An anvil is a basic tool

Tool

A tool is a device that can be used to produce an item or achieve a task, but that is not consumed in the process. Informally the word is also used to describe a procedure or process with a specific purpose. Tools that are used in particular fields or activities may have different designations such...

, a block with a hard surface on which another object is struck. The inertia

Inertia

Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to a change in its state of motion or rest, or the tendency of an object to resist any change in its motion. It is proportional to an object's mass. The principle of inertia is one of the fundamental principles of classical physics which are used to...

 of the anvil allows the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece. In most cases the anvil is used as a forging

Forge

A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...

 tool. Before the advent of modern welding

Welding

Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...

 technology, it was a primary tool of metal workers.

The great majority of modern anvils are made from steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

, though other types exist.

Because anvils are very ancient tools and were at one time very commonplace, they have acquired symbolic meaning beyond their use as utilitarian objects.

History

In the past anvils were first made of stone as a lithic

Stone tool

A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric, particularly Stone Age cultures that have become extinct...

 stone tool

Stone tool

A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric, particularly Stone Age cultures that have become extinct...

, then bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

, and later wrought iron

Wrought iron

thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...

. As steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 became more readily available, anvils were faced with it. This was done to give the anvil a hard face and to stop the anvil from deforming from impact. Many regional styles of anvils evolved through time from the simple block that was first used by smiths. The majority of anvils found today in the US are based on the London pattern anvil of the mid-19th century.

The wrought iron steel faced anvil was produced up until the early 20th century. Through the 19th and very early 20th centuries, this method of construction evolved to produce extremely high quality anvils. The basic process involved forge welding billets of wrought iron together to produce the desired shape. The sequence and location of the forge welds varied between different anvil makers and the kind of anvil being made. At the same time cast iron anvils with steel faces were being made in the United States. At the dawn of the 20th century solid cast steel anvils began to be produced, as well as two piece forged anvils made from closed die forging

Forging

Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: '"cold," "warm," or "hot" forging. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to 580 metric tons...

s. Modern anvils are generally made entirely from steel.

The concept of an anvil may predate humanity. Chimpanzees have been observed using large sticks as hammers to crack nuts, using logs as anvils.

There are many references to anvils in ancient Greek and Egyptian writings, including Homer

Homer

In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...

's works. They have been found at the Calico Early Man Site

Calico Early Man Site

The Calico Early Man Site is a series of stone tool workshop and quarry sites located near Barstow in San Bernardino County in the central Mojave Desert of southern California...

 in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

Anvils have since lost their former commonness, along with the smiths who used them. Mechanized production has made cheap and abundant manufactured goods readily available. The one-off hand-made products of the blacksmith are less economically viable in the modern world, while in the past they were an absolute necessity. However, anvils are still used by blacksmiths and metal workers of all kinds in producing custom work. They are also essential to the work done by farrier

Farrier

A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves...

s.

Structure

The primary work surface of the anvil is known as the face. It is generally made of hardened steel and should be flat and smooth with rounded edges for most work. Any marks on the face will be transferred to the work. Also, sharp edges tend to cut into the metal being worked and may cause cracks to form in the workpiece. The face is hardened and tempered to resist the blows of the smith's hammer so the anvil face does not deform under repeated use. A hard anvil face also reduces the amount of force lost in each hammer blow. Hammers should never directly strike the anvil face, as they may damage it.

The horn of the anvil is a conical projection used to form various round shapes, and is generally unhardened steel or iron. The horn is used mostly in bending operations. It also is used by some smiths as an aid in drawing out stock, "making it longer and thinner". Some anvils, mainly European, are made with two horns, one square and one round. Also, some anvils are made with side horns or clips for specialized work.

The step or pad, commonly referred to as the table of the anvil, is used for cutting; its purpose is to prevent damaging the face by conducting such operations there, although most professional smiths shun this practice, as it can damage the anvil.

The hardy hole is a square hole into which specialized forming and cutting tools, called hardy tool

Hardy tool

Hardy tools, also known as anvil tools or bottom tools, are metalworking tools used in anvils. A hardy has a square shank, which prevents it from rotating when placed in the anvil's hardy hole. The term "hardy", used alone, refers to a hot cutting chisel used in the square hole of the anvil. Other...

s, are placed. It is also used in punching and bending operations.

