# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/21 "2012-10-22T11:32:48Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I [play](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjMHCzoneuM) my anvil… [Me too](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDC2e6i6Quw). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/22 "2012-10-22T16:05:01Z")
Several ideas in this thread show up in my first Teemings piece, **Watch Out For Falling Anvils** : [http://www.teemings.net/series\_1/issue01/anvils.html](http://www.teemings.net/series_1/issue01/anvils.html) ---
**Author:** ![El\_Famous\_Burrito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_famous_burrito/32/3954_2.png) [@El\_Famous\_Burrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Famous_Burrito)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/23 "2012-10-22T18:54:53Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I [play](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjMHCzoneuM) my anvil… That’s the spirit! An anvil, to me, is a musical instrument. As a percussionist, I come across a work or two every couple years that calls for an anvil. Using a real one would be great, though I do have a nice substitute. The most common anvil-substitute for percussionists is a brake drum (as in, harvested-from-the-wheel-of-an-old-car brake drum). But several years ago I got my hands on an old oxygen tank. I tell ya, that sucker makes a realllly nice, loud PING when struck with a hammer! A friend-of-a-friend procured the tank for me, so I don’t know the precise origin, though I was assured it was legally obtained. It came with no extra hardware/valves attached and, in fact, had a hole drilled in the side (to improve resonance and, perhaps, demonstrate that it was empty). I guess these details weren’t visible from the back of the concert hall. After one performance, a patron approached our conductor and worriedly said: “Tell your guys to be very careful with that thing. I am a retired nurse, and they can be quite dangerous. In hospital once, I saw an oxygen tank fall over. Its valve got knocked off and turned it into a missile. Someone could have been killed!” Dude thought I was whacking away on a pressurized tank with a hammer! So, yeah, that’s my advice. Turn it into a musical instrument without raising the worries of audience members. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/24 "2012-10-23T12:43:14Z")
I have a couple - I have a [shoemaker’s anvil](http://2.imimg.com/data2/CC/OY/MY-926734/nvr-1102-250x250.jpg) (which I use for making shoes, natch), a jeweller’s anvil that I use for both jewellery and leatherwork, and a farrier’s anvil that resides at a friend’s place, that can be used for blades and other hot iron work. ---
**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 23, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/25 "2012-10-23T13:18:24Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Make it [fly a hundred feet in the air.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhQ4dE_RGnQ) I’d want to back off a bit more than they did. It’s not an absolute certainty that it would fly straight upwards with that setup. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/26 "2012-10-23T14:26:55Z")
I use it to mass produce rust in combination with my [forge](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/211/picture769.jpg/). ---
**Author:** ![Oukile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@Oukile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oukile)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/27 "2012-10-23T17:35:42Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I [play](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjMHCzoneuM) my anvil… [Is there any other use ?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUFWNKFajjA&fmt=6&t=4260) ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352/28 "2012-10-24T08:15:41Z")
When I was growing up, my father’s favorite expression about my antics was, “Give him an anvil and a rubber mallet and he’ll break the anvil every time!” My anvil’s stored in my memory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-use-your-anvil/638352.md?page=1)