is an anvil the heaviest of all hand tools?,is it a hand tool?. if not a hand tool is it the heaviest non powered with non moving parts tool?just a thought

I think you need a philosopher not a blacksmith.

It is the backbone of blacksmithing.
It is generally the most sought after tool in the shop.
It is a hand tool only if you could lift it and strike your iron with it.
It can be the heaviest tool in a shop but not necessarily.
It has no moving parts yet it is able to help form almost anything the imagination can conjure.

Mark<><

a non moveing object to hammer on!

a non moveing object to hammer on!

Nonmoving?

You may want to look up counterblow hammers. (Although the technical term for both parts seems to be 'tup'.)

I find dablacksmith's answer as satisfactory as anything out of webster's. The question of whether it's a hand tool is a neat one. Perhaps it's 'hand equipment'.

Note that an anvil may be only a few ounces in weight for silversmithing and watch work or may be 1000 pounds for anchor forging

So your question seems to be "off" to start with. In my shop I have several anvils that weigh less than many of my hammers and I have seen hammers used as anvils.


Hmm anyone have a chainmaker's anvil with the through hole? Be nice to stick a handle in the hole and post a picture of a "real hammer".

it is a bottom tool of great importance along with the hammer.
.

For all of your days be prepared,
And meet them ever alike.
When you are the anvil, bear -
When you are the hammer, strike.

Edwin Markham

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

it is an object of beauty that helps me to create

If you don`t know what an anvil is,you`re in the wrong shop.
If you were to come to work in any of the shops I worked in and ask one of the old graybreads "What is an anvil?" you`d likely get the reply,"It`s that thing under your hammer.Now get to work!".
You`d probably also be given advice to the effect of "The trick is to kick it`s butt before it kicks yours".

My anvil is the foundation that allows my imagination to become manifest.
Is that an esoteric enough an answer for you? :)

If a tree falls in the forest and lands on an anvil....

Can somebody loan me a chainsaw?

an anvil is an anvil, because an anvil by any other name would still weight as much.

The anvil is an essential tool to build a civilization. From a rock to a piece of metal to a London pattern anvil and even to the anvil of a power hammer. Nothing that can be imagined would have ever been made without it. What was the rock called that made the flint chips that became the arrow head?

an anvil is an anvil, because an anvil by any other name would still weight as much.

But what about an ASO?

Phil

same as a work bench

But what about an ASO?

Phil

I would say that if a rock can be an anvil then so can a piece of cast iron some person though to shape like a london pattern anvil, just not a very good anvil.
I see that an anvil is more of a purpose and less of a shape or material.

AN ASO is a low grade anvil often lower than a good rock; but it masquerades as a higher grade anvil and is often sold to the unknowing as one.