk to me. My oven showed up with a bunch of spare parts rolling around inside of of and I was afraid to plug it in. I didn't know what they were and why they were in there and those sorry SOB's would not talk to me. I understand your frustration. As it turned out my oven works fine and I like it but I wouldn't reccomend them to anyone. In the future I'll compare apples to apples and buy from who I trust and that may well not be American.
My feelings exactly! We no longer take pride in our work, its just “get it done and out the door” now. Every time I have made a big purchase and bought American, it has bit me in the ass save one company/product: Indian Motorcycle.
Porosity like that isn't the end of the world, neither is the patch they made. Many anvil manufacturers that cast their anvils (vulcan, fisher etc) were way worse than that one. The small details on a new anvil like that are left to the smith. The other issues are all on holland anvil and are inexcusable
I was actually thinking about upgrading to a Holland anvil in the near future being I live only about an hour and a half from there but no more. That’s not how business should be done! Hope it will still work good for you.
Exactly. You dont take an obviously upset/dissatisfied customer and refuse to make it right and insult him. Ill keep it, I spent too much on it to just dump it and buy new.
I have been told they do have one bad employee, but because he is family they dont get rid of him. And exactly, you dont take a customer who you know is upset and dissatisfied and then refuse to help them and insult them. Especially as an American company.
Looks like you have a nice anvil... like they say they dont make things like they used to. I think you have improved the base model but im not sure the wining is convincing me of the final outcome.
@@veteranironoutdoors8320 i wish they did as well. However, this one was also at my local farrier supply house. Shipping was quite literally me wrapping my arms around it and throwing in into my pickup.
Man that’s just not how a business should be run. It seems to me they are far too focused on profit and not quality and customer service. Even with the issues I hope the anvil serves you well Jared
I’ve heard it’s hard to cast H13 and very expensive. Maybe some truth to that. The owner was very nice and if you look close at all the different anvils listed in the photos some are pretty rough. Some treated to a little different hue. BUT for the money.
Ive met him in person when I bought my swage block, and he was a nice guy. But they flipped when I criticized their work without contacting them first.
Sounds like unnecessary whiny, it is a anvil. I've watched several blacksmith dress and cleaned out there hardy hole. Hell they was happy they stood upright and level.
You miss the point. I paid for the labor to clean this anvil up, I shouldnt have had to do a damn thing but beat metal on it. They apologized but didnt offer to make it right. When I lay down a significant chunk of change with a company (especially an American company) I hold the bar high. I would hope you do the same.
@@veteranironoutdoors8320 I see what your saying, you wanted them to do the set up. Strange, but yea they could have done a better job. You do have a nice looking anvil. I've seen acouple now that the base was painted to cover those pits and welds covers ups
I wouldnt take a replacement or buy another product from them even if they called in 5 minutes and apologized profusely and gave me a 50% refund/discount.
Mate there's a fella call Joe blacksmiths he's way over the back of bum hole, but if you could his work to you some how . You will have the best anvil . He makes really cool one's
What an ugly piece of sh… My anvil was made 1669, in use for 350 years, therefore the top is not really flat no more, but looks much better than this piece.
I think you're a little too sensitive...all cast anvils have some issues...I think you're probably cheap... because cheap people always have buyers regret after they spend money...nothing is ever good enough for the money they spent
You want an anvil that is superior ? German Peddinghaus . and if that is too expensive, you get a made in Germany Ridgid anvil. Made in USA ...does not mean quality.
Have you ever seen another brand new anvil? Everything you mentioned, except for the hardy, is very common on new anvils. Seriously, you're complaining about not getting a free t-shirt? Hot-forming is standard on hardy tools. Pitting on horns is almost unavoidable, and usually dressed by the smith, not the anvil maker. Same with just about everything you have complained about.
You can continue to settle for half assed work and terrible customer service.
I however will continue to hold companies (especially American companies) to a high standard, especially when I lay down a significant chunk of change with them on a product.
I was gonna save up and get their Sawyers anvil but now I'm gonna get a ruffinghaus. Thank you
That looks like an awesome anvil. I don't see anything wrong with it at all, and I think your criticisms of the anvil might be unfair. Relax and enjoy using that beautiful piece of iron.
