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I have one of those HF anvils, about 55 lbs. It appears to be cast iron, with large grain size and quite porous and I suspect very brittle. I would not ever consider hitting it directly with a hammer, since it might even shatter and would probably chip off. On the other hand, it was cheap, about $25 on sale, and I have occasionally used it to help shape heated metal or for setting rivets in a sickle. It is certainly better than no anvil at all. I would love to have a real old-time blacksmith anvil. I have worked with my Grandfather's anvil in his old shop in Montana, along with some of his blacksmith tools. Good high quality stuff that is nearly 100 years old! But my cousins, who now own the farm were not even interested in talking about selling me those tools. Apparently they use them once in awhile. But I told them that if they ever decide to retire and/or sell the farm, I would like first bid on the blacksmith tools. My Grandfather had a nice forge, a power hacksaw and even a trip hammer he built himself as well as the anvil, the tools and probably 50 pairs of various tongs he may will have made himself. I wish he hadn't died when I was 3--I think we would have had a good time together. Occasionally a good anvil comes up for sale at farm auctions or garage sales. The ones I have bid on at auctions went higher than I could justify, but I just missed on one at an estate sale for $100. I helped the guy who bought it load it into his car trunk. It was at least 150lbs and in excellent shape. The anvil from HF is better than nothing, but there are good anvils out there, if you look for them. I also like the idea of using a piece of railroad track, especially if you could find a chunk from old high speed mainline--that was pretty tall and thick. Good luck!
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