The Iron Anvil Head sits early in Pax Dei’s crafting tree, but it blocks real progress until you make one. You need it for Basic Bellows, and those bellows are required to assemble a Basic Forge — the first proper metalworking station that replaces your starter setup.

Iron Anvil Head recipe and requirements

Recipe detail Value
Output 1 × Iron Anvil Head
Ingredients 20 × Iron Ingot, 40 × Charcoal
Skill Blacksmithing (Tier 1)
Recipe difficulty 10
Unlock Blacksmithing level 5
Crafting station Basic Forge, Forge, or Craftsman Forge
Primary use Consumed in Basic Bellows; used to assemble forge parts
Note: Depending on your build, the crafting menu may also list Stone Anvil for this recipe early on. If you see Stone Anvil as the station, use it to make the part before you have a Forge.

What the Iron Anvil Head is used for

The item is a structural component rather than a placeable tool. It’s consumed when crafting Basic Bellows, which are then used to build a Basic Forge. Don’t expect to place an “iron anvil” in your homestead; the practical upgrade path funnels you into the Forge.

From Stone tools to Forge: the short path

If you’re starting fresh, this is the typical order you’ll follow to reach your first Forge. Names and counts matter; gather and refine exactly what each step calls for.

Step Ingredients required
Wood Chopping Block 10 × Sapwood
Basic Carpenter’s Workbench 4 × Wooden Beam, 6 × Planks, 20 × Wooden Pegs
Anvil Stone 10 × Gneiss
Stone Anvil 1 × Anvil Stone, 5 × Gneiss, 10 × Sapwood
Smelt Iron Ingots (for the head) Refine Impure Iron Ore in a Basic Furnace; fuel with Charcoal
Make Charcoal (for smelting and the head) Process Sapwood in a Charcoal Kiln
Iron Anvil Head 20 × Iron Ingot, 40 × Charcoal
Basic Blacksmithing Tools 2 × Iron Sheets, 2 × Iron Bar, 4 × Iron Nails
Basic Blacksmith Workbench 1 × Basic Blacksmithing Tools, 4 × Wooden Beam, 6 × Planks, 20 × Wooden Pegs
Basic Bellows 2 × Long Wood Stock, 3 × Coarse Leather String, 4 × Rawhide, 10 × Sapwood, 20 × Iron Nails, 1 × Iron Anvil Head
Basic Forge 1 × Basic Bellows, 2 × Wooden Beam, 4 × Planks, 2 × Clay, 10 × Charcoal, 3 × Gneiss, 20 × Wooden Pegs

Once the Basic Forge is placed, you can retire the Stone Anvil workflow. Forge tiers cover the same early recipes with better throughput and cleaner station consolidation.

Material planning and fuel

  • Iron Ingots: Plan for 20 ingots specifically for the head, plus extra for blacksmith tools, nails, and sheets needed along the path.
  • Charcoal: You need 40 just for the head. You’ll also burn Charcoal to smelt the 20 ingots and to assemble the Forge itself, so stockpile ahead of time.
  • Wood: Sapwood feeds both early construction (pegs, beams, planks) and Charcoal production. It’s the hidden cost most players underestimate.
Tip: Batch your charcoal burns and smelting runs so you’re never waiting on fuel while metal is in the furnace queue.

Blacksmithing skill notes

The Iron Anvil Head is a low-difficulty, Tier 1 recipe, but it still benefits from a few skill levels.

  • Unlocks at Blacksmithing level 5.
  • Difficulty 10 means early failures are possible; expect roughly half success at level 5 and a smooth 100% success by level 10.
  • Failures still grant a bit of experience, but the best way to conserve materials is to push a few levels first with cheaper recipes.

Make the head, convert it into bellows, and place the Forge — that’s the first meaningful breakpoint in Pax Dei’s crafting. Once you’re there, steel yourself for the next tier of alloys and bigger builds.