The anvil I learned on vs. the one I use now, night and day difference

Ngl, I spent my first 5 years hammering on a beat up 150 pound Fisher that had a face like the surface of the moon. Picked up a 260 pound Peter Wright from a farm auction near Lancaster, PA about 3 years ago and it completely changed how I work. The rebound alone is night and day, I'm getting about 90% back instead of maybe 60% on the old one. Anyone else notice a big jump after upgrading their anvil, or is it just me?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettywilson3d ago

Oh man, I feel this so much! I learned on a beat up old anvil that my grandpa literally found in a barn and it was basically a giant bell, the ring was so loud I had to wear earplugs just to tap on it. lol. When I finally upgraded to a nice 200 pound Hay Budden a few years back, I was honestly mad at myself for waiting so long. The rebound was like 40% better and I could actually feel the steel moving instead of just dinging it. That old Fisher you had sounds like a real workhorse even if it was rough, but yeah, going from 60% to 90% rebound is a complete game changer. I ended up selling my old anvil to a newbie for cheap and he thought it was the best thing ever, which just goes to show how much we put up with when we don't know better. lmao

jessica_miller3d ago

That barn find anvil thing is wild because I bet a lot of those old ones were actually factory seconds or just cracked castings that got dumped. I had a buddy who scored a 150lb Trenton from an estate sale, took a wire wheel to it and found a hairline fracture running through the waist that was filled with JB Weld and painted over. He still uses it today because the face is in good shape, but the rebound on that side is maybe 50% on a good day. The thing nobody talks about is how much of that 60% vs 90% difference comes from the anvil being properly mounted to a heavy stump or stand. I've seen guys with brand new Nimba's getting terrible rebound because they just set them on a hollow plywood box. A little chain or wedge between the anvil and a solid oak stump can bump your rebound up 10-15% easy. So that old Fisher might have just needed a better setup before you moved on from it.