Mini Anvil — The Bench Jeweller's Compact Forging Surface
Mini Anvil — The Bench Jeweller's Compact Forging Surface
A small hardened-steel anvil for riveting, planishing, and light forming at the bench
A mini anvil is a small, bench-mounted anvil used by jewellers and small-scale metalsmiths for light forging, planishing, riveting, and shaping wire and sheet. Most weigh between 200 grams and 2 kilograms and measure 5 to 15 centimetres in length. They provide the hardened, polished bearing surface needed for hammer work without occupying the bench footprint of a blacksmith's anvil.
Anatomy
A typical mini anvil features a flat working face for general planishing, a tapered horn for forming curves and rings, and sometimes a hardy hole and pritchel hole for accepting bottom tools and for punching wire and sheet. The face is hardened steel; the body is forged or cast steel. Bench-jeweller models are often supplied with rubber feet or a wooden base to dampen ringing and prevent slipping.
Use at the bench
Mini anvils are used to set rivets, harden bezels by light planishing, raise small forms, texture metal with hammer and texturing tools, and provide a hard surface for stamping. The compact size suits the scale of most jewellery work and allows precise hammer placement that a larger anvil's heavy face does not require. Some jewellers prefer to use a small steel block instead of a true anvil for purely flat work, reserving the anvil for forming over the horn.
Care is straightforward: keep the face clean and lightly oiled to prevent rust, dress out any dings or chips with a fine file, and avoid hammering hardened steel directly against the face, which can mar both surfaces.