Posted : February 2012
Author : Daven Hiskey
Anvil shape has evolved greatly since the earliest
anvil-like objects. These primitive objects used for anvils were
typically made of stone, often just a slab of rock. The first metal anvils were
made of bronze, then wrought iron, and, finally, steel, which is the material
of choice today for anvils, though cast iron is also used in low-end anvils
(cast iron is quite brittle for this particular use and absorbs more of the
hammer blow’s energy than steel does, so it is not preferred).
Over the centuries, the common shape of the anvil has
evolved from a simple slab to the shape most of us associate with an anvil
today, namely the “London Pattern”, which became common in the 1800s.
While the length and overall size of the various elements can vary from anvil
to anvil, the key features of the “standard” design are typically a horn, a
step, a face, a hardy hole, and a pritchel hole. The primary use of these
various elements is as follows:
·
The horn is the “front” end of the anvil which
is curved. This allows the smith to hammer different curves into the
piece they are working on, with the precise curve depending on how and what
part of the horn they hold the piece on while they hammer it. Some
anvils also come with multiple horns, of differing shapes and sizes.
·
The step is the flat area next to the horn, just
below the face. This is often used as the cutting area, using the edge of
the step to “cut” a piece while hammering it. However, frequent use of the step
for this purpose can also damage it, so the use of tools attached to the anvil
for cutting is often preferred for non-hobbyists.
·
The face is the main large flat slab where most
of the hammering takes place. It also contains the hardy hole and the
pritchel hole. Unlike the step, it often features slightly rounded edges
so that the edges don’t cut into the metal being pounded on the face.
·
The hardy hole is a square hole through the
anvil that allows you to secure various tools in the anvil. These tools
can include chisels, various swages (used for shaping or marking the metal,
generally a block of metal with a recess for forcing the metal into the shape
of the recess), bickerns (smaller, specialized versions of the horn),
etc. The hardy hole can also be used directly for an aid in bending or in
hole punching.
·
The pritchel hole is a round hole meant as an
aid in punching holes through the metal you’re working on, but obviously the
hardy hole can be used for this as well as mentioned. The pritchel hole can
also be used for holding tools. So, basically, the pritchel hole is a
round version of the hardy hole.
On a related note, if you’ve ever watched a smith work,
you’ve probably noticed many of them will strike whatever they’re working on a
few times, then follow it up by lightly tapping the anvil’s step or face a
couple times. You may have heard that they do this to cool the hammer
down by having it come in contact with the anvil, but this is the opposite of
what they’d want to do. Warm hammers and warm anvils are actually what
they want, because it keeps the hot metal they’re working with from cooling
down as quickly, so it requires less heating while shaping, which saves time.
Further, the very brief contact between the hammer and the anvil isn’t going to
transfer very much heat, even if the anvil is quite cold.
In reality, they are not actually tapping the anvil for any
real purpose other than to simply either rest their arm while they quickly
examine the results of the last few strikes or to simply keep their rhythm
while they examine the piece. In the former case, resting the hammer on the
anvil next to the piece is simply a convenient place to rest it. With it
in this position, it is a shorter distance to bring the hammer back up to the
appropriate striking position, over say, letting one’s hammer and arm rest at
one’s side while the piece is examined. In the latter case, some just find it
nice to continue their hammering rhythm while they examine what they’re working
on, rather than stopping completely. They only tap the anvil, rather than
strike it, both to save energy and because you should never pound an anvil
directly with the hammer as it can cause slight deformations to form which
would then be transferred to whatever you’re working on in the future.
Bonus Facts:
·
Humans aren’t the only animals on Earth that use
objects as anvils. For instance, Chimpanzees often use sticks or rocks as
hammers and logs or rocks as anvils in order to crack open nuts.
·
Anvil firing (the practice of launching an anvil
in the air with gunpowder) was once traditional in various places in the world,
particularly in the Southern United States.
Typically, one anvil is placed upside down with its concave base then filled
with gunpowder. Another anvil is then placed on top of that anvil
right-side up, so their bases match and with a fuse coming out of the inner
concave area filled with gun powder. Depending on the quality of
gunpowder, the amount used, and the weight of the anvil, when the gunpowder
ignites, the anvil will be shot into the air to various heights. This
somewhat dangerous practice was often used in substitute for fireworks at
certain celebratory events. It was also once traditionally used on St.
Clement’s Day (Pope Clement I is the patron saint of blacksmiths and
metalworkers).
·
While blacksmith is a familiar term, you may not
have heard of a farrier, mentioned above. A farrier is basically a hoof
care specialist that, among other things, is typically skilled at making horse
shoes. At one time, most blacksmith’s were also skilled farriers and
vice-verse. However, today this is usually not the case with modern
farriers leaning more towards just being horse hoof care specialists and modern
blacksmiths, while able to make horseshoes, usually are not skilled at also
caring for horse hooves.
·
The name “farrier” comes from the Middle French
word “ferrier”, meaning “blacksmith”. This Middle French word in turn
derives from the Latin “ferrum”, meaning “iron”.
·
The name “Blacksmith” simply references the fact
that they are smiths (deriving from the word “smite”, meaning “to hit”) that
work on “black” metal, with the metals typically turning black from a layer of
oxides after being heated. Obviously the oxide layer is generally later
ground off.
·
Anvils were once commonly made of wrought iron,
rather than steel. Wrought iron is just iron with a very low carbon
content (lower than steel or cast iron). It was once considered pure
iron, but by today’s purification standards this is no longer the case.
·
Steel is simply iron that has a small amount of
carbon added, usually .2%-2.1% (other materials such as manganese, chromium,
tungsten, etc. can also be used). The net effect of adding carbon or the like
is that the iron is significantly hardened.
·
When enough carbon is added (around 2.1%-4%) to
the iron, rather than steel, you get cast iron, which is derived from pig
iron. Cast iron is much harder than steel, but the price for this is that
it is much more brittle and less ductile. The name “cast iron” comes from
the fact that it has a relatively low melting point and is easy to cast.
·
Pig iron is simply the result of taking iron ore
and smelting it with some sort of carbon fuel, such as charcoal or coke.
The name comes from the fact that the branching structure of the molds for pig
iron ingots coming off a main line has the appearance of piglets suckling
on a sow (an “ingot” just means a shape suitable later processing or
transportation, such as a traditional gold bar type shape).
·
While not up to modern standards, the earliest
known steel making was done over 4000 years ago in present day Turkey.
Steel pieces have also been found in East Africa
from over 3400 years ago. The Chinese are known to have begun quenching
their steel as recently as about 2000 years ago.
·
Iron is the most common element by mass overall
of any on Earth, though it is only the fourth most common element in the crust
of the Earth.
·
Iron is formed from decayed nickel-56. This
nickel is produced in stars and is subsequently spread about via stars large
enough to go supernova doing so, with it being the last element produced in
those stars before they go supernova.
~Blog Admin~
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