That moment my anvil rang wrong and I figured out why

I was working on a 12 inch blade last Tuesday in my shop outside Denver and the ring just sounded dead. Checked the anvil and found the face had a hairline crack running from the hardie hole to the edge. Saw three other guys at the guild meeting this month with the same problem from cheap cast iron anvils that can't handle heavy hammering. Has anyone else had a face crack on a 200 pound anvil, or am I just unlucky with my supplier?

2 comments

2 Comments

caleb_thomas9310d ago

Man, that exact same thing happened to me about two months ago. I was finishing up a big Bowie knife and the ring went totally flat, like hitting a wet log. Pulled it off the stand and found a crack running from the hardie hole straight out to the heel. I had bought that anvil cheap off a guy on Craigslist, thought I was getting a deal. Turns out it was one of those cast iron bodies with a thin steel face plate welded on, and the plate just let go after a few heavy sessions. My supplier swore up and down it was "good quality," but after talking to a few old timers at the guild, they told me to check the rebound with a ball bearing. That test never lies. If your anvil rings dead, it's already dead in my book. You're not unlucky, you're just dealing with the same garbage everyone else is getting these days.

the_jenny10d ago

Wait, you're telling me that anvil had a steel face plate welded on top of cast iron? That's just asking for trouble. @caleb_thomas93 I've heard of those cheap imports but never actually met someone who got burned that bad. A ball bearing test would have caught it before you even got hurt.