Just realized I was setting my anvil height wrong after a farrier in Kentucky pointed it out

I was shoeing a big draft horse last month and my back was killing me by the third shoe. An older farrier watching me said, 'Your anvil's too low, you're bending over like a question mark.' I measured it that night and he was right, it was a full four inches below my wrist height. I built a simple wooden block platform to raise it up the next day. Has anyone else had to adjust their shop setup for better posture?

3 comments

3 Comments

umamoore3mo ago

That's such a good point about the anvil height. It makes a huge difference for your whole body, not just your back. I had to do the same thing with my grinder stand last year, it was making my shoulder ache. Even small tweaks to your bench height or where you keep your tools can save you a ton of pain. It's wild how you just get used to a bad setup until someone points it out.

sage_fox3mo ago

Totally, I raised my workbench a couple inches and it fixed my wrist pain almost overnight. You don't realize how much you're straining until you fix it. What other small changes have you made that helped?

xena_taylor6415d ago

Yeah, "you don't realize how much you're straining until you fix it" is so true. I read somewhere that most people's work stations are set up 2-3 inches off from where they should be. I saw this article about how blacksmiths in japan use a specific anvil height based on their knuckle height, not wrist like we do here. Tried it on a whim and it saved my left elbow from getting all jacked up. I also moved my hammer rack so I'm not reaching behind me for it, little stuff adds up fast.

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