Took me 4 months to figure out my anvil was set up wrong

I got my first anvil back in March and set it on a log stump. After a few months of struggling with my hammer blows bouncing funny, a guy at a forge-in told me my anvil face was leaning forward by about 10 degrees. I had never checked it with a level or anything. He helped me shim it level with some flat washers and now my hammer hits a lot cleaner. Has anyone else had trouble with anvil setup causing bad forging habits?

2 comments

2 Comments

ray18925d ago

Is 10 degrees really gonna throw off your hammer that much though? I've seen guys work on literal chunks of railroad track with no leveling at all and they still crank out decent stuff. Sounds more like you just needed to practice your swing and the shims were a placebo.

spencerm4625d ago

Doesn't 10 degrees mess with your bevel angle and edge geometry way more than just the swing though? That's not a small thing if you're trying to get a consistent grind. I'd say shims aren't a placebo they're just being smart about setup.