ANVIL, a mass of iron on which material is supported while being shaped under the hammer. The blacksmith's common anvil is made of wrought iron, often in America of cast iron, with a smooth working face of hardened steel. It has at one end a pro jecting conical beak or bick for use in hammering curved pieces of metal; occasionally the other end is also provided with a bick, which is then partly rectangular in section. There is also a square hole in the face, into which tools, such as the anvil-cutter or chisel, can be dropped, cutting edge uppermost. For power ham mers the anvil proper is sup ported on an anvil block of great massiveness, sometimes weighing over 200 tons for a i 2-ton ham mer, and this again rests on a strong foundation of timber and masonry or concrete. (See FORGING.)