Tried a different angle on my anvil stand and it saved my lower back

I've been shoeing horses for about 8 years now, mostly out of a trailer in rural Oregon. Last spring I started getting this nagging ache in my lower right side after a long day of welding and shaping. I figured it was just part of the job, you know, getting older. But then I swapped out my old wooden anvil stand for a taller one with a slight tilt toward me, maybe 10 degrees. I took the idea from a guy I met at a clinic in Bend who said he did the same thing after a back injury. First week I noticed I wasn't hunching over as much, and the ache faded almost completely. Has anyone else messed with stand height or angle to fix posture issues? I'm curious if it's just me or if this is a known thing.

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jade475mo ago

Wait, you tilted your anvil 10 degrees toward you? I gotta say that just sounds wrong at first, like the metal would slide right off or something. But now that I think about it, in my experience with car work, even a small angle change on a bench grinder made a huge difference for my shoulders. Your mileage may vary of course, but I never would have thought to try that on an anvil stand. Take this with a grain of salt since I mostly do light welding these days, but that idea is wild enough I might have to actually test it out.

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jake_kelly245mo ago

Does that 10 degree tilt create any issues with the work bouncing or sliding off when you're doing heavy hammer strikes? I'm curious @jade47 if you've noticed the metal staying put better or worse compared to flat. I always assumed anvils were supposed to be dead level, so this idea is spinning my head a bit. Would love to hear more about your setup and what kind of work you're doing with it.

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