If you drop the ball from an unknown distance then the results are are difficult to acertain especially since they tend to fly off where they want. If you throw the ball it can bounce higher than the release point due to the added energy. The Mouse hole anvil it out performed has a hard enough face that it does not show hammer marks after hundreds of years of use and abuse.Ĭheap cast iron anvils will resist marking to some degree but have no rebound and will chip and break easily.ĬOPYCATS: Others have poorly described the ball bearing test as throwing the ball at the anvil or droping it from several feet above the anvil. The soft Russian anvil tested well due to being a solid steel casting but was easily marked by a misblow of the hammer. NOTE: Rebound is a good indication of hardness but not always a perfect indication. Materials below 30% rebound were visibly marked by the ball. In each spot the highest bounce is the correct one.Įrratic Lower bounces are due to surface irregularities. We found it best to test several different places on the anvil and take an average. Results will vary dependant on the hardness of the ball used, sample surface texture/flatness and mass. Percent was read directly from a scale in inches. Testing was performed using a 1" (25.4mm) hard steel ball dropped from a 10" (254mm) height. 10% - Imported Cast Iron ASO's or doorstops.20% - A-36 Structural steel plate 8" thick.25% - 2024-T4 Aluminium (hard, aircraft type).30% - Monel Boat Shafting (50/50 Cr/Ni).35% - Colonial Anvil 125# missing horn and worn out!.50% - Rail road rail - short section of modern 150# section.55% - Worn out old anvil, looks like an old Mouse Hole circa 1800.58% - Soft cast steel 50Kg Russian anvil (average test).65% - OLD 18th Century hornless anvil with 5th foot - about 75 pounds.80-85% - High quality wrought anvils - Hay-Budden & Peter Wright (average).85% - Black Granite Surface Plate 8" thick.90% - 70 pound "Smith Steel Casting" farrier's anvil.85-90% - KOHLSWA 325# Swedish Cast Steel Anvil 55-57 HRC.93% - Peddinghaus 165# Forged Steel Anvil.We tested a number of anvils and other items in several shops one weekend and here are the results. On a really hard anvil the ball will bounce about 75-90% of the distance dropped. Obtain a steel ball bearing ball (1/2" (13mm) to 1"(25mm)) in diameter.ĭrop (DO NOT THROW) the ball 10" onto the face of the anvil. This test is NOT the same as striking the anvil.Ī test inspired by Robert Bastow when he commented on anvilfire by saying, "You could bounce a 1" steel ball off the monitor!". WARNING! You should never strike the face of an anvil with a hammer! (It does happen though). With a hard hammer on a really hard (smaller) anvil the rebound may be as much as 1/2! On a cast iron anvil it will bounce about 1/10 the initial distance or less. It should rebound about 1/3 the height dropped, then 1/3 of that and so on. THEN Drop the head and observe how far the hammer rebounds. Use the flat face of the hammers not the peen! Hold a 3lb or less, ball peen or smithing hammer, handle parallel to the face, over the center of the anvil with both hands, the tips of the fingers acting like pivots at the end of the handle the other hand supporting the head. To test an anvil's rebound which is a function of the face hardness:
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