Stake anvil?

FredyCro

Basic Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2019
Messages
1,484
What do you think of these type of anvil? Looks handy for knifemaking (for lighter tasks) and looks like it wouldn't take much place in the shop?
 
Forgot the pic.

dYU5JVp.jpg
 
Stake anvils are good for small stuff and shaping things that need to have multiple angles and curves (like a stirrup). They were portable and could be knocked out of a stump and taken to the next place a smith set up. Not all are small, I have seen some weighing hundreds of pounds. Jewelers use them, too ... but ours are smaller.
 
That's a really cool old anvil. I wonder what the dimensions are?

I've used stake anvils quite a bit in the past, but they were all block type anvils. Basically a 4x4 piece of steel with a spike welded to the bottom to be driven into the stump of your choice. Those are good fun to forge on, and quite usable for knives, but a smaller stump anvil like that one appears to be? Not my first choice for anything but light forging. I actually have one that looks quite similar to that one (although mine looks to be a little bit smaller, but again its hard to tell from a picture) and I've done some very light work on it just as a proof of concept. It was interesting, but not something I'd ever use in actual shop work.
 
Back
Top