The pritchel

Pritchel

A pritchel is a type of punch used in forging, particularly in making nail holes in horseshoes. The horseshoe is heated and a hole is punched through 90 percent of the steel with a forepunch or drift punch...

 hole is a small round hole that is present on most modern anvils. Some anvils have more than one. It is used mostly for punching. At times, smiths will fit a second tool to this hole to allow the smith more flexibility when using more than one anvil tool.

Placement

An anvil needs to be placed upon a sturdy base made from an impact resistant material. It requires being fastened firmly to the base so it will not move when struck with a hammer. A loose anvil is extremely unsafe, as it can fall off the base. Common methods of attaching an anvil are spikes, chains, steel or iron straps, clips, bolts where there are holes provided, and cables. A smith would use whatever was at hand, as long as it held the anvil firmly in place. It is incorrect practice to weld an anvil to a base or drill holes into it, as many anvils are antiques; when properly used and cared for, they can last generations. The anvil should be placed as near to the forge as is convenient, generally no more than one step from the forge to prevent heat loss in the work piece.

The most common base traditionally was a hard wood log or large timber buried several feet into the floor of the forge shop floor. This was done to make the anvil immobile when heavy forging and bending were done upon the anvil. In the industrial era cast iron bases became available. They had the advantage of adding additional weight to the anvil, making it more stable while making the anvil movable. These bases are highly sought after by collectors today. When concrete became widely available, there was a trend to make steel reinforced anvil bases by some smiths, though this practice has largely been abandoned. In more modern times many anvils have been placed upon bases fabricated from steel, oftentimes a short thick section of large I-Beam. In addition, bases have been made from dimensional lumber bolted together to form a large block or steel drums full of oil-saturated sand to provide a damping effect.

Types

There are many designs for anvils, which are often tailored for a specific purpose or to meet the needs of a particular smith. Such designs have originated in diverse geographic locations.

The common blacksmith

Smith (metalwork)

A metalsmith, often shortened to smith, is a person involved in making metal objects. In contemporary use a metalsmith is a person who uses metal as a material, uses traditional metalsmithing techniques , whose work thematically relates to the practice or history of the practice, or who engages in...

's anvil is made of either forged or cast steel, tool steel

Tool steel

Tool steel refers to a variety of carbon and alloy steels that are particularly well-suited to be made into tools. Their suitability comes from their distinctive hardness, resistance to abrasion, their ability to hold a cutting edge, and/or their resistance to deformation at elevated temperatures...

, or wrought iron

Wrought iron

thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...

 (cast iron

Cast iron

Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

 anvils are generally shunned, as they are too brittle for repeated use, and do not return the energy of a hammer blow like steel). Historically, some anvils have been made with a smooth top working face of hardened steel welded to a cast iron or wrought iron body, though this manufacturing method is no longer in use. It has at one end a projecting conical bick (beak, horn) used for hammering curved work pieces. The other end is typically called the heel. Occasionally the other end is also provided with a bick, partly rectangular in section. Most anvils made since the late 18th century also have a hardy hole and a pritchel hole where various tools, such as the anvil-cutter or hot chisel, can be inserted and held by the anvil. Some anvils have several hardy and pritchel holes, to accommodate a wider variety of hardy tools

Hardy tools

Hardy tools, also known as anvil tools or bottom tools, are metalworking tools used in anvils. A hardy has a square shank, which prevents it from rotating when placed in the anvil's hardy hole. The term "hardy", used alone, refers to a hot cutting chisel used in the square hole of the anvil. Other...

 and pritchel

Pritchel

A pritchel is a type of punch used in forging, particularly in making nail holes in horseshoes. The horseshoe is heated and a hole is punched through 90 percent of the steel with a forepunch or drift punch...

s. An anvil may also have a softer pad for chisel work.

