I had an old Fisher 100 pound anvil that had ZERO ring, just a dull thunk, but it rebounded nicely. I sold it after I bought my 180 pound Peter Wright.

Well, I worked on my Peter Wright anvil this last saturday and I have to say...I don't like the ring. It's loud, it's annoying, and probably harmful to the ears. I'll be wearing ear plugs when I hammer in the future. I want to be able to hear my grandchildren call me papaw. lol

W

You can try wrapping a chain around the base and slapping some magnets on the side of it. Those are some common recommendations to reduce the ring.

Fisher's are not supposed to ring.

I have my PW on an angle iron base bolted to a concrete block. If the anvil is not locked in the frame, it will ring like a bell but tightening the "cramp bolts" will make it go 'thunk'.

Well, you could try to buy it back Check out Gerald Franklin's Blueprint BP0255.
I have seen this work and it is the best little silencer I have ever seen! Simple but yet very effective!

get a big flat magnet and stick it on the side of the anvil. This really reduces the ring. If you use the chain as well, then you should have pretty much no ring. earplugs are still a good idea.

Blueprints on stopping the ring of an anvil

BP0254
BP0255
BP0320

Another way to hush an anvil is shown in the attached photo. Using only one method will help, but using multiple methods works better.

Why my main shop anvil is a 500# Fisher. Of course for demo's I have a little anvil that rings like a bell to bring people over.

I tried the chain and magnet tricks on my Peter Wright with little success. Then I put a heavy bead of good silicone on the bottom of the anvil, that shut it up quite well.

I used some of the old asphalt shingles kicking around the farm and put them under my haybudden to keep it from singing too loudly.

A funny thing, My anvil used to ring liek a sweet bell, I like dit, wasn't a deafening ring, but a loud one for sure. That was when it sat on a stump. Now I have it on a metal tubing stand, and it makes a dull thump, COMPLETELY ringless almost. I kinda miss the ring. My stand is like the NC tool stands, with the filing vice, and it folds up.

I agree, ApprenticeMan, I love the ring of an anvil, but several years from now you'll be glad you did away with the loud ring and your ears will thank you for it. After 34+ years in this trade, metal working, I got hearing aids last year. I have worn ear protection (even had a pair of custom fitted earplugs) like a religion for the past 25 yrs but still the damage comes.

The sound is travelling through the two thinnest parts- the horn and the heel. Hold onto the horn and tap the face of the anvil and you will feel the vibration in your hand as well as notice that the ring is dampened. Do the same with your hand on the anvil's side.
The bolt through the heel is a great idea, all of that sound energy goes into moving the bolt (and I'll give it a try to see how effective it is). What I've done is taken two speaker magnets (from 10" subwoofers) and put one on top of the horn, near the tip and one under the heel just under the hardy hole (it gets repositioned whenever I need to use a tool ) . There's still a slight ring but nothing like the noise without them. The vibrations through the anvil are often enough to shake one or both loose but they're easily replaced.

Get rid of your noisy, swaybacked soft anvils and return to the land of Fisher. LOL

I suffer from frequent headaches and/or migraines. Quiet is good.

Better than that though is the stability of the Fishers. No sway back due to soft bodies. And they work just as well as any PW or HayBud.

I have a PW 150 and a Fisher 200. Love the Fisher, am OK about the PW.

Any body who uses a power hammer knows that it is made of CAST iron with a hardened face to work on, same as a Fisher anvil. Its a fact that this is the best way to build a working machine, its not cheaper per se.

If huge machines were made of softer wrought iron, they would sag over time, just like the sway backed wrought anvils. And boy would they be loud.