Saw a guy at the county fair forge using a regular shop hammer on his anvil's horn

He was trying to shape a curve and hitting the thin tip of the horn directly. I've seen this three times this year alone. That horn is hardened steel, not a forming tool, and hitting it with a steel hammer can chip it or even crack the anvil body. I learned this the hard way when I put a small fracture in my old Peter Wright anvil about five years ago. What's the best way you've found to teach new folks about proper anvil use?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_dakota4d ago

That "learned the hard way" part hits close to home.

hannaht294d ago

But what if learning the hard way isn't the only path? I've found some of my best lessons came from watching others mess up first, so I could avoid that same pitfall. It saved me a ton of time and stress that I didn't need to go through myself.