June 11, 201313 yr Author You'll put yer eye out, Kid!!! I posted it cause it was actually kind of humorous-forging a 6 pound sledge on a 125lb or so anvil, and it went downhill from there......... It's one of the things that really turn me off of this site-too many people who never pick up a hammer and actually MAKE something telling others how to/not to. I'd like to see more "doing" and a lot less "reviewing".
June 11, 201313 yr Foot amputation? Kind of a stretch don't ya think? Just pour some stem cells in your boot and grow a new one.
June 11, 201313 yr More projects have been done with less desirable equipement than not, dont care who you are.
June 12, 201313 yr The anvil is certainly usable for forging a hammer, I just believe the stump/stand should be fixed to the ground if its going to be worked on that hard. I have been in a number of industrial shops that have young fellows working in them and seen to many with crushed hands or feet because everyone ells said Ooo don't worry about this or that, and many people with terrible burns because there boss told them you do not need a jacket to weld, Or sick because the older workers said a respirator to work with toxic chemicals was being a sissy. I am a young fellow myself and have been ridiculed many times because I always ware a flame retardant jacket when welding and do not use industrial equipment that is broken or set up improperly. I do not know everything, I have a long long time before I am a good smith. But I do know to look for dangers and try and fix the problem. If I influenced some one to be unsafe and they hurt themselves I would feel horrible With this being a family friendly website and having many young people come on here I always try and point out things that could be a health risk for people that are not well experienced in the metal industry
June 12, 201313 yr This looks like an accident waiting to happen. I see it all the time. It is all cool manly work until someone really gets hurt. Then all of a sudden people get religion. Sadly. Too late. Fix the xxxx anvil before proceeding with this! Don't allow you or others to work with this. Those hammers are delivering a lot of energy. one wrong move and hammers fly, tools get damaged, body parts get damaged. It ain't worth it. It ain't COOL. It is STUPID! Sorry, ain't gonna sugar coat my opinion on this. Cool is. not allowing this. Teaching others not to alow this. taking time to fix this! Saving others from this by teaching. Life is TOO LONG TO GO THROUGH IT WITHOUT ALL YOUR PARTS!
June 12, 201313 yr You'll put yer eye out, Kid!!! I posted it cause it was actually kind of humorous-forging a 6 pound sledge on a 125lb or so anvil, and it went downhill from there......... It's one of the things that really turn me off of this site-too many people who never pick up a hammer and actually MAKE something telling others how to/not to. I'd like to see more "doing" and a lot less "reviewing". Excuse me!!!! Do not actually have to make anything (BUT I DO) to recognize something on verge of being reckless.... IF you don't want to be criticized quit posting these type of things and quit defending something that was pretty close to stupid and getting some one hurt.... You can not defend the action that all of us see, your mistake was not recognizing a problem and dealing with it but also going public with the foolish action .... I spend 38 years in "industry" and the place I worked had a rule, ANYBODY who saw something unsafe could SHUT DOWN ANY OPERATION if a unsafe condition was observes.... Don't yell "EXPERIENCE" to me!... Dale
June 12, 201313 yr I think one of the best qualities of the site is it's feedback concerning safety, since as you mentioned, a lot of us don't have the years of experience some of you have. I would rather hear a safety tip I already know a hundred times than miss one altogether. There's no reason to take offense, or get defensive. You could simply have said "Yes, I noticed it wobbled a bit, I'll have to check it" and saved yourself all this drama. (And yes, you can lose a limb due to a crush injury. I know a guy who lost his leg after one.)
June 16, 201313 yr I have that exact same set up in my shop. 120# anvil on a narrow stump. Very wobbly, but I rarely use it and didn't really give it a second thought. My 11yo nephew came for a visit last week and bumped into the anvil while we were working on another project. He weighs less than the anvil, but that didn't stop him from being able to knock it over. Thank the lord that the anvil went the other way because there's no chance either one of us could have caught it. I was too far away and he's too small. He was a bit upset because he thought he'd be in trouble for breaking the anvil loose from the stand! To be honest, when I first built the stump and put the anvil on it, I saw how unstable and bouncy it was. It's easy to say things along the line of "we're grownups." or "we're professionals" or "decades of combined experience." But I can say the same thing. Been working with my hands since I was a kid, and I've got the scars to prove it. There are necessary dangers all throughout are lives. An anvil on a narrow base isn't a necessary danger. It is no different than if the smith is using tongs that don't fit the stock, causing the hot metal to fly through the air. Just trying to catch that anvil when it tipped over would be enough to pull a back muscle and ruin the week. Or, it could have been tipped over and run into the calf of someone standing nearby and not paying attention to it. Lots of not-good things are possible and I'm just as guilty as anyone in that video. Anyhow, saw the video and thought I'd share my experience. Now I'm going back out to the shop and hunt down any more unnecessary dangers!
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