As I am barely writing this due to the wrist injury I developed in the shop, I decided to write this article to educate other smiths on injury prevention. Staying healthy and safe during blacksmithing work is important, which is why understanding what role ergonomics plays in this craft is a must.
What is Ergonomics?
Ergonomics is defined as the science of fitting a working environment to suit the worker’s needs to increase productivity and efficiency and reduce discomfort and the possibility of an injury. For someone who works at the office that may be the height of the desk or the angle of the monitor. The use of technology has enormously increased the requirement for ergonomics.
For us, blacksmiths the story is different. We worry about things like the height of the anvil, hammer weight, proper hammering technique, and many other factors. If your shoulder is hurting after 15 minutes of hammering work, you did something wrong. The same way is for your back and knees.
So, having a good grasp of ergonomics will make your blacksmithing work way more efficient and productive. I can’t tell you how many times I made ergonomic mistakes. My posture was terrible in the beginning. My elbow and shoulder were killing me after every forging session in the shop.
Setting the Ideal Anvil Height
While you may not immediately feel pain or discomfort working at the wrong anvil height, be sure you will overtime (probably after only a day or two). Striking the hammer on the anvil that is either too high or too low caused unnecessary stress on your posture. To be more precise, the shoulders, elbows, and lower back suffer the most.
There are two fundamental reasons for setting the anvil right:
- Injury prevention
- Preserving the energy
As far as the first reason, injury prevention, you know that improper anvil height often put a lot of negative impacts on your body. Knowing that the last thing you want to do is to work like that. An injured blacksmith is not a productive blacksmith. While some injuries may be minor, it is still the best idea to avoid them as much as possible.
Preserving precious energy is the second important reason for setting the anvil right. As you know, striking the hammer requires energy. Therefore, the more energy you have, the more effective and longer you can work. When I was just getting started, I couldn’t strike the hammer longer than 30 seconds without losing my breath or hurting my shoulder.
Also, with a low energy level, you are often forced to make negative postural compensation which often leads to wrong hammering techniques or even injuries.
Okay, so what if you set the anvil too low, what’s the big deal about that?
Well, striking at the anvil that is too low forces you to bend your lower back which causes tremendous stress on that part. While it may not be a problem for a few minutes, it sure will be after a couple of hours. But wait, that is not the only thing, there is more.
Besides bending your lower back, you would probably have to fully extend your elbows. Again, not a good idea for working with a blacksmithing hammer. The heavier the hammer, the more negative impactive impact will be. Chances are, you are not going to enjoy that forging session. I mean, no wonder, your body would be totally sore and tired from working with a wrong posture.
But what if the anvil is set too high?
Setting the anvil too high puts tremendous pressure on your shoulder joint. Namely, this scenario forces you to swing the hammer above ear level which often irritates the shoulders. Of course, the heavier the hammer is, the worse.
For instance, if your anvil is set at the wrong height, the hammer will blow at an angle which will create dents during the work.
One of the easiest ways of setting the anvil at the right height is to simply stand by its side. If you are right-handed, stand by your left side, if you are left-handed, do the opposite. Your feet should be at shoulder width. After that, make a fist with your dominant hand and observe the knuckles level. This is your ideal anvils height.
Hammer Weight
Okay, so you set the anvil correctly. The next thing to do is to choose the right hammer and its ideal weight. Usually, hammers in blacksmithing are divided into 3 main groups:
- Small-Size Hammers – 1 to 2 lbs (0.5 to 1 kg)
- Medium-Size Hammers – 2 to 4.4 lbs (1 to 2 kg)
- Large-Size Hammers – more than 4.4 lbs (more than 2 kg)
If you are a beginner blacksmith, I strongly recommend starting with the lighter one, usually one or two pounds. Most beginners don’t have developed hammer control, so heavy hammers are not the ideal choice to start with. Also, the lighter the hammer, the longer you can work and you also minimize the chances of possible injury.
One of the greatest pieces of advice I can give you on this is to always listen to your body. Just because you saw some guy working with a 12-pound hammer on youtube doesn’t mean you should also do that. Quite the contrary, you probably shouldn’t, especially if you are in the beginning stages.
Keep in mind that during work with heavy hammers, even the micro-adjustments have a significant impact on your joints. The good news is that you will get better over time and you will gradually advance to using a heavier hammer. Since blacksmithing is all about creating things from metal, you don’t want to mess up the project right in the middle of it and start all over again.
Small hammers offer much higher control and precision. Not only that, but they also allow you to work longer hours due to the lightweight. Note that the work at the anvil often lasts several hours so having enough energy is crucial, especially if you are working on some advanced projects.
Using small hammers minimizes the chances of occurring injury. Injury often happens due to bad hammer control or simply because of inattention. If you are making some tiny items, small hammers are not only recommended but possibly the only option.
Moving up, we have a medium size hammers. As you already presume, they allow you to work with larger pieces and produce higher impact. Medium size hammers also create shapes with much broader surface areas. Compared to small hammers, they are more massive, so working with them may present a challenge for some people.
For projects like when large hammers are large and small ones are simply too small, medium-size hammers often save the day. I would say that these are a high upper limit of what beginner blacksmiths should use. Rarely anyone needs a heavier hammer than 4 pounds in the beginning.
