The Art & Science of Anvil Design

Anvils, are one of the oldest and simplest of tools. Their key purpose, to provide a work surface with mass to resist the blow of a hammer has not changed since the stone age. Yet, as simple as an anvil is, there has always been a surprising amount of sophistication in their design from an mechanical, engineering and artistic standpoint. Thousands of tool makers over thousands of years have studied, thought about and designed anvils.

If the hammer is the king of tools, the anvil is the queen. The forge, with hammer and anvil are the tools that bootstraped the worls into the industrial revolution and on into the space age. Here we will discuss their features, design, and mysteries.

		NEW!   The Mystery of the 5th Foot Why did so many 18th cntury anvils have a 5th "foot" and what was it for?
		Anthropomorphism, The Upturned Horn Anthropomorphism in anvil design.

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