Oh the anvil is alright, but I’ve seen and used some of their other anvils and this is definitely sub par quality compared to those. I have to be careful where I do a set down on this because the deep pits in the surface from being cast too cold leave marks in my work because they jut into the radiused edges. And the company is pure garbage, not at all what I expected from an American company, and thats what hurt the most about it.
definitely not. Modern cast anvils should have a damn near perfect hardy hole, and little to no porosity inside, must less on the actual outer surface of the anvil. Not to mention some brands go the extra mile of polishing out machining marks.
To me this anvil is on par with the quality of the cheap budget chinese anvils most beginner smiths are buying these days, it has almost all the same problems. Altho thats unfair to the chinese brands since many of them have damn near perfect hardy holes at least lol.
Really appreciate the honesty here. I was interested in buying one of these myself eventually. The exact model you got in fact, as it kinda resembles some of the old Kohlswa anvils, and being that I already have a large 440lb Kohlswa , I kinda like the idea of having a smaller one with narrower face for some work. Being that this anvil looks just like one of Kohlswa's models that is very rare here in the states, and could be bought brand new and made out of modern matierials it seemed like a good one to go for. That being said, after seeing the issues in yours, I was a bit put off but may have still considered until I heard about how the company treated you. the blacksmithing community has always impressed me with its ability to be considerate and helpful to everyone. So for them to treat you that way is inexcusable to me. And considering theres a few other brands making very similar anvils out of the same modern materials. I see no reason to support them.
I was also planning on buying some of their axe eye drifts, but after seeing in their own photos on the website the low quality they come out of, (and the fact they sell their rejects which look almost useless) and now hearing about how aweful the company treated you, Ill take my money elsewhere for not only any future anvil, but also any future tooling aswell.
All that being said, I hope the anvil does serve you well and at least makes up for the terrible situation they put you in.
His presentation and proof was straight forward and the best "review" continue to be industrious brother Peace
I have a 140 London pattern from them and have no complaints theres a little porosity on the surface as soon as you get past the surface its solid. But honestly my experience for the money on a cast steel anvil they are the cheapest pound for pound and they do the job. Is it a soderfors or a refflinghaus nope, but its a lot cheaper. They are cheaper than the ductile iron anvils but theres really nothing wrong with them neither. That pour does look a little cold. But i honestly dont think you'll have a problem with it. I had a Vulcan that was full of air pockets and i beat the crap out of it and had good rebound never had a problem with it. It will probably last 10 lifetimes. The soft surface will work harden where its hard underneath thats done because it wont chip as bad. Wish you well.
Thanks for the review Jared. It looks pretty nice from a distance. However it's not hard to see some cosmetic issues remaining and those you felt needed dressed. The concerning part : is the external porosity a thru n thru issue? That would have been my 1st question come to mind. As you stated you felt like there were pockets of porosity in the interior. That would only have been brought to light by your drilling of the pritchel hole.
I can understand that folks is folks and bad days happen. I can understand that a casting can be less than purfect. I can even understand that QC issues are a reality. However I wish things had gone better for both parties involved.
Hope all goes well with the anvil from here out.
Now I've only seen one Holland in person. That said there is in my opinion a marked difference between yours and the other in external appearance and perception of quality and pride in craftsmanship between the former and the latter.
Best of luck sirSir.
🙏well wishes, positive energy and Blessed days
Crawford out 🧙♂️
I used to work at a foundry and can tell that it wasn't poured hard enough
Good ole American engineering and product and most definately customer service are not what they at one time were. I had very simular experience with Paragon when I bought my heat treating oven. Although they pissed you off atleast they talked to you. Paragon refused to talk to me. My oven showed up with a bunch of spare parts rolling around inside of of and I was afraid to plug it in. I didn't know what they were and why they were in there and those sorry SOB's would not talk to me. I understand your frustration. As it turned out my oven works fine and I like it but I wouldn't reccomend them to anyone. In the future I'll compare apples to apples and buy from who I trust and that may well not be American.
