Had a coil spring pop off my anvil and nail my shin last Tuesday

I was working on a set of leaf spring tongs in my garage shop near Akron when the coil I was straightening slipped out of the tongs and launched sideways. It hit me right below the knee hard enough to leave a bruise the size of a silver dollar. I spent the next 20 minutes wrapping the work with a chain before trying again. Has anyone else had a workpiece go flying mid-strike and found a good way to stop it?

3 comments

3 Comments

lilyp3725d ago

The magnet idea is solid but you gotta think about the anvil itself too. I drilled a couple of shallow divots into the side of my anvil and dropped some rare earth magnets in there flush with the surface. Now the workpiece sits right on the face but gets pulled sideways into the side of the anvil for extra stability. Chains are still good for bigger stuff but that setup keeps small coil pieces from taking off like rockets. Also wrapping a heavy shop towel around the tongs where you grip gives you more control if something does slip. Just something to try if you're sick of chasing steel around the garage lol.

avery_ross25d ago

Honestly that towel trick sounds like asking for a fire hazard.

blair_taylor3225d ago

Magnetic soft jaws are the real game changer here, not just chains. I grabbed a set of those rare earth magnet blocks from a closing machine shop and they hold workpieces dead solid against the anvil face even under heavy strikes. Plus you can stick a thin rubber sheet over the magnet to keep from marring hot steel. Way less setup time than wrapping chains every time you change projects.