Dropping your workpiece constantly around the anvil can be frustrating, to put it mildly. The last thing you want is for hot steel to fall on your leg or hit you on your arm. That is why holding your material during work at the anvil is very important.
In today’s article, we look at some of the best work-holding options for the anvil that will make your job much safer and also more comfortable.
These are the five best work-holding options for the anvil:
- Holding your work between your legs
- Have somebody else hold it for you
- Using the Holdfast tool
- Using an adjustable work stand
- Using tongs
- Using various clamps
- Wrapping the anvil with a roller chain
Note that each of them has its pros and cons, therefore, not all of them can be used for all types of projects. Okay, let’s start with the first one.
Holding Your Work Between Your Legs
Placing the material between your legs during the blacksmithing work on the anvil is one of the simplest ways of work-holding options. I mean, all you need are your legs, a workpiece, and an anvil. Hopefully, you have all equipment you need for this.
While I don’t recommend this option as much as others, it is extremely useful when you don’t have any other option at your disposal. It is especially handy when it is required to use both hands for cutting or punching.
However, this method has its drawbacks. If your anvil is set up too high, it can be very uncomfortable to hold the bar between the legs. Even if your anvil is set at the right height, this method limits your angle of standing at the anvil.
Namely, to hold the stock between your legs while you are working a the anvil, you have to stand straight. So, there is no freedom of movement, which can cause problems if your project requires working at different angles.
Another problem is comfort. For example, when working with some weirdly shaped object, placing them between legs can be very uncomfortable. Also, this method only works for working with long bars.
Have Somebody Else Hold It for You
Having someone to hold the material while you are working would be ideal. In that case, you don’t need any other option. The reality is that most people work in the shop alone, so they rarely have someone to help them.
If you have some friend, neighbour, or apprentice willing to hold your material while you are striking it, you are the lucky one. When inviting someone who doesn’t know anything about blacksmithing to help you in the shop, make sure to introduce him/her to the safety aspect. Safety equipment, such as safety glasses and earmuffs is a must.
The problem is that a lot of people are afraid of being in the blacksmithing shop in the first place. The chances are that if you ask them to hold the hot piece of steel while you are hammering, they will run away.
If this method is not possible for you, please keep reading.
Using the Holdfast Tool
So, if you are not of the lucky ones who have an assistant, don’t worry. You just have to keep searching for other ways of holding the work. The good news is that there are many other ways of achieving that.
A Holdfast tool is one of the most popular ways of securing the workpiece at the anvil. It is basically a bend over the bar that locks in the pritchel or hardy hole. Depending on the size of your anvil, you may use different sizes of the holdfast, but typically it is very versatile. Holdfast (affiliate link) is also very simple to make and easy to use.
All you need to do is to place the material on the anvil and insert the holdfast in the hole. After that simply put the end of the holdfast on the material and strike it with the hammer to lock it. When you are finished, strike the bottom part of the holdfast to remove it from the hole.
As you can already imagine, forging the holdfast tool is not complicated. It is usually made of mild steel but spring steel can be used as well. To learn how to make holdfast, check the videos below.
Using an Adjustable Work Stand
Instead of placing the material between legs, using an adjustable work stand is a great alternative for holding the work. Unlike the first method, the work stand allows you to move around the anvil freely. That way, you can work at various angles and not just at one angle.
It is extremely simple to use. Set it at the desired height and distance from the forge and lay the material on it. However, like all methods, this one also has its downsides. Even when you place one side of the bar on the anvil and the other on a stand, it still tends to slide. So, one of the fastest and most reliable ways of solving that problem is to hang some weight on a bar.
What that does is that it adds more mass to the bar and therefore making it more stable to work on. One of the ways to do that is to get a heavy enough piece of metal, chain, and hook.
Using Blacksmithing Tongs
Obviously, blacksmithing tongs had to be on the list. A good pair of tongs makes the blacksmithing work much easier and more comfortable. One important thing I should note is that tongs must fit the type of work you are doing. For example, you cant use flawed jaw tongs for holding large round bars.
Also, choosing the wrong forging tongs can be quite dangerous. The metal can easily slip and hit you on your arms or fall on your leg. So, when I was just starting out, I didn’t realize the importance of the correct tong type. One day I worked with some thick round bars. The only tongs I had were small pick-up tongs, so I tried to use them. I will just say that didn’t go very well.
Tongs are excellent work-holding options for short metal bars. With the proper tongs, the grip is usually quite sufficient to endure the constant striking of the hammer. However, when using tongs, you are limited to using only one hand. So, if your work requires using two hands at the same time, consider using some other method.
One of the best tongs for all types of blacksmithing is Picard Wolf’s Jaw Blacksmith Tongs.
Using Anvil Hold Down Clamps
Clamps are also one of the efficient ways of securing the work at the anvil. I never used them for this purpose, but I see a lot of people using pipe clamps, and various other DIY anvil hold-down clamps. Most of them are locked in the hardy hole, but they can also be attached to the springs at the sides of the anvil.
Check the videos below to get some ideas on how to make your own clamps for holding the material.
Wrapping the Anvil With a Roller Chain
And finally, wrapping the face of the anvil with a roller chain or even a motorcycle chain can also be used as a way to hold to your work. While you can do that in many different ways, two of them are mostly used.
First is to simply attach one side of the chain to the weight and the other on the nail or bolt on the other side of the anvil. The second would be similar to the first one, but instead of using the weight, you would use the spring.
