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I Forge Iron

Anvil Ring?


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Is it pretty common in the higher weight of anvils for them not to have that twangy / pingy ring to them. I used my 450# gladiator for its first time and was surprised to see that it didn't have that higher pitch ring to it. Is this because its cast? Or is it because I have so much mass below? Normally i'm use to anvils that have that sharper, and sometimes ear piercing ring. This has none of that. In fact unless I get out near the tip of the horn or the heel it doesn't seem very necessary to wear ear protection. I was hammering fairly hard on a piece of 5/8's sq rod even when it was starting to go dull red and practically no ring. Am I doing something wrong :confused: Or do some anvils just not have that higher ring in them.

(as an aside, it's nice to not have that higher twang of a ring constantly going on. Most anvils i've worked on have that and you have to use a chain or a ton of magnets to drive it out)

I guess what i'm asking is what should a heavier anvil normally sound like?

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A lot of ring is caused by the thickness of the waist, horn, heal. A Gladiator is a very thick cross section anvil so it doesn't have the same ring pitch.

I imagine being cast doesn't hurt but my Soderfors is cast steel body with a HC steel face and if you strike the anvil with the hammer it'll make your ears ring through hearing protectors.

Frosty

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That makes sense. I never thought about the waist having so much to do with it. That higher pitch ring that people talk about as "singing" i've always experienced on London pattern anvils, hay budden, and peter wright as that's all I've ever had access to. It's just unusual and set me off guard working with an anvil that didn't have that higher pinging or ringing sound.

This is what always seemed normal to me
YouTube - Jon P. Moore, Forging Knife, hammer and anvil and that is not what my Gladiator sounds like at all. There just isn't that sting in the sound. It's more like hammering on just a giant boulder of steel. There is rebound but there is no sound from the punyness of impact any human can place upon it. lol I guess i'm going to have to get used to my ears not bleeding like they do on some of my others pieces of metal I beat on.

I had no idea the sound would be so different from one style of anvil to another. Perhaps mounting has a little to do with it too. People always told me metal stands were louder. I guess it depends on what anvil/metal stand and probably weight combination. I'm sure there's probably a lot of physics to it as well that are well over my head.

The only anvil I could find to compare the ring of the nimba gladiator to would be Hofi's anvil.

YouTube - hofi vorführung heiss teil2 youtubeversion2

You can hear there is a much deeper sound here. No high pitch ring or dancing of the anvil. When I get my new camera I can upload a youtube of the gladiator sound, but its pretty similar to this video.

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Frosty, my meager experience supports your observation on the effect of the waist. My 170# German Pattern from Old World will ring much less if I put a triangular welding support magnet on the waist, just above the pad for the feet. I found it works best if you attach it perpendicular to the side, not flat on the side. You can get these magnets at Harbor Freight for a couple of bucks.

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Shape controls a lot of the way an anvil will sound with the American versions of the london pattern with long horns and heels being the worst in the LOUD catagory.

Another is how it's made and what material; with cast steel being loudest and the Fisher process (steel face cast iron body) quietest.

I've grown to love my massive fisher so quiet and polite, just a thwap thwap thwap and not *TING* *TING* *TING* like the HB, Trenton, A&H or PW in the shop

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THANK YOU AVADON for showing the dvd (this was part 2).if one puts ''hofi anvil '' on'' you tube ''one can have the first part that explains the advanteges of the anvil.
On those dvds the sikaflex 11 fc is not yet between the anvil and the base .
The moment one puts the glue there will be no ring at all.
NO NEED to put send or led into the legs to stop the ringing it dose not help (I was there allready) it is just wast of time and money
Hofi

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How thick is the caulking bed of sikaflex do you lay down?

I only scraped out about 1/16'ths coverage on the bed. More around the front face of the feet so it could fill any void or gaps.

(I didn't use sikaflex myself. I actually ended up just using this stuff I got at Lowes called PL ULTIMATE Hybrid Sealant+Adhesive - with flextec technology. It says it is multisurface all weather application. It's probably a little like marine adhesive i'd bet.. but easier to remove. Marine adhesive can be really insane to remove unless you have a very smooth surface)

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For whatever its worth I made a short video showing the difference in ring between my sand filled legs and a non filled leg. http://home.comcast.net/~theonyxabyss/aa/anvil/sandlegs.avi

You can see there is a fairly large difference in ring between these legs. Granted the hollow leg isn't welded up but I still believe you will be able to appreciate the difference. Crank your volume so you can really hear the difference.

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My shop built anvils ring like a bell too, the shape has something to do with it I belive,as the componets don't ring as much before being welded into an anvil shape.

a tapered punch in the pritchell hole is another way to deaden the ring.

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I don't know why you bother, I quite like the sound!:)


I love the sound of a ringing anvil but I'm not too keen on high-end hearing loss, nor are my neighbors too keen on the noise.

I'm using a combination of lead under each corner, a chain holding the anvil down via screws and a large welding magnet. It's not perfect but the 'thud' from the badly supported concrete floor is more of a concern...
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