Home forge anvil stand debate

I'm redoing my backyard shop and stuck on anvil stands. Some smiths say a solid, fixed stand at knuckle height is key for control. Others like a stand you can change for different jobs, like when working thick stock or doing detail work. Curious what the community prefers.

3 comments

3 Comments

lane.joel1mo ago

But having it locked in one place feels wrong to me. Sometimes you just need to get up higher for punch work or stand on a plank for heavy drawing. A couple of wood blocks under the stand fixes that in two seconds without needing a whole new base.

angelapalmer1mo ago

The knuckle height thing is a bit off. You want the face of the anvil at your wrist height when you stand next to it. That lets you keep a straight wrist for a solid hit. If it's at your knuckles, you're bending your wrist down and losing power. A fixed stand at that right height is way more important than being able to change it. You can always use a thick plate on top for a little lift if you really need it.

william_ellis291mo ago

Yeah, that wrist height rule applies to so much stuff. My garage workbench is a few inches too low because I just used some old shelves, and now my back hurts after fifteen minutes of tinkering. We accept these small, daily strains (like a monitor that's not quite at eye level) instead of fixing the root setup, which seems silly when you say it out loud.