You can also use it to mount up tools, commonly called pritchel tools. This is just the round version of the hardy hole. Therefore, a pritchel hole is just a clearance hole that allows the punch to go through the metal, instead of risking damage to the anvil face. Doesn’t that just clarify everything?Ī pritchel is a type of punch that’s used in making horseshoes. The pritchel hole is actually used for pritchels. Since it’s securely held into that square hole, you can really go to town with beating on these tools. You can mount up all sorts of other shapes, too, which can punch all different kinds of shapes into your steel. One example is to mount up what basically looks like an axe head or wedge, which allows you to easily chop material into the desired length. You can create all sorts of things that can just drop into the hardy hole and turn your anvil into a swiss army knife. The cool thing about it is that this is where you can mount your tools. It’s usually big enough to stick your thumb into it. The hardy hole is just a square hole that’s in the face of the anvil. This is my favorite part of the anvil, essentially because it’s so versatile and only limited by your imagination. If you want to regularly slice metal apart, you need to use the hardy hole. It’s there for convenience and light-duty use. If you’re using it day in and day out, you will end up damaging it. It’s not designed for heavy-duty use, though. Basically, you just lay the metal against the edge of the step, hammer it, and it will slice apart. The reason for this is that the step is used to cut metal. Unlike the face, the step is supposed to have sharp edges, not rounded ones. The step is the part that’s between the horn and the face. Worn out or lower quality anvils will often have chipped or broken edges on the face. This can make the metal move very quickly, but it also leaves an extremely jagged, staircase-looking shape that will need to be straightened and smoothed out afterwards.Īctually, if you’re assessing the condition of an anvil, the edges of the face are one of the most noticeable areas of wear and tear. Some blacksmiths tend to hammer their workpiece on the edges to concentrate more force into small sections of the metal. Sometimes it’s even a high carbon steel plate welded on to the top so that it’s extra strong.Ĭommonly, the edges around the face will be somewhat rounded. Modern anvils have faces made out of hardened steel. It’s basically just a hard, flat surface that you can beat on. The face is hands-down the most frequently used part of the anvil. You’re already basically an expert on the horn, but the other four parts are really interesting, too. So at the beginning I said that there are five main parts of the anvil, each with a specific purpose. Some anvils might even have more than one horn, for the sake of giving the blacksmith more options. It’s useful for whenever you want a smooth, even bend in metal. Of course, the horn isn’t just limited to horseshoes. If you hammer it on the thicker part of the horn, you’ll get a wider curve. If you hammer the horseshoe nearer to the tip of the horn, you’ll get a tighter curve. This means narrowing or widening the spread of the horseshoe so that it aligns with the natural edge of the hoof. The horn is typically only used for straightening and bending, not for general forming.Īn example of where the horn is particularly useful is for adjusting the curve of horseshoes.įarriers work to fit the shoes perfectly to a horse’s hoof. It’s not used for hammering out metal to push it into the desired shape. In fact, despite being the most recognizable part of the anvil, the horn is only used briefly to straighten bars out. In actuality, the horn is generally not the most used part of the anvil.īlacksmiths will pretty much always spend more time hammering away on the face of the anvil.
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