BillyBones Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Just out of curiosity how do yall position your anvil? I have seen a lot of internet chatter lately on this and i am just curious how everyone else does it. Some i have seen say there is a proper way and you must adhere to it, while others (myself included) say however works best for you. So i prefere my anvil to the right of my forge , maybe 1 - 1 1/2 steps, enough room to get to the other side between it and the forge, at about a 45. My horn is to the right also. I am right handed and i do not want my hammer hand over my hardy. Anyway just wondering on anyone else's thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 I say what ever you are most comfortable with that works for you. I have one anvil to the right of the forge and the horn is to the right. Another anvil is directly behind the forge and the horn is to the left. Both anvils are within a step & a half from the forge. I have no problem with my hammer hand over the hardy hole because it does not contain any tooling when I'm working on the horn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Many tools are specifically designed for one hand or the other, diagonal pein hammers for instance. Anvils, for me, work better with the horn pointing in the direction of the dominate hand. This allows the hammer to work over and around the horn, without the rest of the anvil getting in the way. Step in front of the horn and you have a full circle of access. Now turn the anvil horn toward the off hand and you will find you have to work over top of the entire anvil to get to the horn. You do not have full access to the horn. When you purchased the anvil, you bought the whole anvil, not just the face. So turn the anvil every which way but loose. Lay the anvil on its side and use the curve between the feet as a radius (swage block), with a different radius between the feet and the waist. Turn the anvil horn up to use the radius between the horn and the feet, and turn it heel up (horn down) to use the radius between the heel and the feet. Horn up lets the horn act as a cone. Heel up lets you access the edge of the heel (side of the face away from the horn) as a 90 degree corner on a slant. It is your anvil, use it to your advantage. More importantly use it the way it is most comfortable for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Depends on what I'm doing. My shop forge is a strong IR radiator so I don't care for it at my back and work off to the side. If I'm working small pieces I need to keep an eye on I'll orient the forge on the other side of the anvil so I can keep an eye on things and the distance is short so I don't waste heat. Lean over, drop the last part, grab the next, step back and the anvil is under the work. Large work I put the opening to my left side so the forge's wall is shielding me from the IR. I'm still working things out with the NARB forge. I don't use the horn that much except as a fuller for rough drawing. When I used one to true rings I put it to the right so the hammer drove the part onto the horn for better effect. With the horn to the left the tendency is for the force to make the part want to slip down the taper and waste energy. I don't hammer with my hand over the anvil so tools in the hardy hole aren't a concern. I don't let new guys work with a hardy in the hole on my watch. I try to develop the habit in them to NOT hammer with their hand directly over the anvil if possible. In general I turn the anvil to suit my next action just like I lay out the next: tool, hammer, piece, etc. while the steel is heating. Sometimes I just step to the other side or end, other times I turn the anvil. Being on a tripod stand it's easy to tip and pivot it around. After Brian Brazeal's visit a few years ago I've been spending more time working off one end or the other. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiddleMesaMetals Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 I work in a propane forge which is to the left of my anvil. The anvil sits at about a 45 to the forge, with the horn pointing left, a step and a half from the little inferno. I feel that having the horn on my tong hand side (I'm right handed) gives me better control when using the horn. I've turned many horseshoes from barstock which means the arcs I put in hot steel have to be precise. I am also a strong advocate of whatever works easiest for the individual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 I started out pointing my anvil at the forge and that's the way I have it oriented. I'm right handed and it doesn't seem to impede my forging on the horn at all. Try it both ways and see what you like the most. I'd set out to make 3 different things with it one way, and make the same 3 things again the other way. Note which seems to flow better and go with it. The old timers claim your anvil should always be pointed toward the forge. I took that advice, but I don't think it really matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy k Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 You could point the anvil towards the forge, but it all depends on what side of the anvil your standing on. A couple of quick steps and your adjusted to use it the other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 43 minutes ago, MC Hammer said: The old timers claim your anvil should always be pointed toward the forge. That's news to me, a regional thing maybe? Their reasoning? