What Size Anvil for Knife Making? FAQ Answered For 2023 Updates

Are you a beginner or a professional blacksmith looking for the perfect anvil size for making a knife? If yes, then we can help you with choosing the ideal-sized anvil for making a knife. 

Whenever you go to the market to buy an anvil, you find anvils of different sizes, dimensions and material, and we understand that it is a cumbersome task to choose the right size for knife making. That is where you need help, don't you?

Here, we can help you choose the best anvil size for making a knife with vast experience in forging instruments and weapons. We hope that you will get the perfect anvil size for your knife-making till the end. Keep scrolling!

Our Top Picks for Anvils:

What Anvil Size is Preferable for Knife Making?

Dimensions and weights determine the preferable size of the anvil for knife making. Whenever you need an anvil for this purpose, choose the anvil with an x-face and must have at least two feet of metal under the face.

Furthermore, the face of the anvil should be larger than the size of the hammer. Therefore, it is compulsory to compensate a lot of mass under the face to make it larger and wider.

However, in terms of weights, you should always choose an anvil ranging from 45 lbs. to almost 120 lbs. An anvil with this weight is considered the best for knife making work. Moreover, forging requires a hard and flat steel face for proper working.

If you purchase an anvil with a weight of less than 45 lbs. then there is not enough material to provide rigid support, and hence, your anvil can get damaged. Similarly, with a weight greater than 120 lbs., it becomes costly for you and is not preferable if you occasionally use it.

It would be best to keep several aspects in mind before purchasing an anvil for your knife making work. Here, we will discuss all these factors to make the purchase easier for you.

Size and Weight:

Weight and size are the most important factors to look for while selecting the right anvil. Always choose the size depending on your work.

If you want to use it for the knife, we have already discussed the perfect dimensions in the above section. However, if you're going to use it for jewelry or other items, see table (1) below in the anvil size charts section.

If you are a beginner, choose the smaller one as it is cost-efficient and more comfortable to operate. However, if you are professional, larger anvils are preferable for you.

The size of the hammer also determines the weight of an anvil. On average, the anvil's weight ratio should be at least 50 times your hammer's weight. Otherwise, the hammer will de-shape the anvil's face and hence, it won’t work well.

Material:

The material of the hammer is another crucial factor to consider before buying the anvil. Always choose the hard one that has a lower rebound ability.

The harder the anvil material, the perfect it is for forging knives. This hardness and rebound ability varies from material to material. However, the better material always comes at a cost, but we recommend you to buy a cheap one if you are a beginner.

Nowadays, most anvils available in the market are manufactured from steel or iron. Steel is preferable as it is less brittle and has less rebound on the striking hammer.

Therefore, steel anvils are the right choice if you are a professional blacksmith. Several other materials like stone or zinc anvils are also available, but we recommend avoiding them until you are experienced.

Cost:

Cost is another very influential factor that you must consider before buying an anvil. The cost can vary depending on the material and size of the anvil.

However, we can guess the average price for an anvil to give you an estimate. On average, you can find smaller anvils in the range of $3 - $4 per pound, which can cost you $150 - $200 for a 50-pound anvil.

However, bigger anvils are a little bit expensive, and you can find them in a price range of $6 - $8 per pound, which can cost you almost $300 to $500 for a 50-pound anvil. If you are a beginner, we would recommend you not to buy a substantial anvil.

Anvil Size Charts for Forging Different Items:

Anvil is not only used for forging knives but also in wire-rope clips, sledges, wrenches, pliers, sockets, hooks and eye bolts. The anvil's size should be proportional to the working material and the size of the hammer.

In general, anvil size should have a ratio of 50:1 to hammer size. Let us see anvil size charts for different material.

TABLE 1:

Which Anvil Size is Used on the Forge in the Fire?

Forge in a fire is a process in which the material is heated in a hearth at a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape. Then place the heated metal on smithy's anvil, where you can use a hammer to reshape it.

However, all anvil materials do not support forging in the fire as metals heat up to an enormous temperature that can even mold the anvil.

So, if you are looking for a suitable anvil for forging in the fire, we will tell you about some anvil materials on which fire forging is possible. A high-carbon steel anvil can be a good option for your fire forging work.

However, you can also use iron anvils for forging material at a temperature of less than 1400 Oc. Similarly, you can also use anvils made of aluminium or any other material with a high melting point for fire forging tasks.

Can You Make a DIY Anvil at Home?

Yes, you can. The process of making an anvil is straightforward. It requires thick steel on which you can either trace an existing anvil or trace a new one. Here are the four steps to make a DIY anvil at home.

Collect the Necessary Materials:

Collect all the materials required for making an anvil, such as anvil material, drill machine, hammer, etc. It depends on whether you choose aluminium, steel or any other material.

Trace the Anvil:

Trace an existing anvil or draw your own anvil design. Then, drill all the holes on the top plate, flat the faces, and plug weld holes according to your design.

Assemble the Components:

Assemble all the components of the anvil. Afterwards, chamfer all the corners and weld everything out in the design. Then clean it and seal it. Boom! Your DIY anvil is ready to use.

However, we don’t recommend trying to make a DIY anvil at home as it requires some professional skills like cutting steel, welding, shaping etc. Any mistake in the process can lead you to a life threatening injury.

Read our Forge vs Foundry Talk!

Conclusion:

Finding the perfect anvil size is hectic, but, we tried our best to help you choose the right anvil for knife making in terms of weight and dimensions. Moreover, we also tried to figure out every small detail that you should look at before deciding to buy an anvil so that you don't face any difficulty.

We hope this article would help you choose the perfect size of anvil required for knife making. However, if you are thinking about buying an anvil to make a knife, then don't forget to go through the instruction explained above.