I believe that ear plugs, or muffs should be worn any time you are pounding iron or steel, and wearing a breather mask is probably an equally good idea. I have custom made ear plugs made for me by the BelTone( Hearing aid) people locally. They have proven to be the most comfortable ear protection I have tried, and therefore I am likely to wear them. Ear muffs are okay, but give me a headache in about an hour. I see factory workers using ear plugs that are pink in color and attached to strings, so they can be hung around their necks when not being used. OSHA must know something we didn't learn soon enough! The vivid color is to make it easier for supervisors to see if you are complying with safety rules, I am sure. Its in the company's best interest, as well as your own.
I wear glasses, so I have not mentioned the need to wear safety glasses or goggles whenever you are pounding steel, or working around hot steel. It is another " Must Do". Forget those old pictures of blacksmiths working without a shirt on, no glasses, or other protections. Long sleeve shirts you can sacrifice are always in order, as are thick, long, wrist covering gloves. Being burned a few times by flying sparks of steel is all it takes for most people to learn his lesson permanently.
I learned a tip about using anvils years ago, talking to an old, Amish, blacksmith, after he demonstrated how to use a forge and anvil to make a small, souvenire horseshoe for a kid, at Rockhome Gardens, near Chesterville, Illinois. I had seen him alternating striking the hot steel with his hammer, and then the top of the anvil, while the work was moved from one position on the anvil to another. I asked him if he was just doing that as part of the show or did he have a more practical reason?
He told me that he was "Listening to his Anvil", so that he didn't heat up any spot on the anvil enough to anneal( soften ) it. As the anvil heats up, the pitch of the anvil's ring begins to drop a little, like a guitar string that is going out of tune. I doubt, with modern steels, that one has to be that concerned about " burning " an anvil's surface enough to produce a soft spot, but he showed one of the three anvils he had in the shop, that had a corner that had been annealed by some prior owner, who held the work on the corner too long. While the rest of the anvil was flat, smooth, and shiny, this corner was discolored, and showed some scratches and one gouge, or dent, that indicated it had been hit with something. He told me he bought the anvil, which was more than 100 years old in the early 1970s, from the guy, anyway, since the rest of the anvil was good, but he paid a lot less for it because of the damaged done. The rest of the anvil, and his other two anvils, other than having a good coating of black soot, and oil all over them, looked as good and shiney as the day they left the foundry that made them. These were indsutrical sized anvils, that weighed from 120-150 lbs. They make them even bigger, but the small ones you find at farm sales, usually weigh about 60 lbs, and are made of cast iron, with a thin 3/8-1/2" plate of steel welded to the casting to provide the top surface. They are okay for light work. If you want to make Bowie knives or swords on a regular basis, I think you want to find one of the cast STEEL anvils.
