Why do blacksmiths tap their anvils while forging?

[Glenn]

25 posts in 14 hours.  I need to go to the forge and try ALL the suggestions to see what works, and why. (grin)  I may even have to change my technique before this is over.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Glenn your a lovable old brat

[2ndChanceCowboy]

Ironman, well stated sir. A few beers also helped back then.lol Yet never kissed my anvil hoping for a sexy girl. Although hindsight being what it is, wished I had now. Laughin

Just know by experience n many years of grey hairs. Wishing for that sweet Angel of a lady.

Could now be seen as tryin to entise a Langley sponsored water boarding baptism of a feral cat,,, Just tryin to bring some added humor to this topic. Smile. Enjoy you guys allot,,, Ty

[ausfire]

I don't know (or care) if it's right or wrong. I don't tap the anvil, but that's my choice. If I need some thinking time it would be more than the time it takes to tap the anvil. I'll put the work back in the forge to reheat while contemplating the next move. Each to his own; do as you will.

[caintuckrifle]

An old boy told me the devil hates the sound of a working man, you tap the anvil to keep him away.

[Pault17]

i am not a tapper. i tend to think my swings through while hammering, turning on the upswing and all.  I haven't learned the habit of tapping, but who knows.

I have seen other smiths that almost make a production of tapping, to the point of tapping instead of hitting (hit, hit, tap, hit hit, tap...).  funny to watch someone tire themselves out needlessly.  I have asked them, offline, why they do it, and the answer is usually "because that's what blacksmiths do".  funny

But then again, I have watched people like peter ross making stuff and he taps sometimes and not others.  depends on the work.

[Borntoolate]

It makes no sense to me to waste that energy and also potentially damage the hammer / anvil doing this.   But I find myself doing it on occasion nevertheless.   Usually when I am thinking or trying to rearrange the piece for more hammering.   I should have a better plan in my opinion...  

 

I see some folks do it as almost part of ritual or to be stylish so it appears...   Hit twice, tap three times...  etc..   That drives me crazy...   At least that is how I see it.  

 

But I am not everybody.  and I don't think or see or plan or execute like everybody...       It still seems a waste at some point...  BUt I do it sometimes...   And if others do it more then who am I to say what is right or wrong.   Frankly I am a novice at this.   So tap away.   Just don't use my hammer doing it.   OR my anvil  

[arkie]

I think it's a latent, hidden desire to play drums..... :wub:

[Donnie]

It sounds as though I am tapping the anvil every few blows. In reality my hammer is just bouncing in a half opened hand as I reposition the stock. I never grip the hammer. I lift it and throw it with a partially closed/open hand.

[mtforge]

I would be willing to wager thet many of you who "dont waist the energy" do it occasinaly wile foccused on how to finish up a heat, tho many take it to an extream, probbably in imulation of othersmiths when they were starting out and not understanding that its not a necisary part o smithing, just a byproduct of rhythm, habit and thinking of somthing other than your hammer.

I would be willing to take you up on that wager. I've taught a few people how to hammer including two of my daughters. One of them still works for me as a blacksmith. If I ever caught her tapping the anvil in my shop we would have a serious discussion. And if she caught me she'd be laughing at me.

[Black Frog]

I think it's a latent, hidden desire to play drums..... :wub:

 

I've played drums since I was six years old.  :)

 

All this hubbub about tapping a hammer on the anvil......

No one is damaging a hammer or anvil by tapping it. 

 

Once you're in the motion and flow of repetitive hammering, it takes more energy to stop and hold the hammer for a pause than it does to take a light tap on the anvil and let the hammer rebound back, keeping the motion fluid.  Of course this would all depend on the work being done, the weight of hammer being used, and the person doing the hammering.  Sure I've seen some do the repetitive tapping to excess as well, and that can be annoying.  But a simple tap while repositioning work, or for a quick thought, to keep the rhythm going is not hurting the anvil, hammer, or person.

