Frustrated with small anvil ring

[Private Entrance]

My sincerest apologies - I downloaded a noise meter app for my phone and checked when I got home.  The results for with a chain, with a chain and magnets, and nothing at all were virtually identical. 

 

I was getting pissy with you for what I thought were your preconceived, 'because I said so' notions, and I was doing the same thing I was unhappy with about.

 

Going forward, I think it would be helpful for both of us to back statements up with empirical evidence rather than off the cuff remarks.

 

Again, my apologies.

[DanielC]

*shrugs* I use a chain and magnets on two Peter wrights and they changed the frequency from a ring to a thud. Perhaps the same db at a different frequency is less stressful to the ears than others?

[Rhettbarnhart]

I use a chain on my Swedish cast steel and like Daniels it went from a ring to a thud(well not quite a thud but close)

[Mainely,Bob]

      Two bits of advice from an old mentor come to mind here; first was to "use what you have without abusing it". To me this meant if I had a lighter weight anvil I should concentrate on doing work that was appropriate to the tools at hand. I personally would think about reseaching and undertaking projects that would be both appropriate to the anvil I have and  build my skills at that level. Once I became reasonably skilled at using what I had two things happened for me; 1- I knew more (based on experience) and could better assess my true needs (as well as tool purchases) moving forward and, 2- my newly won skills made it possible for me to make salable items that allowed me to afford to "tool up" without draining my bank account. I`ve rephrased my mentor`s advice into something like "Work where you`re at, once you master it at that level it`ll both show and take you to where you need to go next".

   The second lesson from him was to think in terms of "progression". He showed me how to get the best out of things by thinking in depth, looking at the work and all the things I would need to move the work along to completion.Using hammers appropriate to your anvil has already been mentioned as has fastening and bonding that anvil to an appropriate anvil stand. Sure would be a shame to take a ten pound sledge to that anvil while attempting to overload it with heavy work and ruin a tool that could have been useful to someone (maybe you) further down the line.Far too many abused and broken anvils out there already. Thinking in depth and doing appropriate work could have avoided most of that.
Instead of thinking about the hammer, anvil, stand and work as separate things think of them as an integrated system. Do each of them support and compliment each other? Are each of them appropriate and applicable to the work? If not then set that particular project aside until you have everything you need to support the work.

 Thinking in depth and doing appropriate work will keep things like accidents, injuries and set backs due to broken tooling and wasted material to a minimum. It will also help you build skills that will serve you well across and throughout the rest of your life rather than perpetuating bad habits. These are the types of things my mentors taught me and continue to teach me. They are also some of the first things I share when someone comes to my door asking for advice.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Hear, hear. Well said Master Bob.
There are reenactors in hear that can tell you about 40# stump anvils and bics, as well as nice makers and third world smiths working with 12-20# sledgehammer heads, as well as guys that cut their teeth on rail. You have a specialized anvil designed to be portable an to turn and forge horse shoes. But the secret is, it's an anvil, designed to turn and forge steel on. Like any anvil it has special "bits and bobs" to enhance its usefulness. There are trade offs and disadvantages to.
Get it on a good solid stump or stand, bed it in silicon and clamp it down solid, use Chain or something to mellow the ring if its still offensive and use but don't abuse it.
Hey, I like it. I'd trade my field anvil for it. Yours has many more cool doodads!!

[VaughnT]

Private Entrance, my earlier post was very rude, and I apologize for that.  No excuses.

 

I shot a video showing the difference magnets made on my Wilkinson anvil and there was no comparison between chain-wrapped and magnet-only.  Placing the magnets on the side of the anvil didn't make a difference, but when I moved them to the ends of the anvil (horn and heel) everything quieted up really nice.  

 

This thread makes me wonder how much difference there is in resonance if the anvil is seriously secured to the stump before one wraps a chain around it or applies magnets.  In my case, the anvil was simply sitting on top of the stump, and it's a relatively light anvil.  When I bedded it in the caulk, the anvil wasn't securely bolted down and the ring was killed.  It's not Fisher-quiet, but it's mighty close.

 

Does that seem reasonable?