Silencing my anvil

VaughnT

Well-Known Member
Thought I'd contribute a bit and do a short video on how I took the ring out of my anvil.

I'm sure like a lot of you, you have a what amounts to a church bell that rings with every hammer blow. With my neighbors sleeping during the day, I'm always keen to eliminate as much noise as I can. That and I don't want to ruin what's left of my hearing with that high pitch noise.

So, I did some experimentation. The thinner parts of the anvil are the ones that resonate the most. So I tinkered.

Keep in mind that the microphone on the camera isn't the best, so the ring of the bell isn't as loud as it is in real life.

[video]http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i115/VaughnT/?action=view&current=MVI_0344.mp4[/video]
 
Magnets have been used for a long time to help dampen the ring of an anvil. After a while you will think that you have a dead muskrat hanging on your anvil (scale). Another way to dampen the noise is to use a good adhesive calk to stick the anvil to the anvil stand. I like a heavy steel three legged stand with the anvil calked to it. You can then get up close to the anvil and you add virtual weight to the anvil and you know that the stand is stable with all legs firmly on the floor. Also while you are building that stand make sure that the top of the anvil is about wrist high (not knuckles of the fist.) At the raised hight you will stand up straight (not bent over) and you back will ache less at beer thirty.
 
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I'm impressed by how effective that is. I assume it's just giving something to transmit the vibrations through?
 
Thanks for the kind words, gents. I've spent a good number of hours studying sound attenuation and how it works so I could better understand what was happening. The impetus for this little bit of experimentation was to prove, or not, a lot of the various techniques for quieting an anvil.

Wrapping a bit of loose chain around the waist of the anvil didn't do anything for the sound levels. I tried some heavier chain, and I tried a tight wrap, but nothing made an appreciable difference.

Oddly enough, I found out that the ubiquitous magnet on the side of an anvil does not mute sound at a noticeable level. As you can see in the video, my 100# magnet didn't do anything to deaden the sound when I had it on the side of the anvil. It's the scale that accumulates on the magnet that actually absorbs the vibrations! Note that my magnet was nice and clean. Give it time to grow whiskers and the sound levels will drop.

Like with guitar strings, the more mass you have the lower tone you'll receive. In the case of an anvil, the horn and the heel represent the thinner strings on your guitar and they resonate at a higher frequency. Add mass to those thinner areas and you impact their ability to shake. The magnet is literally acting like a shock absorber. Because you have a weak connection between the anvil and the magnet, the shear plane allows for slippage between the two. This might be miniscule movement, but that combined with the mass added means the vibration patters are changed. In the end, less vibration means lower noise levels.

The same applies when you bind the anvil tightly to the stand. The use of caulk creates a solid bond between the two, allowing vibrations to travel relatively smoothly, and the stand adds extra mass. But, this mass doesn't effect the thinness of the horn and heel of the anvil, and it's here that we see the majority of our high-pitched sound being generated. Adding a magnet to either end, or both, has an immediate and dramatic change in how the anvil sounds.

And if it's this quiet now, imagine how quiet it will become when I caulk the base of the anvil and torque everything together with some chains!
 
Very cool trick!!

You can probably silicone the smaller magnet on the bottom of your horn so she stays put!

Like the idea about holding tools with the other magnet!

I need a few magnets!! :)
 
You can probably silicone the smaller magnet on the bottom of your horn so she stays put!

Don't even have to do that, Stab. Just need a stronger magnet. The 20# magnet likes to jump around, but it's small enough to stay out of the way of 90% of the work you do on the horn. If I can get a 40# magnet that's not much larger, I can place it on the side of the horn between me and the anvil and it will be out of the way of the majority of work I do. Very rarely does one have to completely circle the horn with a bend. It happens, but it's just not common when making the little things like hooks and dinner triangles.

Or maybe cut a matching bit of curve in a piece of pine and line said curve with a magnetic strip?!?! That way I'd have a good solid interface that I can't get with a solid rectilinear magnet that has less surface contact.......
 
Thanks again, I went out and bought a makeshift anvil (2 ft. piece of RR track... which seems to work so far) and started forging. I used to 100lb magnets, one at each end, and its like a sound suppressor on a gun. Great tip! I've already forged a small chip carving knife as a gift for a neighbor.
 
Update:

I finally got around to fixing my anvil to the stand. I used an entire tube of construction adhesive (boy, did that make a mess!), and I have to say... I am amazed at how quiet it made the anvil.

Even without being chained or pinned down, the anvil is now almost as quiet as it is with only the magnets. Where the magnets act as extra mass and vibration dampeners, the caulk forms a solid bond between the stump and anvil thereby allowing the sound waves to travel smoothly through both. I wouldn't have thought it would make that big of a difference, but it sure did.

There is still a slight ring to the anvil because the horn and heel are free to vibrate, but this was completely eliminated by replacing the magnets fore and aft. No magnets, the sound was at a very pleasant level and I'm sure it wouldn't have been a problem for sleeping neighbors. With the caulk/magnet combo, it's like hitting on a piece of pine lumber! I got all the rebound of a good anvil, and none of the sound. Amazing.
 
I don't recommend construction adhesive (liquid nails) It hardens, adhesive caulk stays flexable and more effective. I just put a good bead about 1/2" in from the edges then an X across the center. It will spread out and pretty well cover the entire serface. On my traveling anvil I put a piece of plastic film on the stand and the caulk on the base of the anvil. The caulk still made solid contact, properly dampened the sound but I can take the anvil off the stand for transport. I wanted to seporate the anvil and the stand for transport. The anvil is 100# but with the stand it is almost 200#.
 
I was REALLY worried about anvil ring and complaining neighbors before getting my anvil set-up.

I took Wayne's advice and sealed the anvil to the base (4 6x6's bolted together) and anchored it down with clips and screws. I used a product called Solar Seal which is used to seal the seams in gutters. It's what I had laying around from a previous construction job.

She hits with a thud no matter what. Working on the horn, tail, or over the center she doesn't ring a bit.

I doubt it makes any difference but my anvil is a 1941 Peter Wright Solid Wrought.


Thanks again for that tip Wayne... works like a charm ;)

-Josh
 
Mike, buy a Fisher Anvil. They don't ring like a bell.

IG, I've looked at those anvils but have yet to find one that isn't being sold as some collectors item intended to appeal to some hipster. With any luck, I'll find one at some obscure swap-meet some day.
 
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