Anvil Engine4/19/2021
My dad is a blacksmith, hes now retired, but as I was growing up his very active forge was in a workshop next to our house.
Anvil Engine Series Based UponThis is the second part of a series based upon that experience, exploring blacksmithing for people who have maybe always fancied a go at the anvil but have little idea where to start.This has the function of providing a high-mass hardened working surface against which metal can be forged, and it has a distinctive shape with various parts for particular metalworking tasks.![]() There are many minor and major variations of anvil design depending upon where in the world your anvil hails from, but since my experience comes from the English counties, the anvil I will be describing is the pattern youll find in the British Isles. It has a flat rectangular top surface for working metal referred to as the face which is made of hardened steel, on many anvils this can be a separate piece welded to the top of the body of the anvil. At one end of the face is a conical tapered point referred to as the horn which is used to form curves, and at the other is as squared-off edge referred to as the heel, which tapers away underneath towards the base of the anvil. In the face towards the heel are usually two holes, a large square opening called the hardie hole which is designed as a receptacle for tooling, and a small round one called the pritchel hole which is designed as a place to use a punch or similar tool on a piece of work without damaging the face of the anvil. You will sometimes see anvils with different shapes, perhaps with protrusions on their sides or with a horn at each end, these will either be of an overseas pattern or designed for a specific task such as shoeing horses. This is something that you will understand from experience once you have tried it, but on the ideal anvil there would be a ring sound and the hammer would rebound as though bouncing. Its a good indication of the quality of a surface for use as an anvil, and its one you can readily appreciate if you test a few surfaces. Compare the note and feel of a hammer blow to a good anvil with that of hitting a piece of cast iron such as a scrap engine block, or hitting a piece of steel, and what you will learn will help you judge the quality of any anvil you consider. It is possible to excessively wear or even break an anvil by using more force than it can take, thus it is important to use an anvil of appropriate size for the hammering to which you will subject it. You will see plenty of small bench-top anvils, these are too small for all but the lightest of this kind of work. Ideally something a bit larger should be in your sights, perhaps something like the 50 kg (110 lbs) anvil my dad used for portable work. It can be tempting to go for a much cheaper alternative that you might see from a mass-market tool retailer, for example. Any anvil is better than no anvil, but I would always counsel the buyer to consider why a new anvil might be cheap, and whether it might be a very low quality piece of cast iron and a poor purchase decision. If youre considering any anvil, always go for the best you can afford as it will very likely serve you for the rest of your life and your offspring for their lives too if you are lucky enough to be able to pass it on. Our community has few problems considering many hundreds of pounds an acceptable price for an oscilloscope or a laptop computer, an anvil should be considered in the same light but with the added bonus of far less depreciation. ![]() Be careful not to be sucked in by the romance of owning an aged anvil if you are being asked to pay more than a brand-new one of the same or better quality, and especially not if what is on offer is damaged or worn. Its not uncommon to find something whose face resembles the surface of the Moon on offer for the cost of a trip to the Moon, so be prepared to say no. If the anvil face is not flat, if the face is broken, cracked, or coming away from the body, or if the heel or horn are broken, walk away unless the anvil is very cheap or even free. It is possible to find a bargain for the cost of a repair if you know what you are doing, but you should beware of time and money pits.
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