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My anvil horn cracked clean off during a demo Thursday
Was hammering a 1-inch bar of mild steel for a railing and the whole horn just snapped at the weld line. Anyone else ever have an anvil fail like that or am I just unlucky?
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abby_martinez8d ago
That weld line thing is actually a common spot for failure, but most of the time it's from people using the horn as a bending fork or a hard stop for twisting. I've seen about a dozen anvils with hairline cracks there over the years. The real issue is that cheap anvils often use a mild steel body with a tool steel plate welded on top, and if the weld doesn't fully penetrate that seam, the horn is basically just holding on by the outer edge. Yours probably had a cold weld from the factory, so the shock of that 1-inch bar hammering just popped it clean. Not your fault, but I'd bet money if you look at the break with a flashlight you'll see leftover bubbles or a dark line where the weld stopped short. Next time test a new anvil by tapping the horn with a hammer and listening for a dead ring versus a solid tone.
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gracethomas22d ago
dude that really sucks, i feel for you. a horn snapping off at the weld is a pretty rough way to lose a tool, especially in the middle of a demo. i've seen a few anvils with questionable welds over the years, but having one actually fail like that is just bad luck. hope you weren't too close when it went, that could have been nasty.
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