Vent: a retired farrier told me my anvil stand was too tall and I finally measured it
I was at the Georgia Blacksmith Gathering in Madison last month and a retired farrier named Dale watched me work for maybe ten minutes. He said my anvil face sat too high and my hammer was coming down at a slant, so I was fighting the steel instead of hitting it square. I went home, cut 4 inches off the stumps, and reset the whole stand in about an hour. My strikes feel cleaner now and the wrist soreness after a two hour session is basically gone. Anyone else rebuild their stand after a stranger pointed out something so simple?
Dale watched you for ten minutes and said nothing until the end, which is either the most polite thing ever or the most cowardly. Four inches is a big cut, so I hope Dale knows he owes you a beer for the wrist pain he could have saved you months ago. My old shop teacher pulled the same move on me about a bench vise height, waited until I finished a whole project before telling me I looked like a caveman hunched over it. At least yours came with free advice and a fix.