New Blacksmithing Gloves - NaBloPoMo Day 22

I got these svelte new blacksmithing gloves the other day. Cool design, lots of black. Most of the blacksmithing gloves I've burned to a crisp during my tenure have been really industrially radioactive shades of blue, green and orange. These are certainly a step up.

In the top photo above, you will notice my new gloves artfully displayed on my anvil. My anvil is a 150lb English Anvil. Tom got it for me for Christmas years ago and she's a beaut. 

Photo credit: http://www.blackiron.us/anvil-types.html

I was glad Tom found me the anvil that he did because before that, I had made a terrible and super embarrassing error. I ordered an anvil online. There were problems right out of the box. Literally.

Shipping tip: It's really hard to send an anvil in a cardboard box. I received an anvil, and then kind of separately, a beat up box with an anvil-sized hole in the bottom.

Anyway, I was up at the Pig Iron Pig Roast and I happened to mention to one of the smiths that my anvil was getting rusty and had all these chips and dings in it already. The smith rolled his eyes, like a full three-hundred-and-sixty eye ball roll. He said, "You didn't get one of those Chinese anvils did you?"

Well it turns out I did. I was mortified. And I can tell you from experience, Chinese anvils suck. They're cast iron. Not good. Not strong and no bounce. Also no hardy hole or pritchel hole and the horn is not round enough to actually make anything unless you're going for lumpy.

A really high carbon steel face plate is key. You want to drop the hammer and have it bounce back so fast the back of it could clock you in the head if you're in there too tight. Which is, if you must know, the most common blacksmithing injury- hammering yourself in the head. I guess lots of blacksmiths do not have Chinese anvils.