Overheard a old timer say he heats his anvil to 150 degrees before forging in winter

I was at a hammer-in up near Albany last weekend and this gray-bearded guy mentioned he sets his anvil on a hot plate to 150F before striking cold steel in January. Said it keeps the billet from chilling too fast on the first few hits. Has anyone else tried warming their anvil like that or do you just rely on a hot fire?

2 comments

2 Comments

gonzalez.vera21d agoMost Upvoted

My uncle used to keep a thick iron plate on the back of his forge for the same reason, said he read it in an old blacksmithing manual from the 1800s. He claimed it saved him from having to reheat the steel after that first disappointing hit on a freezing anvil. I tried it once with a piece of railroad track heated about 125 degrees and it did seem to keep the metal moving a little better in the dead of winter. Not sure how much it really matters with bigger stock, but for small work like knives it makes some sense.

diana15521d ago

Oh man, "that first disappointing hit on a freezing anvil" really got me... I had the exact same thing happen last winter. I was working on a little skinning knife blade and the steel just went dead after one hammer blow, like hitting wet wood. I've been preheating my anvil face with a propane torch for about ten minutes before I start now, just enough so it feels warm to the touch... not hot, just not cold. It really does make a difference for small stuff, I swear the metal keeps moving way better. I read something once that said cold anvils can suck the heat right out of thin stock in the first second of contact. For bigger stuff like axes or heavy tools I don't think it matters as much, but for knives and small blades I'm totally with you on this one.