Soft side of the anvil

[BillyBones]

I was going to ask this in just another thread but decided to make its own thread, thought it may help others.

Anyway i spent some time yesterday watching some videos. One was a Mark Asprey video of him making a miners candle stick. That video shows a great method of making sharp corners on a piece. During the process he said he would use the "soft side" of the anvil and that his chisel had a soft side he would use to finish a cut. 

So what does he mean the "soft side" of the anvil? I assume that he means that the corner has more radius on one side than the other and same with the chisel not being sharp all the way across but having one side slightly rounded rather than sharp. But we all know what happens when you assume. 

Just want a little clarification and figured i would ask the experts. 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

If I remember the video, he said using the soft edge of the anvil, referring to the radiused edge of the anvil face. I think you have the chisel right.

[Frazer]

He also frequently uses the term "soften" or "sweeten" the edge when he is talking about breaking sharp edges.

If he is planning to open up a slit that is cut with a chisel he breaks through at either end with a chisel that is rounded on the two faces perpendicular to the edge. He does that to avoid the really squared off ends on either side of the slit that would need to be filed out later if you're going for, say, a tear drop shape. He describes that a bit in his blacksmithing calipers video, part 1 IIRC..

[BillyBones]

Thanks guys, that is exactly what i was thinking just wanted to clarify. 

Also to clarify i did not think it was a soft spot on the anvil meaning less hard. i have heard the term softening a corner when taking the edge off. Some of his terminology is slightly different and  I was just not sure if he meant the same thing. 

[pnut]

Making the chisel is covered in vol 1 of his book series also. It's the first time I've ever seen a chisel with a sharp leading edge and a rounded trailing edge perpendicular to the main cutting edge of the chisel. I'm surprised they aren't more widely used. As soon as I get some suitable stock I'm going to make one.  Just realized I have some Unit V anchors haha. They're a challenge to work with though. 

Pnut

[BillyBones]

I scored a piece of A-2 recently that was 12" x 4" x 7/16", was becuase i hacked of a 4" x 4" piece to make a flatter, mostly i was thinking slitters but maybe a chisel will be in order. 

[pnut]

1 hour ago, BillyBones said:

i was thinking slitters but maybe a chisel will be in order. 

A slitting chisel is what I was referring to. I'd post a picture of it but I can't find a non copyrighted version. 

Pnut