Buffalo forge value?

My 86 year old father-in-law has a Buffalo blacksmith forge with a noisy but working blower. Bottom has surface rust but no holes and is lined with refractory cement. Has Full length legs and a back shield that I guess a hood must have mounted to at one time.
There is also 6 tools and a 70lb anvil that the edges are showing some rounding on.
Anyone into blacksmith forges with an idea of a value for him? Appreciate any info.

Pictures would be a lot of help . You did a good job discribing the items but send some pics also . Also see if there"s ID stamped on the side of the anvil . Prices vary according to maker .

Nothing on sides or bottom of the anvil that I can tell. Guess its time for me to learn how to post pictures.

They show up at the farm sales around here every so often. Probably not worth more than $50 to $200 or so. There is a certain English brand of anvil that is prized by many which may draw an extra 100 bux if it was one of those.

A 70# is a small anvill, mine is a small one and a 100#. Alot are 150# and have seen 200# anviles and a 150# is not uncommon to see priced a $300 but that small I don't know. Mine that has seen a lot of use I believe I could get $200 out of with no truble but as long as I can do anythin I don't want to sell it,same with the forge altho the forge has not been used for 25 years.

I think I paid $50-$100 for the cast iron rectangular "railroad" forge that I have. It is about 30" x 36" on legs and mounted with a working blower. I bought it at auction. It similar to the ebay listing but had the tuyere and the blower

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blacksmith-Forge-30-/250931749514?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6cb2a28a

The smaller round "rivit" forges similar to this one do not bring as much.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Buffalo-Forge-/320822783108?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab2872c84

Adding some oil to the blower sump should help quiet it down but make it messy to move.

Around here anvils bring $1-$3 per pound depending on condition. 70# is a small anvil. The most desirable ones are 100#-150#. Bigger than that and they get hard to move.

When I was looking for blacksmith equipment, the words "anvil" and "forge" in an auction listing seemed to bring out the same four or five guys to look at it.

The problem is that this stuff is so heavy that you cannot ship it easily.

Ebay is a good place to look for price comparisons. In my experience, Ebay tends to bring much higher prices than local sales.

Another good place to look is the classifieds section of the ABANA (Artist Blacksith Association of North America) website. The ABANA site also lists links to local affiliate groups (Blacksmith Guild of the Potomac is my local group) that may also have websites and classifieds.


Good luck!

Cliff (VA)
ABANA

Here is an ebay sellers selling name. He has super quality black smithing items and I have spoke with him. matchlessanitques is his contact. Think he is in MI.

Can you send me some pics so I can maybe help ? The anvils go according to maker , condition & weight . I lucked out a couple years ago & had a 100 lb anvil given to me . It was in bad shape , so i had to do a lot of repairs to it . The makers stamp was partially visible but not enough to tell who . Someone with good welding abilities could build those corners up to being squared like I did mine . I built my own forge because of the prices of them on ebay . But I would still like to find a nice old forge . HTH ! God bless, Ken

I sold forge with the tools this evening to a young man (a welder) wanting to learn blacksmithing, however, kept the anvil for my father-in-law to sell separate.
After viewing the ABANA website, kinda gave me "seller-in-law remorse" - looked pretty interesting. I'll pass the website info on to the new owner.
I appreciate everyone's input.