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LET'S TALK RUSTY IRON
Knocks & Blows
Anvil irons took a beating
By Sam Moore
This month's column is a change of pace from tractors and farm equipment. Instead, we'll take a look at anvils. Most early farm shops had an anvil, or at least a chunk of railroad rail that could be used to straighten or bend metal, set rivets - and crack walnuts.
The discovery of metalworking, which began in the area of present-day Turkey and Iran about 6,000 B.C., changed the world. According to Anvils in America, by Richard A. Postman, copper and lead were being smelted together and the resulting lumps of metal hammered into thin sheets and used for ornaments by 5,400 B.C. Also, copper was being used to make weapons and tools by 4,000 B.C. Another millennium passed, though, before smiths learned how to mix molten copper and tin to make bronze.
The early smiths used stone hammers to beat the copper and lead, and stones served as their anvils. Pieces of meteorites that appear to have been used as anvils also have been unearthed. These meteorites are quite hard and consist mostly of iron with a bit of nickel and other trace elements.
About 1,700 B.C., the Hittites in Asia Minor discovered iron and how to smelt it. Iron is harder and tougher than bronze, and soon the Hittites were crafting superior weapons. They dominated the Middle East for 500 years before their civilization finally crumbed. Iron weapons appeared among the barbarian tribes of central Europe about 700 B.C., and were spread westward by the Celts, who dominated much of Europe from 650 B.C. until being subdued by the Romans about 100 A.D. Iron anvils have been found in Roman ruins, and the anvil is mentioned in the Bible in Isaiah 41:7.
Early anvils were made of many materials, including stone, iron-bearing meteorites, bronze and iron as already mentioned. After the process for making steel was discovered, the soft wrought iron anvils then being used were fitted with a hardened steel faceplate, and when cast iron became available about 1600, it was much cheaper than steel, so some anvils were made of that material.
Chilling could harden the face of a cast iron anvil but cast iron is brittle, so these anvils couldn't be used for heavy work. A few manufacturers sold steel-faced cast iron that worked fairly well.
Wrought-iron anvils were made of blocks that started out as piles of scrap iron. The scrap iron was forge welded, and the resulting block was shaped into an anvil under a trip hammer. Next, the hardened steel faceplate was hammer-welded into place and final finishing was done by hand, using sledge hammers, flatters and other shaping tools as well as grinders. As many as seven men were needed to position and hammer a single anvil during this process. Present-day anvils are made mostly of cast steel with a hardened face.
Anvils have been made in many styles over the years, although the types commonly found today at farm sales and in antique shops are smiths' or farrier's anvils. The farrier's anvil differs from the smith's by having no shoulder and a larger horn, as well as often having a second pritchel hole. Sometimes, a small, flattened protrusion comes off the side of the larger horn and is used to form the upright clip at the front of a horseshoe.
Many different anvil tools, called hardies (also spelled "hardy"), can be made to fit into the square hardies hole on the anvil's heel, including hot and cold cutters, flatters and fullers, and swages. Typically, these tools are made by a blacksmith for various purposes; their uses are limited only by the user's imagination. The pritchel hole is used for punching holes, while both it and the hardies hole can be used for holding the end of a rod for bending. The hardened face of the anvil is used for hammering hot or cold metal, and the unhardened table is used for chisel work. The horn is used for bending curves, particularly the shaping of horseshoes.