A good second-hand anvil will outlast you. A bad one will sit in the corner of the workshop for a decade, quietly reminding you of the afternoon you handed over cash in a farmyard.

Most smithing kit is bought at a distance these days: an auction catalogue, a marketplace listing, a grainy photo of something rusty on a pallet. Everything looks solid in a thumbnail. What follows is the routine worth running before money changes hands — questions to ask before you travel, and what to look at when you get there.

Before you set off

Ask three things: how much does it weigh, how do I load it, and has it been welded or repaired? A seller who won't answer any of those is telling you something useful.

Ask for photographs of specific areas rather than overall shots — the face and edges of an anvil, the jaws and rivet of a pair of tongs, the screw of a vice, the firepot of a forge. If it's an auction, read the condition report and the terms. Buyer's premium, VAT, collection windows and "sold as seen" all change the real cost, and plenty of bargains evaporate once the fees are added.

Take a kit with you: a short length of square stock, a ball bearing or small hammer, a torch, a tape measure, a straight edge, gloves and a ratchet strap.

Anvils

An anvil is the one purchase where a hidden fault makes the tool worthless, so slow down here.

Test the face

Wire-brush a patch of the face first — rust, paint and grit all mute the sound. Drop a ball bearing from roughly 250mm above the face. A sound anvil returns it most of the way up; a dead one swallows it. Tap with a hammer too: you want a clear ring and a lively bounce back into your hand. A flat thud with almost no rebound usually means cast iron, the classic "anvil-shaped object" that dents rather than moves metal.

Do the same at the heel, the horn and both ends of the face. A single dead patch can mean a delaminated face plate.

Edges, horn and holes

Chipped edges are normal on a working anvil and can often be dressed. Cracks are not. Look closely at the corners of the hardy hole and around the pritchel hole, where cracks like to start, and check the feet and the waist for old welds. Run a straight edge along the face: a slight sway is fine, a deep dip in the middle tells you the anvil has had a hard life.

Look for a step where the face meets the body. A lifting or welded-on plate is a problem waiting to happen.

Weight and markings

English anvils often carry the maker's name and a weight stamped in the old hundredweight system — hundredweight (112lb), quarter (28lb) and pounds — so "1 2 3" means 171lb, a little over 77kg. If weight matters for transport, ask for a photo of it on bathroom scales.

Tongs and other hand tools

Tongs are cheap new and often overpriced second-hand, so be fussy. Pick them up, open and close them, and watch the jaws.

• The jaws should meet along their full length when closed, not just at the tips.
• The rivet should be tight. Worn rivets let the jaws rock sideways, and the tongs will twist in your hand under a hammer.
• Look for cracks radiating out from the rivet hole — a common failure point.
• Reins should be roughly parallel. A gentle bend can be corrected cold; a kinked, splayed rein suggests abuse.
• Check for welded repairs where the reins meet the boss.
• Ask what stock size they were made for, or take a piece with you and try it.

Thin, rebar-based tongs bend when they get hot and loaded. Good tongs are chunky through the boss and spring back when you open them. The same logic applies to hammers and hardies: check for split handles, mushroomed heads and a slack eye.

Vices

For blacksmithing you want a leg vice — the sort with a long leg down to the floor — rather than a light bench vice. Wind the screw from fully closed to fully open and feel for it.

Grinding, tight spots or a screw that goes slack in the middle of its travel all point to a worn thread. Check the box (the nut) and the spring under the front jaw. Look hard at the leg and the mounting bracket for cracks and old welds, especially at the bottom of the leg, where a dropped vice cracks first. Close the jaws and sight along them; if they only touch at one end, the vice won't hold anything square.

On bench vices, check the slide and the quick-release trigger, and note whether the jaw inserts are replaceable or welded in. A vice with a cracked leg is usually firewood.

Forges

Firepots burn out. That's the whole story with solid fuel forges, and it's what you're inspecting for.

Check the firepot for thin patches, cracks and holes, and be suspicious of anything patched with fire cement — that's usually a warning rather than a repair. Confirm the clinker breaker moves freely and that the tuyere isn't clogged with ash. Turn the blower by hand: it should spin with a light puff and no grinding or shaft wobble. Cast blower housings crack when dropped, and electric blowers are worth running before you buy.

Gas forges need a different eye. Look for cracks in the shell, spalling or crumbling refractory lining, and a battered or cracked burner. Hoses, regulators and fittings on any gas forge of unknown history should be checked by a competent person before you use them — LPG isn't a subject for guesswork, and if you're unsure, take professional advice.

One more thing on older kit: some hoods, gaskets and insulation materials contain asbestos. If you can't identify a material with confidence, don't disturb it and get proper advice before you start cutting or drilling.

Getting it home, and the last look before you pay

An anvil is somewhere between 50kg and 250kg of awkward. Bring a friend, gloves, a sack barrow or trolley and a strap, and ask about steps, gravel and narrow gates before you arrive. A tail lift is worth more than a discount.

1. Confirm what the fault is and whether you can live with it. A chipped edge is a working anvil. A delaminated face is not.
2. Add up the true cost: hammer price, premium, VAT, fuel, and a chiropractor if you lift it alone.
3. Pay in a way that leaves a trail. Cash on collection leaves you with nothing if the thing turns out to be cracked underneath.

Then load it properly, strap it down, and get it into the workshop before you start planning what to make on it. The best second-hand tools are the ones you only buy once.

Photo: LindaLioe / Pixabay