Got my new Holland anvil 125# double horn with upsetting block and side shelf. It's mounted on pressure treated 4x4 and 4x6's, silicone in-between and a chain wrapped around it and lag screwed into place to hold it down. And it cut down on the ring greatly. I welded up the hammer rack for it and added casters to the side to just lean it over and roll it outside. The forge is also on casters and rolls outside. Tonight was the first night I got to use it. Made a leaf keychain from a piece of rebar, I know it's not best but it's what I have laying around. I'm planning on making a bunch of them until I get better hammer control then move to something else and do a bunch, etc. Rebound is slightly better than 90% on the face, the cone horn is a little less maybe 60-70%. Outside the pritchel hole there is no rebound but out there I'm guessing that's not uncommon. Side shelf, upsetting block and sides all have some rebound as well. I'm very happy with it. Can't wait until I can do an entire day forging on it instead of just a couple hours. 

Looks good from here. Rebound falls off as you move out the horn and heel, normal normal.

Enjoy.

Frosty The Lucky.

Very nice indeed!

If you get bored doing a whole lot of the same thing; think about identifying a number of projects that use the same techniques and then you can move around in that set.

I was looking at those a while back because I like to forge with the horn to the right, and yes I am a right handed hammer man. It is the only anvil they sell with the shelf what will allow the horn right and the shelf to the back. However when you are working over the back edge of the anvil, not the shelf, it seems like it shelf could get your fingers if you were not careful. Normally the shelf is on the back left side for a right handed person and not the back right side. What are your thoughts?

I'm having a hard time envisioning what you're asking. Could you rephrase that?

8 hours ago, JHCC said:

I'm having a hard time envisioning what you're asking. Could you rephrase that?

I am not an artist so don't laugh, but here is a drawing to clarify what I am talking about. When hammering on the back side of the anvil, if you are bending a piece of material down the back to make a 90 for instance, your hand will be right over and potentially into the edge of the shelf. Hopefully that makes more sense.

 

That's only going to be a problem if your hand goes below the level of the anvil face.

I don't recall my fingers ever hitting the anvil's face when using a hammer.

Wonder if it could though if the shelf is sticking out 3 inches farther back? Maybe not a problem, just seems like the shelf works better on the back left side because it is out of the way. This anvil, as in my drawing, puts the shelf on the far right side by the horn which seems like it would get in the way as a right handed smith. Just my thoughts, the shelf on the back left works well though because it is not in the way if you are right handed.

BTW, I am not trying to discourage the new owner of this anvil, it looks quite nice, I just am wondering about the design decision of the shelf placement.

Where it works best would depend on the way the smith uses the anvil and the types of things they forge.

Fair enough!

Good Morning Geebe,

That is quite a serious problem. You could stand on the other side, or you could saw the Shelf off. Your Choice.

Neil

Suspend it from the roof and hammer upwards!

Congratulations on the new anvil, it should serve you well.

I am not a fan of chains wrapped around anvils. I use old speaker magnets under the heel for my non-Fisher anvils. But, even with the Fisher I still use earplugs. 

There are several ways to deaden the ring without chain.

Where does one find old speaker magnets these days?

In old speakers......

Cruise by a thrift store and ask if they have any junk stereo speakers.  Goodwill has distribution centers and you would be amazed to see what they throw away.  You can also find them in junk cars, stereo shop pull outs, along side of the road, apartment dumpsters, etc.... Most any magnet will do as long as it has some mass to it.  Or you will need a bunch of smaller ones, then you anvil will look like it has barnacles.

In Micro-waveys, there is a stack of magnets.

Neil

I'm kind of digging the mental image of anvil barnacles myself. 

I like a steel tripod stand for damping loud anvils.

Frosty The Lucky.

9 hours ago, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

Any junk stereo speakers.  Goodwill and you would be amazed to see what they throw away.  You can also find them in junk cars, stereo shop pull outs, apartment dumpsters, etc.... 

In old speakers eh? Who would have thunk? LOL!

I find them at the scrapyard---which also takes in cars; you can often guess which vehicles have large speakers mounted in the back of them!

16 hours ago, Frosty said:

anvil barnacles

That collect lots of scale & little pieces of steel.

I like latex calking compound between the anvil base and stump/stand.

Mr. JRM ...,

If the obstruction is a problem using your left hand may solve it. Left hand hammering is not very hard, it requires less precision than other tasks.

Alternatively, you can do such hammering when situated at the other end of the anvil.

SLAG.

Can many people here forge ambidextrously? Whenever I've tried, it feels really clumsy for both my hammer hand and tong hand.

My ambidexterity has improved over the decades of my smithing as the tong hand isn't passive!