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The Anvil Is a Tool, Not an Ornament

Walk into most small workshops and you will find one object that draws more admiring glances than any other: the anvil. It is also the tool most often bought badly. A handsome anvil with a smooth face and a fresh coat of paint can turn out to be a cast-iron imitation that dents under a three-pound hammer, while a scarred, rusty old thing may be the finest piece of steel in the building.

Understanding what an anvil actually does makes the choice far easier. Every blow you strike is a conversation between hammer, workpiece, and anvil. The anvil's job is to stay still, absorb the shock, and give energy back to the metal. When it does that well, your steel moves further with each heat and your arm tires more slowly.

Weight: How Much Is Enough?

Weight is the first thing to think about, and the answer is almost always "more than you think, but less than you fear". An anvil needs roughly fifty times the mass of your hammer to work efficiently. A two-pound hammer therefore wants an anvil of around 100 pounds — about 45 kilograms. A hundredweight anvil, or 50kg, is a common and very capable starting point for a home workshop.

• Under 40kg: portable and handy for small decorative work, but it will shift about, ring, and waste a good deal of your effort.
• 50–80kg: the sweet spot for most small workshops. Adequate mass without being impossible to move or to source.
• 100kg and above: a joy to work on, but you need a floor that can take it and a sensible way of getting it there.

Mass is not only about the anvil's overall weight but about what sits directly beneath it. A heavy anvil bolted to a flimsy stand behaves like a light one. A smaller anvil strapped firmly to a solid hardwood stump will outperform a heavy anvil perched loosely on a bench.

Rebound: Reading the Anvil's Response

Rebound is the measure of how much energy the anvil gives back. Test it with a ball bearing, roughly 25mm across, dropped from about 300mm above the face. A sound steel anvil will send it back up most of the way — aim for at least two-thirds of the drop height. A dead thud with almost no bounce tells you the face is soft, cracked, or badly mounted.

The hammer itself is a fine test too. Strike the face a moderate blow and watch what happens. The hammer should rebound briskly. Listen as well: a clear, sustained ring suggests sound steel, while a dull clunk may mean a delaminated face, a hidden crack, or simply that the anvil is sitting loose.

Condition: What to Look For, and What to Ignore

Old anvils carry their history on their faces, and much of it does not matter. The things worth checking are these:

• The face: lay a straight edge along it. A slight dip, known as swayback, is normal in a working anvil and often no problem at all; a deep depression in the middle makes flattening work difficult.
• The edges: chipped and rounded edges are fine, even desirable, since rounded edges are useful for drawing out and bending. Sharp, cracked chips are worth avoiding.
• The step, horn, and heel: look for cracks, especially where the heel meets the body. A cracked heel is a serious fault and not usually repairable.
• The hardie and pritchel holes: check they are clear, round, and not worn oval. These take your tooling, and a sloppy hole is a daily irritation.
• The face weld: on a wrought-iron anvil with a steel face, look along the line where the face meets the body. Flaking or a visible split means the face is separating.

Paint is harmless, surface rust on a working face is easily removed, and a slightly pitted face is a nuisance rather than a deal-breaker.

Testing a Used Anvil Before You Part With Money

Take three things with you: a hammer, a ball bearing, and a straight edge. Ask to see the anvil on a solid surface, not on a pallet, and run the tests in whatever order suits you.

• Drop the bearing and judge the rebound, repeating it in several places across the face.
• Tap the face lightly with the hammer and listen for a clear ring.
• Check the straight edge along the length and across the width of the face.
• Look closely at the heel, the horn, and the join between face and body for cracks.
• Weigh up your own priorities: a farrier's pattern for shoeing, a double-horned anvil for larger curves, a standard London pattern for general forging.

Be wary of anything sold as an anvil that rings with a hollow, tinny note or dents easily. Cast-iron anvil-shaped objects are decorative pieces and will not stand up to real forging work.

Settling It Into a Small Workshop

Wherever your anvil comes from, how you mount it matters as much as what you buy. Set the face at roughly knuckle height when you stand comfortably, and keep the stand as rigid and heavy as you can manage. A hardwood stump is traditional and excellent; a steel stand with a sand-filled base is quieter. Strap or chain the anvil down so it cannot move, and consider a sheet of lead or silicone underneath to take the ring down a notch.

Buy the best anvil you can reasonably move, mount it properly, and it will serve you for the rest of your working life. The scars it collects are a record of work done, not damage to be apologised for.