Quote Originally Posted by jeffegg2 View Post
I think one of the reasons for using an anvil is that it does not yield or give and all the energy of the impact imparts into the pin. If you have the strike absorbed by the softness of the wood I don't think it would be as effective for pinning. I do like the idea of an adjustable hole however...
You'd think that... But at least with the brass rods I use for pinning, it's not as important as I thought it would be. As an experiment leading up to this, I held the rod in my hand and peened the end with a watchmaker's hammer. It worked fine. A little slower than if I'd put it on a hard surface, but the rod still mushroomed. It wasn't supported by anything, just pinched between my fingers.

Nickel-silver rod might be a different story. It's a bit harder.