Anvil weight

J

John L

Joined
Oct 28, 2004
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Am in the market for a used anvil. What weight would people here reccommend? Knife making and damascus making only. 'm thinking 175 plus. Correcto? Is larger almost always better?
 
Ive done alot with my 125 pounder, including damascus. having said that I would recommend you buy the biggest anvil you can afford. Just make sure the face is clean and smooth and rings clean.
Del
www.ealyknives.com
 
Mine is a 50 pounder and is fine for what I need. I like the fact that I can move it if I need to but I think mine is generally on the small side. A minimum 100 pounds or slightly more is probably a lot better for all around use.
 
I have a 70 pound NC farrier anvil that I carry in the truck because you guessed it...I'm a farrier. Using it for general forging though was giving me fits because I can bounce it accross the shop when doing work of any weight at all. I have a 170...something peter wright in the shop and it's much better.

A general rule of thumb is to use an anvil at least about 50 times the weight of your hammer...so small anvils work fine with small hammers but then the work needs to be light also.

I've heard guys complain about the really big anvils in that it can be a long reach from the center (over the base) to the end of the horn. That might not be such a big deal while forging blades but if you're working all over the anvil it's nice to be able to reach.
 
I'm gonna go along with what's already been said here. Get the biggest, heaviest anvil you can find. I think you'll find that money will limit how heavy of an avil you end up with. Expect to pay $3-5 per pound for a decent anvil. A lot more, if you decide to get a brand new one. Happy hunting! :)
 
I've done a bit of forging and have never had a chance to work on a large anvil. I've got a 150# Trenton that was my main anvil untill I started doing demo's and then I was wanting something a few pounds smaller hoping it would save my back. My demo anvil is 120# Swedish made anvil, infact its my favorite. What really makes a big difference with the smaller anvils is how securly they are fastend to the stand and how well the stand is secured to the floor.
 
I've worked on anvils ranging from a 47# colonial to a 560# trenton, and just about everything in between, my favorite weight range is the 200#-300# for general blacksmithing work, with as much face as I can get in that weight, and I'd say about 100#-150# for knife work with as compact a design as can be had. The one thing I want in an anvil for making knives; crisp edges! For general blacksmithing work, I've got the first inch of my anvil crisp, and a tapered radius from there back to the heel, for bladesmithing I've got the entire edge crisp all the way back. I do very little bending when forging a blade, but lot when doing general work. (Yes I have multiple anvils in the shop) the rounded edges allow different radii to be imparted to the bends I make, but the crisp edges allow me to forge my bevels better.

Hope that all makes sense, and might be useful

Tony
 
How big a hammer can you swing?

If you swing a little hammer you just need a little anvil. :D :D :D
 
A lot of guys have a smaller anvil mounted to a heavy pedestal mounted securely to the floor so the combined weight of the two allows them to get close to their work and do larger work on a smaller anvil. The guy I got my anvil from went up in size and kept his original pedestal for the new one. If I could have gotten that pedestal as well as the anvil my set up would be at about 100 pounds or more I'm sure.
 
I think a brand new 170 lb. would be great!

Number one thing is a good rebound. If you get an anvil with a lousy heat-treat or one that's lost it's hardness from a bad fire, you may as well be pounding on a block of mild steel.

A lot of guys think a big anvil is macho or whatever...

The simple physics behind it, is that more mass will allow for heavier work with more efficiency.

I bought a brand new 450 lb. Nimba Gladiator, and LOVE it.

However, I forged a lot of knives on a 110 lb. Hercules.

The 120 lb. Titan from Nimba would be GREAT for bladework. I agree 100% with Tony on crisp edges.

A radiused anvil edge is VERY VERY common on an ornamental blacksmith's anvil, as it allows you to use that round edge for drawing out, as well as nice round curves in bends (as Tony mentioned).

But on a knife (IMHO), it's much easier to get nice crisp bevels (mostly a nice and defined dropped edge) on an anvil with clean and crisp edges.
 
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