Silencing my anvil.

[VaughnT]

I've had tons of folks tell me to slap a magnet onto the side of my anvil to quiet it down. Tried it with a handful of different magnets and it really never did anything. Some folks say that it'll get better once scale accumulates on the magnet.... but I can't see that making a huge difference.

Wrapping a bit of chain around the waist of the anvil didn't help matters either. I was stuck with a loud church bell of an anvil that was sure to wake the neighbors, some of whom work the nightshift.

Then I got to thinking about what makes sound. Sound is vibration. The idea behind putting a magnet on the side of your anvil is that it will absorb some of the vibration of the hammer blow. Unfortunately, putting a magnet on the side of the thickest, heaviest part of the anvil means that there is going to be less vibration for the magnet to absorb. And it leaves the thinnest parts of the anvil to vibrate till their heart's content!

So, I took two small magnets and placed one (listed as having a 25# pull) on the tip of the horn. The second magnet (listed at 100#) I placed on the underside of the heel, completely out of the way of the hardie and pritchell.

Instantly, the church bell of an anvil went dead silent. You would have thought I had a Fisher for all the quiet it was making!

And all of this on an anvil that isn't fastened to the stump yet!

Yea, the magnet on the horn, while small, will have to be moved when I'm working at the very tip of the horn. But the magnet at the pritchell won't be in the way of anything and does a remarkable job by itself.

Do I need to shoot a bit of video to demonstrate?

[pkrankow]

I found that securing the anvil tightly to the stump made a huge difference in noise. I followed with wrapping the waist in chain, but have not pursued magnets, yet. Maybe I should.

Phil

[DanBrassaw]

I had terrible luck with magnets staying put on the heel of my anvil. They were constantly sliding down until they were sitting on the waist, being of no use. I tried a rag clamped to the heel, and that worked pretty well, except for the occasional smoky excitement. Like Phil, I found that just securing the anvil down tightly made a huge difference. I put a thick bed of silicone between my stump and the floor, the stump and the anvil (I left all of the surfaces dirty and dusty, and the silicone peeled of nicely when I got my new anvil), and chained the anvil right down to the floor at three points around the stump. Tightened up the chains until the anchor eyes started deforming, and not only was my Trenton reasonably quiet, but also rock solid. Now I've got a Fisher, so it's all pretty moot (mute?). :P

[Judson Yaggy]

Glue it down. Use silicone or a construction adhesive like PL400 or Liquid Nails. I hate magnets in my shop, they quickly turn into mini porcupines.

[Judson Yaggy]

Glue it down. Use silicone or a construction adhesive like PL400 or Liquid Nails. I hate magnets in my shop, they quickly turn into mini porcupines.

[matto]

the magnet does not go on the side it goes under the heal or the horn. you have to move it from the wast to the tip of the heal to find out where it will quiet it down. another trick is to take a 3/8 in rod (or what ever size fits in to your pritchel hole) and bend it into a u. then hang it through the pritchel. acts like a vibration catch to quiet the anvil. i have had great luck with both.

[Bentiron1946]

I didn't have much success with the magnets or the chain but what worked for me was to make the base out of structural box tubing,12" square with 1/2" thick walls and fill it with sand, weld at top and bottom on a 1/2" plate, then attach four 3'8" square mild steel rods to clench over the feet of the anvil so that it was as tight as a tick to a dogs hide. All I had after that was a mild thud like a cast iron Fisher. Harold in Tucson now has that anvil and stand.

[MOblacksmith0530]

I use the furry magnet. It is a bar magnet a buddy got me and it don't do much until it is furry. I like the furry look it gets a lot of comments and then I take it off and they can hear the ring. On my portable and my 175 trenton I bolted em down tight and the one on a metal stand got the silicone treatment. It works wonders.

[VaughnT]

I shot video. Stand by.


Okay. Finally got a decent clip uploaded (wow that took a long time!). As I mentioned in my OP, this anvil isn't sealed to or chained to the stump at this time. I am sure that doing that would deaden the sound a good bit.

My point, though, was to demonstrate how much difference the two magnets made on their own. I have never found a london-pattern anvil that wasn't loud, but I've also never found one that was seated as you fine folks recommend. Curiosity lead to experimentation.

If this anvil shushed up right and proper with nothing more than a few magnets, what would it sound like with a proper seating? If it's this quiet now, what will it be like when all's said and done?

Just thought I'd throw it out there for consideration. Certainly something to think about.

Check out the vid and let me know what you're thinking. Tried to make it entertaining and educational, don't know that I succeeded on either count though. Best.

http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i115/VaughnT/?action=view&current=MVI_0344.mp4

[knots]

Anvils are not only wonderfully functional tools but are also beautiful objects. They are a prime example of form following function. There are ways to secure anvil to base and reduce or eliminate the ring without chains or other unattractive accessories . My PW was a ringer before I fabricated and installed the Z Clips pictured below. The stump was routed flat and 30# roofing felt installed under one corner of the anvil which did not rest firmly on the stump. When firmly bolted down the anvil now clinks rather than ring.

I have also used this method to fasten a Mousehole Style anvil to it's stump as well. The top Z flange just needs to lay on the slope. After Installation I heated the upper flange and hammered it to conform to the anvil body. I use an over head track and chain hoist to move my anvils around. The Z clips are very secure, there have been no problems with lifting the stump along with the anvil.

[Phil H]

Magnets worked for me. I use a couple of large (about 4") ceramic magnets from speakers. One under the horn, one under the heel (336 lb PW). The one under the heel migrates a bit, and sometimes obscures the hardie hole. Occasionally it falls off, but not often. I find that the magnets are a satisfactory compromise. Plus, it I want to occasionally MAKE a racket, I can just pull them off.

[Bigred1o1]

the magnets i have used i pulled out of old computer hard drives and when you put them somewhere they stay there
as stated above they work better once they get a nice fuz on them
the HD magnets are free to get i just stop by recycling any time i need them and pull a few hardrives from the electronics bin and take the magnets from inside and toss the wrest back into the bin
they are rair earth magnets and while kind of brittle very strong
i also tend to use them in the bottom of oil filters to help trap any iron filings that get into the oil