# How do you use your anvil? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352 "2012-10-20T20:36:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/1 "2012-10-20T20:36:47Z")
Drop it on coyotes? Something else? A girlfriend gave me a [small anvil](http://www.amazon.com/Olympia-Tools-38-789-Hobby-Anvil/dp/B003ES5T9C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350765224&sr=8-1&keywords=anvil) something like 20 years ago. I used to use it when doing leatherwork. I’ve used it to put grommets in a tarp. Now it’s mostly used to weight my gravlax. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/2 "2012-10-20T20:45:08Z")
DH and I have a much smaller version. It works for wire-related jewelry projects and DH thinks it would be adequate for what need he would have for one doing leather stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/3 "2012-10-20T20:49:38Z")
I don’t have an anvil - not a real one, anyway (I wish I did). I use an offcut of steel I-beam I pulled out of a heap of builder’s waste in a skip. I haven’t used it much yet - I do plan to do a little bit of smithing when I get a chance (I want to make a bushcraft knife). I use it mostly when I’m centre-punching hard metals before drilling, letter-punching and other things that involve a bit of bashing that would damage my workbench if I did it there. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/4 "2012-10-20T20:54:13Z")
I certainly use my anvil (passed down to me by my father). It is one serious chunk of metal - about 1 foot of a railroad rail and weighs about 20 pounds. Anyway, I use it for working with metal. For example, suppose you wanted to join two 5 foot chains. You could find some scrap iron (16 penny nail works nice). Then you’d use the anvil to shape the nail and then shape the nail around both links of the chain to make a 10 foot chain. Basically that’s what I use it for. A three pound sledge is also very handy for use with said anvil. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/5 "2012-10-20T20:54:31Z")
It’s a decor item used to make my workshop look more badass. It’s a nice addition for home dungeons too. Right next to the spanking bench and breeding stool. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/6 "2012-10-20T21:02:51Z")
I wish I had an anvil… that’s one of the things I forgot to bring with me when I moved out a few years ago. I had about 8" of railroad track that I used for leatherworking & armor repair when I was in the SCA; there are a few things I’d like to make and an anvil would definitely come in handy. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/7 "2012-10-20T21:55:23Z")
Here’s a video of some [guys who really know how to use an anvil](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3L--EqOwOI). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/8 "2012-10-20T22:10:27Z")
Flattening the end of piece of metal. Riveting. Shaping, bending sheet metal. Not that often really. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/9 "2012-10-20T23:54:48Z")
**Ethilrist** Yes, railroad track makes one heck of an anvil. **Qadgop the Mercotan** An anvil definitely accentuates the badass component of any workshop. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/10 "2012-10-21T00:07:24Z")
Make it [fly a hundred feet in the air.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhQ4dE_RGnQ) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/11 "2012-10-21T04:09:07Z")
The usual. Dropping it from a great height trying to flatten roadrunners. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/12 "2012-10-21T04:41:27Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It’s a decor item used to make my workshop look more badass. That’s really why I have one. I have the small anvil on the bench vise, and plenty of sizable chunks of steel that do the job. I’ve used the face of a sledge hammer also. But none of those draw the eye like an anvil does. Even the size of the bolts clamping it to the bench are impressive. Also, every anvil on the ground means one less that can fall out of the sky. It’s been raining anvils around here lately. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/13 "2012-10-21T04:55:53Z")
I use it to hold my enemies as a setup for a Hart Attack. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/14 "2012-10-21T05:01:24Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > **Qadgop the Mercotan** > An anvil definitely accentuates the badass component of any workshop. If **Qadgop the Mercotan** ’s “workshop” refers to his office, it’s a _doctor’s office_ in a prison! Badass place indeed even without an anvil, all the more so with! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/15 "2012-10-21T12:15:16Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > If **Qadgop the Mercotan** ’s “workshop” refers to his office, it’s a _doctor’s office_ in a prison! Badass place indeed even without an anvil, all the more so with! 😃 Nah, my office at work is pretty standard, no anvil. ☹ My home workshop is not for medical practice! Though working in it has resulted in medical procedures (fortunately minor). ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/16 "2012-10-21T14:22:59Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It’s a nice addition for home dungeons too. Right next to the spanking bench and breeding stool. okay, now I gotta ask… The dungeon and spanking bench are , I think, self-explanatory. But what’s a breeding stool? Is that a fetish thing, too? (and, no, I’m _not_ going to google it. ) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/17 "2012-10-21T14:38:11Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Also, every anvil on the ground means one less that can fall out of the sky. It’s been raining anvils around here lately. _Don’t sit under the anvil tree With anyone else but me Anyone else but me Anyone else but me…_ ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/18 "2012-10-21T14:45:51Z")
I used to have a cartoon posted in my work area. It was a single panel called That’s Jake The panel was titled "Jobs That are worse than yours (#27 in a series) The cartoon showed Jake lugging a very large anvil up a steep sidewalk. The caption was “Door to door anvil salesman in a hilly neighborhood,” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/19 "2012-10-21T23:26:01Z")
I [play](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjMHCzoneuM) my anvil… ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/20 "2012-10-22T01:53:51Z")
Our anvil is sitting around in our garage behind our garbage cans; we haven’t cleaned it out/rearranged things such that my wife can set up her metalworking bench yet. When she does, I’ll lug that godawful heavy thing over there (it’s a full-sized shop anvil) and we’ll mount it somehow. The anvil itself is kind of cool; my grandfather-in-law apparently bought it off some old Central Texas blacksmith’s estate something like 50 years ago; this old guy had used it his entire working life working for farmers, making horseshoes and other farm-related stuff, and I’m not sure if Gf-in-law ever used it or not. The thing is probably 80-100 years old. It needs to be resurfaced pretty badly, but I can’t imagine that’s more expensive than a new anvil. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352.md?page=2)