That moment when my anvil shift almost cost me a finger

I was working on a forge weld at my shop in Phoenix last Tuesday, and my anvil slid about 4 inches on the stand while I was swinging a 3 lb hammer. The piece flew off and hit my safety glasses, cracked them right down the middle. Turns out I hadn't greased the mounting bolts in like 6 months, and they'd rusted loose. Now I check and tighten everything every Monday morning before I fire up the forge. Anyone else had a near miss because of a loose anvil or stand?

2 comments

2 Comments

patking9d agoMost Upvoted

Cracked safety glasses are scary, man. I had a similar thing happen with my grinder throwing a wire wheel fragment right at my face. Now I do a full walk around every morning before I start anything, checking all the bolts and mounts. Loose equipment is the worst kind of surprise.

margaret2348d ago

That loose anvil thing is no joke. I've taken to using lock washers and a drop of blue Loctite on the mounting bolts ever since I had a stand wobble on me during a heavy hammer session. Check the bolts on your stand's legs too, sometimes they work loose with the vibration. A sharpie line across the bolt and the nut lets you spot any movement at a glance without having to dig out a wrench. Grease the threads when you reassemble, it keeps the rust from freezing everything solid in the Phoenix humidity.