 

It doesn't take much energy to keep a basketball bouncing.  Once the ball is bouncing, you can keep it going with a simple finger tap.  But if you interrupt that basketball bouncing for a pause, consider the energy involved in pausing the flow of the bounce and then resuming it.  Same concept with a hammer.  I know some may argue with the analogy, but a body in motion tends to stay in motion.  Overcoming the inertia of a non-moving body takes energy.  Your body's natural desire to conserve energy while working is where the tap comes from.   From experience your brain knows that using rebound is easier than stopping, then lifting and swinging from a stopped state.  Using the rebound off the anvil keeps the motion going.  And of course it can get carried away for some.  Again, this will all depend on the work being done, hammer being used, and the person doing the hammering.  This is not a "one size fits all" discussion.

 

.....let the debate continue....  :)

[corex]

It's part of the proces of learning and watching and taking time.

 

Italian

 

Also part of tradition, heritage and sounds good

 

Romania

 

spectacular team work beginning at 14'10"  They Rock!!! at 160 beats a minute

 

Have fun

[mtforge]

All this hubbub about tapping a hammer on the anvil......

No one is damaging a hammer or anvil by tapping it. 

 

.....let the debate continue....  :)

I've never said it damages the anvil or hammer. Maybe extra wear over time but that's all. But I also don't walk around the anvil on the way to the forge even though it might keep my dancing feet in rhythm. It might just come down to repetition. We do a lot of the same motions over and over. We know what is to be done and what the item is supposed to look like. We made over 8,000 tent stakes last year. After a while you can count the hammer blows for each one. If I only made one item a week or so I would probably have to think about what I'm doing. Instead I can see what's going on and stay ahead of the item. I tell people it's like chess you need to be a few moves ahead of what's going on.

[SmoothBore]

Yeah, ... the first video looks like a new style of "Tap Dancing".  :P

 

 

 

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[corex]

and tapping for fun.

 

[SpankySmith]

Nice video Corex!

I'm new to smithing, don't recall my instructors tapping, but I find myself doing it on occasion, mostly because it gives me a second to look and think about where I want the next blow to fall. I'm working on an ancient scarred up Peter Wright so I'm not that concerned with damaging the face with extra blows - it wouldn't even notice for all the "character" already writ large all over it.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Mt, I would take you as the exception then. I respect your belief that it is wasted effort, tho I stand by my hypothesis. Unless you have trained it out of yourself or some one else, I think the occasional tap is natural, as part of the muscle memory and instinct to seek rhythm. Unless you are working on your thousandth tent peg, there is a moment when the heat is leaving, in witch you want to make minor adjustments (flattening, redefining an arch, shoulder etc) and often you need a pause to decide how best to do so. As your are in "strike mode it seems natural to take that moment as a tap instead of coming to a full stop and then restarting the hammer.
Is it taken to the extreme? Most certainly. Dose it make it wrong not to tap? No more so than the occasional tap.
As a father of two daughters, please know how proud I am of you as a dad, and your daughters as smiths

[Pat Roy]

Lots of similar opinions, repetition on and on. I didn't read all of them. I think tapping is annoying, a waste of energy and very unkind to your hearing if your anvil has any ring. But have it your way.

[Matt_K]

This is a question I get almost to the point of annoyance when I'm volunteering at the state park. Here though, I'm willing to get into it in a bit of depth. :D

 

I tend to tap the anvil once or twice as I'm about to hit what I'm working on. At first, I was going to say that it was the equivalent of a verbal 'uh'. A momentary gathering of thought while getting the work where I want it. But thinking on it, I have a more complex explanation. 

I'm looking at my work when I'm placing it on the anvil. I'm unconsciously making decisions on where to put it and where to hit it. I'm also not looking at my hammer. I know where I put it, and I can find it without looking. But... Where did I grab it? I'm one of those Long Handle Guys, so I may have grabbed it a bit to the back, or a bit to the fore. A bounce or two will let me know exactly where the head of that hammer is without having to look, thus saving a full microsecond or four.

 

As for tapping while working, I'm with the Conservation Of Motion crowd. If I know I'm not going to get my piece turned fast enough, or I want to change my grip, or even change to the other hammer face, I'll let the hammer bounce on the anvil before the next actual hit.