And the last ones are large blacksmithing hammers. This category includes all hammers heavier than 4 pounds. They are usually the best choice when heavy blowing is required. Due to their mass, large hammers are often used for punching metal. They are also recommended for projects that require the construction of some very wide planes.
The disadvantage of using large hammers is the fact that it is challenging to work with them for a prolonged period. Smith who uses heavy hammers daily is typically at high risk for developing an injury. If the same smith has a bad hammering technique, things get ugly even sooner.
Hammer Length
You may wonder now, what does the length of the hammer has to do with ergonomics? Well, a lot actually.
I mean, since the handle is the part that holds the hammer, the ideal length and proper grip are crucial for achieving the correct hammering technique. For blacksmithing work, a wooden handle is an ideal choice, mainly due to the stress absorption and more flexible adjustment.
The length of the hammer handle should typically be anywhere from 12 to 16 inches. You will see that some smiths prefer short handles while others the longer ones. It mainly depends on personal preference and the type of work they mostly do. For instance, small projects don’t require long handles. On the other side, forging some large projects often requires more force and therefore longer handles.
Keep in mind that the length of the handle is not the only factor to consider. Besides length, handle thickness is another extremely important. The last thing you want is to overgrip the hammer, so make sure that your handle is not too thick, otherwise, you will increase the likelihood of injury.
One of the easiest methods to determine the ideal hammer length is to simply take the head of the hammer and point it to your biceps. The handle’s end should be at the crook of the elbow. As far as determining the thickness, grab the handle, and observe your fingers. If your fingers easily touch your palm, the handle is too thin. Contrary, if your fingers can’t even reach your palm, the handle is probably too thick.
The primary goal here is to find your sweet spot. There is absolutely no reason to keep the handle as you get it. To shape it, you can easily place the hammer on the vice and use the disc grinder to remove excess material. For finishing, I recommend using either 120 or 180-grit sandpaper. Soak the handle in linseed oil for protecting the handle.
Note that the upper part of the handle should be thinner than the lower and middle sections. The upper part acts as a shock absorber which dampens the vibrations.
Recommended reading: The Complete Guide to Blacksmithing Hammers
Proper Posture
Keeping the proper posture during blacksmithing work is not only recommended but it is crucial.
Let’s start with the stand.
Stand
The legs for the body are the same as the foundation for the house. So, without having the proper stand, your whole posture collapses immediately. Usually, you want to stand with one leg front and one back. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart. Of course, there may be exceptions where having both legs in may be a better option.
In most cases, you are going to stand at about 45 degrees to the anvil. This angle allows you to do efficient striking without discomfort. Note that your knees should always be slightly bent to reduce additional stress on them and the lower back. Also, make sure to never stand with your legs completely straight.
Grip
After taking the right stand, the next important element is the grip. Grip position should be determined by the type of work you do. If you are doing some small and delicate work, grip the handle near the head as that way you will achieve greater control and precision. On the other side, if your work requires heavy blows, place the grip near the end of the handle. Usually, the sweet spot is always somewhere in the middle.
In terms of grip strength, it should be somewhat loose rather than tight. Keep in mind that your hammer should rock a little bit during the swinging action. A loose grip greatly reduces stress caused by striking. The effect is just the opposite if you grip the handle too tight. A tight grip is extremely common among beginner smiths.
I had the same problem at the beginning of my blacksmithing career. My elbow and wrist were so sore after every day in the shop. After doing some research I realized how to do it correctly. I wish I had information like this in the beginning but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
You may also notice that some blacksmiths place their thumbs over during hammering. Do not do that unless you are doing some work that requires precision and light strikes.
Swing
Before raising the hammer, make sure that your muscles are relaxed to avoid loss of precious energy and also to prevent possible injuries. Two general mistakes during swinging are flaring and fixed elbows. Do not raise the hammer above the ear level. That puts a lot of negative impacts on your shoulder joint.
As we established before, make sure that your anvil is set properly, otherwise, you won’t achieve the right technique. Most of the time, the hammer should be parallel to the face of the anvil when it is coming down but that depends on the type of blow.
Recommended reading: Blacksmiths Proper Hammering Technique – Complete Guide
Should You Do Any Physical Exercises as a Blacksmith?
As you already can assume, every blacksmith should be at least in some decent physical form. I mean, physical exercises are not a requirement for blacksmithing but working out will drastically improve your durability and productivity.
You noticed that in the past centuries, blacksmiths were much physically stronger than smiths today. The major reason for that is there were no power tools like drill presses, power hammers, angle grinders, and others. Everything was made by the use of their own hand.
Since muscular endurance is much more important than muscle mass, calisthenics exercises like pull-ups, push-ups, and squats are ideal. Statice exercises like planks and wall sits are other excellent exercises you can include for developing muscle endurance even more.
What Footwear Should Blacksmiths Wear?
Wearing adequate footwear during forging work is vital. It isn’t rare that hot pieces of metal and coal fall on the ground, so wearing the wrong shoes is dangerous. Steel boots are definitely one of the best choices in blacksmithing. They can usually withstand up to 70 lb items falling from 9 feet. Also, falls, sprains, burns, and slips are other usual injuries that can be easily prevented by wearing steel boots.
On the other hand, if you don’t have or like steel-toed boots, an option like Red Wings is a very common choice. They come in a variety of incredible styles and colors. The great thing about them is not that they are just so comfortable, but every blacksmith also looks cool during work.