An anvil for a power hammer

Power hammer

Power hammers are mechanical forging hammers that use a non-muscular power source to raise the hammer preparatory to striking, and accelerate it onto the work being hammered...

 is usually supported on a massive anvil block, sometimes weighing over 800 tons for a 12-ton hammer; this again rests on a strong foundation of timber and masonry or concrete.

An anvil may have a marking indicating its weight, manufacturer, or place of origin. American-made anvils were often marked in pounds. European anvils are sometimes marked in kilograms. English anvils were often marked in hundredweight, the marking consisting of three numbers, indicating hundredweight

Hundredweight

The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...

, quarter hundredweight and pounds. For example, a 3-1-5, if such an anvil existed, would be 3x112 lb + 1x28 lb + 5 lb = 369 lb ≈ 168 kg.

Cheap anvils made from inferior steel or cast iron, which are unsuitable for serious use, have been derisively referred to as "ASOs", or "Anvil Shaped Objects". Some amateur smiths have used a piece of railroad rail as a makeshift anvil.

Top quality modern anvils are made of cast or forged tool steel and are heat treated for optimum hardness and toughness.

A metalworking vise

Vise (tool)

A vise or vice is a mechanical screw apparatus used for holding or clamping a work piece to allow work to be performed on it with tools such as saws, planes, drills, mills, screwdrivers, sandpaper, etc. Vises usually have one fixed jaw and another, parallel, jaw which is moved towards or away from...

 may have a small anvil integrated in its design.

Historically

Anvil firing is the practice of firing an anvil into the air using gunpowder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

. It has been popular in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, the eastern United States

Eastern United States

The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...

 and the southern United States

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

, much like how fireworks

Fireworks

Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...

 are used today. There is a growing interest in re-enacting this "ancient tradition" in the USA, which has now spread to England.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church

African Methodist Episcopal Church

The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...

 (AME) has the anvil in its coat of arms. The AME's first services were held in a blacksmith's shop.

Television and film

A typical metalworker's anvil, with horn at one end and flat face at the other, is a standard prop for cartoon gags, as the epitome of a heavy and clumsy object that is perfect for dropping onto a villain. This visual metaphor is common, for example, in Warner Brothers

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

' Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...

 and Merrie Melodies

Merrie Melodies

Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...

 shorts, such as those with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner

Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner

Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. The characters were created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Bros., while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese...

. Animaniacs

Animaniacs

Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...

 made frequent gags on the topic throughout its run, even having a kingdom named Anvilania, whose sole national product is anvils.

Anvils and ASOs were mentioned and shown in the Mythbusters

MythBusters

MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...

 episode on trying to see if hammers would shatter if made brittle enough. The Mythbusters spoke of the distinction between anvils and anvil shaped objects.

Musical instruments

Anvils have been used as percussion instrument

Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...

s in several famous musical composition

Musical composition

Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...

s, including:

• Giuseppe Verdi
  Giuseppe Verdi
  Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
  
  : Il Trovatore
  Il trovatore
  Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
  
  , featuring the famous "Anvil Chorus
  Anvil Chorus
  The Anvil Chorus is the English term for the Coro di zingari , a piece of music from Act 2, Scene 1 of Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore which depicts Spanish Gypsies striking their anvils at dawn – hence its English name – and singing the praises of hard work, good wine, and their Gypsy...
  
  "
• Richard Wagner
  Richard Wagner
  Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
  
  : Der Ring des Nibelungen
  Der Ring des Nibelungen
  Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
  
   in Das Rheingold
  Das Rheingold
  is the first of the four operas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen . It was originally written as an introduction to the tripartite Ring, but the cycle is now generally regarded as consisting of four individual operas.Das Rheingold received its premiere at the National Theatre...
  
   in scene 3, using 18 anvils tuned
  Musical tuning
  In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* Tuning systems, the various systems of pitches used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical bases.-Tuning practice:...
  
   in F
  F (musical note)
  F is a musical note, the fourth above C. It is also known as fa in fixed-do solfège.When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of Middle F is approximately 349.228 Hz. See pitch for a discussion of historical variations in...
  
   in three octave
  Octave
  In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
  
  s, and Siegfried
  Siegfried (opera)
  Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
  
   in act I, notably Siegfried's "Forging Song" (Nothung! Nothung! Neidliches Schwert!)
• Josef Strauss
  Josef Strauss
  Josef Strauss was an Austrian composer.He was born in Vienna, the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim, and brother of Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss. His father wanted him to choose a career in the Austrian Habsburg military...
  