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 I'll also agree with whatever way works best for You for what You are doing. I mainly use mine with the horn to my left. I'll move around the anvil to what suits the work Or just move the anvil if it's better suited to the work at hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 One of the previous times we've had a discussion of which way the anvil horn should point---with some folks holding that the anvil horn MUST be to the left and it didn't matter if you were right handed of left handed, or what you typically forged; I went through "Practical Blacksmithing" and every time someone had given a diagram of their smithy I noted which way the anvil was pointing. The first one I saw had the anvil pointing directly towards the forge and normal to the side of it---turns out they did a lot of hoops and so having the anvil pointing towards the forge worked best for them.... As I take the forge to events a lot; my setup is usually based on where I'm setting up and which way the wind is blowing. In my smithy I generally have an anvil to the right and an anvil to the left. Often the BIG Fisher and the Small A&H so I can make use of it;s thin heel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 4 hours ago, Frosty said: That's news to me, a regional thing maybe? Their reasoning? Frosty The Lucky. You and I are both scratching our heads. I'm not sure why either but I've read it in a number of books. When I began blacksmithing, I thought these guys must know something I don't and now I'm used to having my anvil pointing that way. My other Fisher anvil is behind me at about 10 o'clock so the horn is pointing to about 1 o'clock. I tend to use that horn more because I can stand in front of it better and work around it better. I'd say this is a great reason to own more than one anvil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 My Large Fisher has a broad horn which is lovely to draw stock on, no danger of cold shuts. The only thing I could think of for the horn to the left would be to have the sweet spot of the anvil line up with the tong holding hand---but that only works for right handers. I would have thought it would be "to the left for righties and to the right for lefties and vertical for the ambidextrous as punishment for their smugness!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 I'd remember reading that recently if an ex-associate hadn't decided he needed most of my library more than I did. Bad story, never mind. One book I recall was a collection of articles from old blacksmith trade magazines IIRC and they spoke in absolutes. One of my favorites being, "Once you try my method you'll find it superior." or to that effect. As has been discussed, apprentices weren't usually allowed to ask questions, Do it THIS way. PERIOD. A good example of a good or better direction to address the horn would be drawing out the hoop on a bottle opener. When I do it with the horn on my left I have to lean over to have my blows strike into the horn. If I put it to my left I can stand back, relax and strike with a slight angled motion. Call it a sidearm blow, SLIGHTLY sidearm. If I made a lot of openers I'd make a dedicated drift but that's a different thread. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Sounds like "Practical Blacksmithing", Richardson 1889,1890,1891 and reads very much like a lot of forum/'tube posts "My way is better!" (but at least not the "I've never done this before; but this is the way you do it!" that we get nowadays on the net. As for "positive viewpoints on one's methods": ever work with German trained smiths? (Or other areas---we had a German engineer working on a project in the USA and after a mere 5 years in Socorro he was overheard admitting that *perhaps* my wife was correct about something she was an expert with over 30 years of teaching it; over his own, never having done any of it, opinion. Silenced the entire room!) This is also where I get my statement: "In blacksmithing everything has only *1* correct method of doing it and that is: Any way that works! " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 That's the one. Yes, I've worked with and for Germans my whole life. Dad would hire a German metal spinner and we'd get to listen to how it's REALLY done. Until Dad retrained him so he could actually make a living spinning. Manual (stick) spinning is the ONLY real way to spin you know. In extreme stubborn cases Dad would let them spin one of our bread and butter parts manually as piecework. While Dad spun with scissor tools on the next lathe. The ratio was usually 6:1 if the new guy maintained quality. Once he'd convert a German's opinion they all but idolized him. As I recall they were excellent to great spinners one and all, Dad preferred German spinners when he could hire one. You do a nice rewording of the old adage, "If it's stupid and it works it ain't stupid." I recommend a newcomer NOT permanently Orient the anvil by say burying the stand. Talk about the, "If a little is good a LOT must be better," philosophy taken to silly lengths. Oh go ahead all you guys with buried anvil stands give me grief, I've heard it before. I just prefer to be able to reorient my anvil without having to move the whole shop. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoot Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Just think of it as a tool. Whatever orientation is comfortable, whatever surface is useable (within reason ). Don't let someones idea of how the horn should be facing constrain you. Think out of the box type of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 The best way to "think out of the box" is to not get into it in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted March 21, 2019 Author Share Posted March 21, 2019 Thanks yall for the input. I am of the thought its a tool, use it the way is best for you. I have positioned mine in a few ways and i am happy with it right where it is. I have enough space to get around it so if i do need the horn on my right i can just walk around it. Anyway this was just something i have seen kicked around the internet lately and was just wondering what everyone else thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Frosty you didn't put casters under your slab and hook up the in floor heat to sliding valves? How odd.... I actually plan to bury my anvil stand for the 469# Fisher; but only after I've moved back and worked in my smithy a goodly while. It's a dirt floor so I expect I can move it later if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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