![]() ![]() The pritchel hole is a small round hole that is present on most modern anvils. It is also used in punching and bending operations. The hardy hole is a square hole into which specialized forming and cutting tools, called hardy tools, are placed. Upsetting is a technique often used by blacksmiths for making the steel workpiece short and thick, having probably been originally long and thin. There have also been other additions to the anvil such as an upsetting block this is used to upset steel, generally in long strips/bars as it is placed between the feet of the anvil. It is soft and is used for cutting its purpose is to prevent damaging the steel face of the anvil by conducting such operations there and so as not to damage the cutting edge of the chisel, though many smiths shun this practice as it will damage the anvil over time. The step is the area of the anvil between the "horn" and the "face". Also, some anvils are made with side horns or clips for specialized work. Some anvils, mainly European, are made with two horns, one square and one round. It also is used by some smiths as an aid in "drawing down" stock (making it longer and thinner). The horn is used mostly in bending operations. The horn of the anvil is a conical projection used to form various round shapes and is generally unhardened steel or iron. Hammers, tools, and work pieces of hardened steel should never directly strike the anvil face with full force, as they may damage it this can result in chipping or deforming of the anvil face. ![]() A hard anvil face also reduces the amount of force lost in each hammer blow. The face is hardened and tempered to resist the blows of the smith's hammer, so the anvil face does not deform under repeated use. Also, sharp edges tend to cut into the metal being worked and may cause cracks to form in the workpiece. Any marks on the face will be transferred to the work. It is generally made of hardened steel and should be flat and smooth with rounded edges for most work. The primary work surface of the anvil is known as the face. This anvil is not heat treated or made from tool steel. There are larger anvils that are made out of multiple pieces such as “The mile long anvil” made by Napier which weights 6500 pounds. This anvil was made in 2023 by Oak Lawn Blacksmith. The largest single piece tool steel anvil that is heat treated is 1600 pounds. Inexpensive anvils have been made of cast iron and low-quality steel, but are considered unsuitable for serious use, as they deform and lack rebound when struck. The great majority of modern anvils are made of cast steel that has been heat treated by either flame or electric induction. Before the advent of modern welding technology, it was the primary tool of metal workers. In most cases the anvil is used as a forging tool. JSTOR ( January 2010) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ĥ5 Pound Bavarian Style Anvil Single-horn anvil A blacksmith working iron with a hammer and anvil A blacksmith working with a sledgehammer, assistant (striker) and Lokomo anvil in FinlandĪn anvil is a metalworking tool consisting of a large block of metal (usually forged or cast steel), with a flattened top surface, upon which another object is struck (or "worked").Īnvils are as massive as practical, because the higher their inertia, the more efficiently they cause the energy of striking tools to be transferred to the work piece.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Food for thought.This article needs additional citations for verification. It could be that my anvils were simply custom forged with some features left in and some left out. Now I see in the catalog that HB took custom orders. I had the clip horn but no swell, because perhaps the swell had not been thought of yet. For instance, my little anvil had one pritchel hole because perhaps someone on the staff had not yet thought of two pritchel holes. I often wonder whether the differences were because the company was transitioning from blacksmiths' to farriers' anvils, and it was making changes little by little. It had the clip horn, no swell and only one pritchel hole. Again, many years later, a 140 pound HB farriers' anvil came to me. It has a narrow face, a clip horn, and two pritchel holes. It is very sleek looking, one yard long and one foot tall. It weighed 213 pounds and had a good 5"D swell to the horn. ![]() Another HB farriers' pattern came to me many years later. It had two pritchel holes but no swell to the horn. I was traveling with a farrier, and it turned out to be a farriers' pattern with the clip horn. I got my first anvil, a Hay-Budden, from a San Pedro, CA, ship salvage yard in 1963. ![]()
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