Got told my anvils face was too smooth, and it got me thinking

Last week at a hammer-in near Springfield, an old-timer looked at my anvil and said it was 'too polished, like a city boy's toy.' I spent hours grinding and sanding that thing to a mirror finish, thinking smoother meant better for drawing out metal. But he showed me how his slightly pitted face actually grabbed the steel better and kept it from sliding around on cross-pein blows. I tried it his way on a 3/8 inch coil spring I was flattening into a knife blank, and the difference was night and day. The steel held still, my hammer strikes landed more true, and I didn't have to chase the piece across the anvil every three hits. Now I'm thinking I overdid the prep work and might need to texture mine back a bit. Has anyone else messed up a good anvil face by making it too flat and slick?

2 comments

2 Comments

grayperez6d ago

City boy's toy?" That's rough, dude. Ouch.

quinn5826d ago

Oh man, @grayperez did NOT hold back with that one. I mean, calling someone a "city boy's toy" is just cold, like damn.