anvil horn ''left or right''

[Hofi]

depends allso if you are ''right or left ''HANDED''

HOFI

[Woody]

I have 2 anvils, one points left, one points right.

[Glenn]

The Poll: Which way does the horn of your anvil face?
With 150 people responding we have the the following results:

Left = 102 or 68%
Right = 29 or 19.3%
Both = 17 or 11.3%
No horn = 2 or 1.3%

I agree with Hofi that the results are is greatly influenced by the user being left or right handed, and how they feel comfortable at the anvil. It would have been interesting to ask how many could not remember and had to go to the anvil and look. <grin>

[bruce wilcock]

to work smartly around the anvil for jobbing and shoe making the tong hand is nearer the pike-horn

[Tyler Murch]

I agree with Bruce. If your horn is on the opposite side of your tong hand, you will most often need to take a step to the side to go from face to horn, or horn to face. This isn't efficient.

[RegionalChaos]

I think I end up working both sides pretty regularly... I usually forge in somewhat full shop. Can be as many as 5 smiths poking around in the fire at the same time and timing heats to snag anvils as they free up.. Then you just gotta fit in where there is room

[Ten Hammers]

Right handed smith here. Agree with Bruce. I do not however have many needs to take me to the far side of the anvil ( meaning horn to right ). Tooling in the hardy hole CAN absolutely cause you issues ( hot cut/cold cut hardy or other tooling ). I know people that are right handed that have always had horn to right for this reason. I have always had the horn to the left and will continue this practice.

[skunkriv]

I didn't respond to the survey because it didn't have an "all of the above".

I am left-handed and started out with my horn to the right, the conventional configuration. After working a few yrs on that, working in the shop of a lot of right-handed people and working with a few smiths that pointed their anvil the "wrong" way I changed mine to horn to the left. Been this way 12 yrs or more. Works best for me, I am used to using the horn this way now and I may leave tooling in the hardie hole all day sometimes.

That said, my travelling bench for shows I built back when I started smithin and used to use it in the shop back then too. There my horn is still to the right but sometimes when I am at the fair I will turn the anvil around for something and it will stay that way until something comes up and I switch it again.

Lastly I have an anvil with the horn broken off and it gets used some too. It's still 100# without the horn and I got it at an auction for $6. Still the best anvil deal I ever got!

[Thomas Dean]

Horn to the left. But I stand mostly at the tail of the anvil. Was taught that by Tsur Sadan at Tom Clark's school. Am comfortable that way for most of my forging and have learned to do most scrolling off the edge of the anvil and not the horn, (saves steps). Guess this (horn direction) is like belly buttons, everybody has one (preference) but they are different and for various reasons. Main thing is BE COMFORTABLE.

[imagedude]

I have a 'double piked' anvil so I have a horn on both sides.