Anvil mounting height

opaul

Well-Known Member
What is the general suggestions for anvil height for forging knives? I’ve read knuckle height but then read that was an old suggestion when a lot of smithing was done with sledge hammers. My memory is not what it used to be but seems like a blacksmith class I took years back recommended measuring your elbow bent at 90 degrees to the floor and then subtracting about 4” to compensate for the forging hammer. This seems logical in that your strikes would be ~90 degrees/flat on the anvil face.
For you forgers out there how are you set up.
 
I’m set up knuckles minus about 2” to account for the hammer, making the hammer face parallel to the anvil surface at the bottom of my swing.
 
I set my height to keep the stock flat on the anvil when holding it between my legs. Basically about knuckle height.
 
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