 

Three taps between hits? Now you're showin' off and wasting time. :lol:

[HWooldridge]

Matt,

 

That's probably the most concise response I've seen in this thread.  Bravo!

 

HW

[SJS]

When I was learning to smith I was encouraged to hit, hit, tap or something like that. I did it for a while and seem to remember it being easier, less tiring, and have an over all fond memory of the practice.  Since there were long breaks where I didn't do much forging, I got out of the habit, and as I got back into forging regularly I got better, and I did it less often. Now I only do it occasionally. Sometimes I think it helps with muscle memory, where you don't know what to do next or can't remember what you had thought you needed to do while the part was heating, and that tap primes the pump to get you "flowing" again.. I also thick the hammer falls "dead" on the steel delivering all of its energy to the steel, so you have to lift the hammer back up, and the occasional tap "enlivens" the hammer and it bounces back up from the blow, allowing your arm a bit of a rest.  If it is done right and your on an anvil with excellent rebound... Still I have gotten out of the habit most of the time, most of the time I am work several irons in the fire and hammering one thing after another... 

 

I lack the venom of the Anti-tappers for the most part;-), but I imagine if I saw someone wasting too much heat to tap it would offend me I suppose, but someone who does it well, it wouldn't bother me.  I think if the person were working smoothly and efficiently a couple of taps wouldn't bother me. If it looks like the person is dawdling, or really doesn't know what they are doing I can see how it would be off putting;-) or they are too busy doing an obsessive compulsive behavior...

 

I think I remember some kind of Japanese saying, something like a good craftsman is NOT slow, he works quickly without seeming hurried.  That is ultimately my goal, work quickly without rushing and slapping things around, and do my best on each job, and hopefully I get better all the time. If I can fall into a nice rhythm, make it look easy, and do it gracefully even better.

[njanvilman]

Interesting how many of these post actually have a count of the number of taps on the anvil.  I have never paid any attention to that detail; I just concentrate on what I am doing.  If the taps happen, so be it.

[matto]

do you tap your grinder before or during grinding, do you tap your drill while checking it's progress in the hole, almost everything we do has a stop and pause in it so why is it always a tap tap at the anvil and nothing else? Be it bad or just it is a learned habit that is it. this is part of what i learnd today while watching Brent Bailey work in his videos. when he was grinding hammer handles he would grind then set the grinder on the bench for a couple of seconds then grind more. it was a set not a tap tap. when he was forging a cross pein he would set the hammer on the anvil for a second then strike again. there are many smiths that also do the same. going back to it is a learned habit, if it works for you to tap tap great, if it works for you to set the hammer on the anvil for a second great, what ever works for you that is what you need to do!! just because you smith different than the next guy or gal does not make you better or worse, it makes you you. fits the saying: there is more than one way to skin a cat!

[Charles R. Stevens]

I wonder what the bio-mechanical and ergonomic engineers wold have to say. Inertia, muscle/skeletal strain, efficiency...

I see the folks in the tappers side, or neutral to tapping propose hypothesis as to possible reasons why people do so. Wile the no tap school offers blanket condemnation of the practice, with the dogmatic belife that it is a bad habit and waste of effort. Why is this?

[Black Frog]

Anvil tapping is annoying. If I am around someone who insists on doing it, I leave. If I am watching a video and the smith turns out to be an anvil tapper, I move on to another video. Wasted motion is wasted motion, however you try to justify it. Anvil tapping is simply wasted motion. If you want to rest your hammer arm, then rest it, don't tap your anvil. If you have to retain your "rhythm", whatever that is, by some external means, then put some music on. When I see (hear) an anvil tapper, I assume they can't remember what were trying to do and are tapping on their anvil to try to cover up that fact. When I encounter an anvil tapper, I assume I am meeting someone whose first blacksmithing teacher didn't bother to stop them from developing a bad habit, a habit which even some experienced smiths have continued and continue to justify in many creative and nonsensical ways.

Thinking about this some more, this type of attitude is extememely narrow minded. You're telling me that if we found an old video of Yellin or Colnik working and they happened to be tapping their anvil you'd move on to another video? Dismiss the genius over a few taps of the anvil? That is absurd.
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