Had my anvil shift mid-strike and nearly lost a toe

I was working on a hot 1-inch round bar last Tuesday and my anvil decided to do a little dance on the concrete floor. The stand wasn't bolted down and the whole thing tipped sideways, sending the hammer flying into my boot. Has anyone else had a close call like this with a setup that seemed solid?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbyp617d ago

Grounding the whole setup might help too, static buildup can make tools jump.

ruby6597d ago

Can't believe you went from hot steel straight to nearly losing a toe... that's wild. I had an anvil on a rusty old brake drum once and thought it was solid until I hit a big twist on a chain link and the whole thing wobbled like a drunk man. Concrete floors are unforgiving too, they don't give at all so all that force just goes into the metal and your foot. Lucky you didn't break something serious with that hammer flying around.

the_viola7d ago

Fix that wobble with a piece of rubber mat or an old tire under the brake drum. I used a piece of conveyor belt on my anvil stand and it kills the vibration. @ruby659 you're right about concrete being unforgiving, I almost put a sledge through my foot once when the stand shifted. The key is to bolt or chain the anvil down tight so it can't move at all. That way all the shock goes into the metal and not into your legs or the floor. You can also throw a thick piece of plywood under your work area to take some of the sting out of dropped tools.