  : Feuerfest!, op. 269 (1869). The title means "fireproof". This was the slogan of the Wertheim fireproof safe company, which commissioned the work.
• Daniel Auber
  Daniel Auber
  Daniel François Esprit Auber was a French composer.-Biography:The son of a Paris print-seller, Auber was born in Caen in Normandy. Though his father expected him to continue in the print-selling business, he also allowed his son to learn how to play several musical instruments...
  
  : opera Le Maçon
• Gustav Holst
  Gustav Holst
  Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
  
  : Second Suite in F for Military Band
  Second Suite in F for Military Band
  The Second Suite in F for Military Band is Gustav Holst's second and last suite for concert band. Although performed less frequently than the First Suite in E-flat, it is still a staple of the band literature...
  
  , which includes a movement titled "Song of the Blacksmith"
• Aaron Copland
  Aaron Copland
  Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
  
  : Symphony No. 3
  Symphony No. 3 (Copland)
  Symphony No. 3 was Aaron Copland's third and final symphony, its premiere performance taking place on October 18, 1946, by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitsky.It was written at the end of World War II...
  
  
• Arnold Bax
  Arnold Bax
  Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation...
  
  : Symphony No. 3
  Symphony No. 3 (Bax)
  The Symphony No. 3 by Arnold Bax was completed in 1929. It was dedicated to Sir Henry Wood and is perhaps the most performed and most immediately approachable of Arnold Bax's symphonies....
  
  
• William Walton
  William Walton
  Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
  
  : Belshazzar's Feast
  Belshazzar's Feast (Walton)
  Belshazzar's Feast is an oratorio by the English composer William Walton. It was first performed at the Leeds Festival on 8 October 1931. The work has remained one of Walton's most celebrated compositions and one of the most popular works in the English choral repertoire...
  
  
• Edgard Varèse
  Edgard Varèse
  Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, , whose name was also spelled Edgar Varèse , was an innovative French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States....
  
  : Ionisation
  Ionisation (Varèse)
  Ionisation is a musical composition by Edgard Varèse written for thirteen percussionists, the first concert hall composition for percussion ensemble alone. The premiere was at Steinway Hall, on March 6, 1933, conducted by Nicolas Slonimsky, to whom the piece was later dedicated...
  
  
• Carl Orff
  Carl Orff
  Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
  
  : Antigone
  Antigone (opera)
  Antigonae , written by Carl Orff, was first presented on 9 August 1949 under the direction of Ferenc Fricsay in the Felsenreitschule, Salzburg, Austria. Antigonae is in Orff's words a "musical setting" for the Greek tragedy by Sophocles of the same name...
  
  
• Benjamin Britten
  Benjamin Britten
  Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
  
  : The Burning Fiery Furnace
  The Burning Fiery Furnace
  The Burning Fiery Furnace is one of the three Parables for Church Performances composed by Benjamin Britten, dating from 1966, and is his Opus 77. The other two 'church parables' are Curlew River and The Prodigal Son . William Plomer was the librettist.The work was premiered at Orford Church,...
  
  
• Juan María Solare
  Juan María Solare
  Juan María Solare is an Argentine composer and pianist.-Education:Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Solare studied and received his diploma in piano , composition and conducting at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música Carlos López Buchardo...
  
  : Veinticinco de agosto, 1983
  Veinticinco de agosto, 1983
  Veinticinco de agosto, 1983 is a chamber opera by Juan María Solare, to a Spanish libretto by Javier Adúriz based on the story by Jorge Luis Borges...
  
   and Un ángel de hielo y fuego
• Nicholas Hooper
  Nicholas Hooper
  Nicholas Hooper is a British film and television composer. He has scored the award-winning BBC productions Land of the Tiger and Andes to Amazon, as well as the TV movies The Girl in the Café and My Family and Other Animals among others...
  
  : Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (soundtrack)
  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the soundtrack to the 2009 film of the same name, based on the book by J. K. Rowling. The score was composed by Nicholas Hooper and conducted by Hooper and Alastair King. This was the second Harry Potter film to be scored by Hooper, who also composed the...
  
  
• James Horner
  James Horner
  James Roy Horner is an American composer, orchestrator and conductor of orchestral and film music. He is noted for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for frequent use of Celtic musical elements...
  
  : Used it extensively in Aliens
  Aliens (film)
  Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
  
  , and his other films like Flightplan
  Flightplan
  Flightplan is a 2005 thriller film directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Erika Christensen, Kate Beahan, Greta Scacchi, and Sean Bean. It was released in North America on September 23, 2005...
  
  , The Forgotten
  The Forgotten
  Forgotten or The Forgotten may refer to:In film:* The Forgotten , a psychological horror film* The Forgotten , a Korean War film* The Forgotten , a psychological thrillerIn literature:...
  
   and Titanic
  Titanic (1997 film)
  Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
  
  
• Howard Shore
  Howard Shore
  Howard Leslie Shore is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg,...
  
  : The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
  The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
  The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
  
  
• Don Davis
  Don Davis (composer)
  Donald Romain Davis is an American film score composer, conductor, and orchestrator. Best known for his work on The Matrix, he has worked on a variety of films, from horror to comedy.- Early life :...
  
  : The Matrix trilogy
  The Matrix (franchise)
  The Matrix is a science fiction action franchise created by Andy and Larry Wachowski and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The series began with the 1999 film The Matrix and later spawned two sequels; The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both released in 2003, thus forming a trilogy...
  
  
• Albert Parlow: "Anvil Polka"
• Louis Andriessen
  Louis Andriessen
  Louis Andriessen is a Dutch composer and pianist based in Amsterdam. He teaches composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague...
  
  : De Materie
  De Materie
  De Materie is a four-part vocal and orchestral composition by Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, which he composed over the period 1984 to 1988. Robert Wilson directed the first staging of the work on 1 June 1989 at the Muziektheater, Amsterdam, with James Doing, Wendy Hill, Beppie Blankert and...
  
   (Part I), which features an extended solo for two anvils
• Fear Factory
  Fear Factory
  Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band. Formed in 1989, they have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, as well as steadily pioneered a combination of the styles death metal,...
  
  : "Body Hammer", which features the sound of a hammer striking an anvil as percussion.
• Judas Priest
  Judas Priest
  Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
  
  : "Between The Hammer And The Anvil" which features the sound of a hammer striking an anvil for dramatic effect.
• The Beatles
  The Beatles
  The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
  
  : "Maxwell's Silver Hammer
  Maxwell's Silver Hammer
  "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a song by The Beatles, on their album, Abbey Road, sung by Paul McCartney. It was written by McCartney, though credited to Lennon–McCartney.-Background:...
  
  " makes prominent use of the anvil. Ringo Starr played the anvil.
• John Williams
  John Williams
  John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
  
  : film music Jaws
  Jaws (film)
  Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
  
  
• Kansas
  Kansas (band)
  Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...
  
  : "On the Other Side" featured some use of the anvil. Kansas violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  ist Robby Steinhardt
  Robby Steinhardt
  Robert Eugene Steinhardt is a rock violinist and singer best known for his work with the group Kansas, for which he was co-lead singer / "frontman" and emcee along with keyboardist Steve Walsh, from 1973–1982 and 1997–2006...
  
   played the anvil on the track.
• Jean Michel Jarre
  Jean Michel Jarre
  Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
  
  : On the overture of the disc "Revolutions".
• Brad Fiedel
  Brad Fiedel
  Brad Ira Fiedel is an American movie music composer. Raised in the Village of Bayville, on Long Island's tony North Shore, Fiedel graduated from The Barlow School in upstate New York....
  
  : The Terminator
  Terminator (franchise)
  The Terminator series is a science fiction franchise encompassing a series of films and other media concerning battles between Skynet's artificially intelligent machine network, and John Connor's Resistance forces and the rest of the human race....
  
  

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