Finally figured out why my anvil ring was driving me crazy

Three weeks ago I was out in the shop in Nashville trying to get a good weld on some cable damascus and the sound from my anvil was just awful. It had this high pitched ring that hurt my ears after about 10 minutes. I tried wrapping chains around it and that helped a little but not much. Last Tuesday a older smith named Dave stopped by to pick up a hammer I fixed for him and he noticed right away. He said my anvil wasn't seated properly on the stand and that I needed a thick rubber mat between the base and the wood. I cut up an old conveyor belt I had lying around and slid it underneath. The difference was night and day. No more ring at all just a solid thud now. Has anyone else tried different materials between the anvil and stand to kill the ring?

2 comments

2 Comments

gonzalez.vera4d agoMost Upvoted

My grandpa used to swear by old tire rubber for that exact fix, worked like a charm for him.

hill.david4d ago

Wait did you try the tire rubber method yourself or just hear about it from him? I had a similar leak in my garden hose last spring and ended up slicing a piece of old bike inner tube to wrap around the crack. Held it in place with zip ties and duct tape. Lasted me through the whole summer no problem.