My feelings exactly! We no longer take pride in our work, its just “get it done and out the door” now. Every time I have made a big purchase and bought American, it has bit me in the ass save one company/product: Indian Motorcycle.
Porosity like that isn't the end of the world, neither is the patch they made. Many anvil manufacturers that cast their anvils (vulcan, fisher etc) were way worse than that one. The small details on a new anvil like that are left to the smith. The other issues are all on holland anvil and are inexcusable
I was actually thinking about upgrading to a Holland anvil in the near future being I live only about an hour and a half from there but no more. That’s not how business should be done! Hope it will still work good for you.
Exactly. You dont take an obviously upset/dissatisfied customer and refuse to make it right and insult him. Ill keep it, I spent too much on it to just dump it and buy new.
I’m anvil shopping now and damn am I glad I saw your video.
Peddinghaus or Refflinghaus, cant go wrong.
I wound up buying a forged anvil. Thanks again for this video, because they were among the front runners before I saw this stuff.
sometimes problems occur like this due to a lazy employee, but they really should have helped a little more
I have been told they do have one bad employee, but because he is family they dont get rid of him. And exactly, you dont take a customer who you know is upset and dissatisfied and then refuse to help them and insult them. Especially as an American company.
Looks like you have a nice anvil... like they say they dont make things like they used to. I think you have improved the base model but im not sure the wining is convincing me of the final outcome.
Wow. Intense experience.
Wow. I have zero complaints and zero issues with my #200 Emerson.
Just looked those up, thought they were ductile cast iron but theyre 4140! If only they made a double horn...
@@veteranironoutdoors8320 i wish they did as well. However, this one was also at my local farrier supply house. Shipping was quite literally me wrapping my arms around it and throwing in into my pickup.
Man that’s just not how a business should be run. It seems to me they are far too focused on profit and not quality and customer service. Even with the issues I hope the anvil serves you well Jared
They’re probably focused on keeping prices low to make them more affordable. It’s a tough industry.
I’ve heard it’s hard to cast H13 and very expensive. Maybe some truth to that. The owner was very nice and if you look close at all the different anvils listed in the photos some are pretty rough. Some treated to a little different hue. BUT for the money.
Ive met him in person when I bought my swage block, and he was a nice guy. But they flipped when I criticized their work without contacting them first.
Sounds like unnecessary whiny, it is a anvil. I've watched several blacksmith dress and cleaned out there hardy hole. Hell they was happy they stood upright and level.
You miss the point. I paid for the labor to clean this anvil up, I shouldnt have had to do a damn thing but beat metal on it. They apologized but didnt offer to make it right. When I lay down a significant chunk of change with a company (especially an American company) I hold the bar high. I would hope you do the same.
@@veteranironoutdoors8320 I see what your saying, you wanted them to do the set up. Strange, but yea they could have done a better job. You do have a nice looking anvil. I've seen acouple now that the base was painted to cover those pits and welds covers ups
They should just replace it no questions asked they could still sell yours
I wouldnt take a replacement or buy another product from them even if they called in 5 minutes and apologized profusely and gave me a 50% refund/discount.
It’s also too heavy for every day carry.
Not with that attitude
Mate there's a fella call Joe blacksmiths he's way over the back of bum hole, but if you could his work to you some how . You will have the best anvil . He makes really cool one's
Are you speaking English?
@@KimballPrecisionRifles no I'm speaking Aussie mate, but in this case I was just typing . Sorry that you didn't understand but it is what it is
Damn yankes😂
What an ugly piece of sh…
My anvil was made 1669, in use for 350 years, therefore the top is not really flat no more, but looks much better than this piece.
Thanks for feeding the algorithm
I think you're a little too sensitive...all cast anvils have some issues...I think you're probably cheap... because cheap people always have buyers regret after they spend money...nothing is ever good enough for the money they spent
You keep settling for substandard quality, and i’ll keep demanding that I get my moneys worth.
You want an anvil that is superior ? German Peddinghaus . and if that is too expensive, you get a made in Germany Ridgid
anvil. Made in USA ...does not mean quality.