[TheForge] make shift anvil

Sat Oct 18 02:02:01 2003

Charles:  Good post on your part.  On the issue of force, basic physics
dictates that force equals mass x acceleration.  So a heavy hammer at X
velocity has greater force than a lighter hammer at the same speed.  I use a
number of different weights and shapes of hammer, dependent on the task.  I
use four different hammers when forging a 4" hunting knife blade from 5/8
round carbon steel, but only one or two when forging blades from ATS-34 flat
stock.

I generally favor a larger anvil, my general work anvil is 260# but i like a
small one if I have to move it.  A large anvil, propoerly mounted, is also a
stable platform for anvil mounted tooling such as a twisting vise for large
stock.

It is easier to do small pieces on a large anvil that it is to do large
pieces on a small one, at least for me.

Grant

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2003 7:49 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] make shift anvil

> This isn't a case of male ego run amok.   Anvil and Hammer are both
> kinetic energy mechanisms.  One imparts it the other absorbs it.  Though
> it might be possible, I would not consider it practical to work 1/2
> thick stock with the same hammer as I use to planish sheet metal.  The
> same holds true for the anvil.  An anvil design for turning light shoes
> or making nails is not going to do the work of one designed for forging
> heavy wagon fittings.   I do not bolt, nail or strap my anvils down.  I
> fit them into a steel or wood receiver that exactly fits the base. They
> are tight enough that pulling them out without lifting the base as well
> is very difficult.   One old timer that took the time to give me some
> pointers taught me that was the correct way to do it.   His point was if
> your anvil is moving around, its trying to tell you it is too small and
> you are abusing it either with work too large or wrong technique.  It
> kind of works out  well.   The areas to strike that are most likely to
> make your anvil move are horn and heel.  Coincidentally the weakest
> points on an anvil, and the ones where you see them fail
> catastrophically are of course, horn an heel.   An anvil will sit still
> for a lot more pounding if you are right on the sweet spot above the
> base.   The anvil mounting discussions I hear always amuses me.
> Particularily the theory that if you mount a fifty pound anvil on a two
> hundred pound stack of scrap iron/cement/log etc will give you a two
> hundred and fifty pound anvil.  I do believe that the weight of the base
> will help, but I believe that a pound on the base has about a hundredth
> of the effect of another pound in the anvil.   Think about this.   Have
> you ever used a soft iron hammer that has a carbon steel forge welded
> face?   When the face starts to seperates, the performance of the hammer
> sufferes immediately.  This is the case as well with old anvils where
> the face has started to seperate.  These are two situations where the
> surfaces are a near perfect match for each other and they are still
> substantially fused together as well.  Even in the best stand, I would
> bet the the actual contact points are a small percentage of the anvil
> base ( I would guess ten percent).  You could find out pretty quick with
> machinist blue.   In order for the stand to absorb the energy from the
> anvil, there has to be firm physical contact.   Further, the contact
> (and the mass) has to be near directly under where the blow is
> delivered.   This only makes sense.  You could buy one hundred foot long
> piece of 1/4" x 2 steel, lay it on the ground and hammer on it, but
> despite it weighing 170lbs, it would still be useless as an anvil, so
> the mass has to be largely aligned in the same vector as the hammer
> blow, and it need to be whole.   I haven't yet seen anyone suggest that
> you could emulate a three pound hammer by duct taping an extre pound on
> to a two pound hammer.   All you would get is a two pound dead blow
> hammer.   Anyway, my thoughts and probably wrong.   I have fantasized
> mant times about hooking up a bunch of strain gauges to my anvil to see
> if I can't get solid proof one way or the other, but that will have to
> wait for the futire.   The truth is, I would be more likely to use them
> to answer the real puzzler, which is the whole lighter hammer faster
> blow, vs heavy hammer slow blow conundrum.  I am a heavy hammer guy, but
> would like to understand why I am right ;')
>
> Charles
>
> Phlip wrote:
>
> >Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...
> >
> >
> >
> >>yes i agree  one of the best is a large peace of steel -if you can find
a
> >>square peace that is over 100 lb. would serve you for now in the mean
time
> >>get Chuck Robinson to show you some of his anvils nice stuff
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Jeeze- you big anvil boyz make my back hurt. Gimme 50 to 75 lbs any
time...
> >
> >Saint Phlip,
> >CoDoLDS, smiling happily at her soon to be acquired 50 lb anvil, with the
> >_sweetest_ horn....
> >
> >"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
> > Blacksmith's credo.
> >
> > If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
> >cat.
> >
> >Never a horse that cain't be rode,
> >And never a rider who cain't be throwed....
> >
> >
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>
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