Always thought bridge anvils were amazing and beautiful. But what exactly were they designed to do? And why didn't they just fill the bridge section with a solid bit of steel. Was there a need to be able to pass something directly under the face? Anyone ever worked on one and if so what are they like working with?

I've heard them called ''tool makers anvils'' before, like for straitening buck saws. The space? Well, it would make em lighter..................?

I understand that large bridge anvils were sometimes used in the oil fields to dress cable tools. Postman* says that they were lower in height than other bridge anvils that were used in railroad shops.

*
"Anvils in America"

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

So are they of any use when making weapons like pikes, forks, tridents, pitchforks, etc? And other multi prong or multi-facet tools? Or would this just be better done over a horn of a traditional anvil?

I am not sure how big of an anvil you are referring to? But here is a link to a video that clearly shows a bridge anvil in use.

yes i have worked on a bridge anvil ,forging shackles , clevises and devils claws to hold chain,at the time i was a striker so i didnt take a lot of notice ,all the anvils around the hammers were a good striking hight ,so the bridge anvils would have been around the same hight the base was part of the anvil and i dont remember them on timber just bolted to the floor , they had to be fastened down becouse we used the hole to bend or streighten bars ,they were rough and all went to the scrap along with the big vises and huge swage blocks ,the smaller anvils vices and benders sold ,this would be around 1968

So are they of any use when making weapons like pikes, forks, tridents, pitchforks, etc? And other multi prong or multi-facet tools? Or would this just be better done over a horn of a traditional anvil?

The distance between the face of the anvil and the opening below a bridge anvil is probably too thick to make a fork.

Are you referring to the "bridge" anvil tool that is used in the hardy hole when making forks and stuff? See Sketchup sketch below.

I am not sure how big of an anvil you are referring to? But here is a link to a video that clearly shows a bridge anvil in use.

That's crazy. Doesn't look like a single guy there has safety glasses either. And four sledges at the same time! lol

The distance between the face of the anvil and the opening below a bridge anvil is probably too thick to make a fork.

Are you referring to the "bridge" anvil tool that is used in the hardy hole when making forks and stuff? See Sketchup sketch below.

Wow, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Hardy Bridge Tool. What do you think the thickness of that plate should be? Maybe i'll weld myself up something like that. B)

Wow, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Hardy Bridge Tool. What do you think the thickness of that plate should be? Maybe i'll weld myself up something like that.

I just take a drop of 4" square tubing and either weld a stub on the bottom to use in an anvil, or a scrap piece of angle iron to the bottom for use in a vise. It does not need to be very thick for making forks and other small stuff. And if you destroy it, which is unlikely, just weld two more pieces of scrap together.

That's crazy. Doesn't look like a single guy there has safety glasses either. And four sledges at the same time! lol

Four is nothing. Skip to about 1 minute from the end of this one, when they're riveting the shackle:

Always thought bridge anvils were amazing and beautiful. But what exactly were they designed to do? And why didn't they just fill the bridge section with a solid bit of steel. Was there a need to be able to pass something directly under the face? Anyone ever worked on one and if so what are they like working with?

The smith I apprenticed under has what I know as a bridge anvil. It must be over 300lbs and lives under one of the work tables. It's footprint is 11" x 35" and working surface about 8" x 32". It is about 10" high and 2" thick at the thinest point. The arch under the face is about 6" tall and 16" at the base. (Those are all very rough estimates based on what I remember byt the way) I have always wondered about this type of anvil as well. Only time I ever used it was to upset long pieces of stock. I would drag it out from under the table and upset on it while it sat right on the floor. Sure worked well for that. I have never seen one just like it. I would love to end up with it someday so I'll start saving now. I will take a picture of the beastly thing next time I vist the master.

I own a bridge anvil; picked it up in the oil patch and yes they were used to repoint cable tool drills for drilling oil wells back before the rotary drill became the norm. I have that on good authority as a friend of mine's Father used to do that for a living back in PA around the turn of the last century. (My friend was retired when he told me about it!)

Also I found one with an old cable tool drilling rig here on the NM Tech Campus---it's now being "stored in use" at the Fine Arts Metals studio.

There was one in Stroud OK in the possession of a 5th generation blacksmith there---as they are commonly beat to heck on the face, he had built an angle iron stand for it and flipped it over and used the large flat base to flatten plowshares on after re-pointing them.

They in general were not really great anvils and were used as a "consumable" in the oil patch.

As for Fork Forging, I believe the fellow was thinking about a Hay Fork not an eating or cooking fork.

See the article on pg 18 written by Clifton Ralph.Bridge anvils in NWBA newsletter

Several have pointed out about the lack of safety glasses. You must remember that on the job safety was of not much concern to mill owners until the unions brought it to mill owners attention with strikes to get benefits for those injured on the job. Then and only then did management start to do something about protecting the worker on the job. Here on the forums there have been several discussions about labor history. Safety glasses, respiratory health and many other safety precautions we take for a given now were brought about by the Labor movement in the United States. While some of us are not all that enthusiastically in favor of union activities they have done much to improve our standard of living as far as safety is concerned, forty hour work week, health and safety issues and the like. So say thank you to the unions for safety glasses!

Excellent. Thank you for all this great information guys. Yes I was talking about military forks as well as agricultural forks and not dinnerware. I guess the hardy square (pictured above in this thread) is really one of the best ways to work these types of tools if for some reason working over the horn will not make it. I can see one thing the flat hardy tool has an advantage in, and that is flattening where working over the horn is going to draw the metal out. So there would probably be times where you would use both the horn and that specific hardy. Neat stuff!! Thanks for the help all.

I keep my smallest london pattern anvil---a 93# Arm and Hammer close to my 515# Fisher as the A&H has a very thin heel which is very handy for working on toasting forks. (the Fisher's heel is *massive*)

http://www.phoenixrockgym.com/aaba/AnvilsHorn1009.pdf

P16-17

Tom Latane showed how to made an anvil bridge from leaf spring steel. :)

My fav from that article, the cup holder at the very end, LOL!

Here's a post in an old thread but I thought somebody might be close enough to Tulsa to buy this bridge anvil.

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/tls/3089009838.html

$450 for 425 pounds.

Not very old though. They tended to get beat to pieces in the oil fields but I'd bet that anvil dates *after* 1900 and most likely from around the 1930's

I guess I got lucky.  I picked up two of them from a local scrap yard for scrap price.  In the process of re-finishing the face on one.  I need a bigger grinder.  LOL

How does it spark?  HC steel or Cast Iron?

Not getting a lot of sparks, so its prolly cast iron

Like mine then.