I see anvils as an evolution of Qwertech’s tiered crafting tables and that’s a good thing. The anvil, mortar and magnifying glass provide that first step into processing and smelting and is a natural step between stone axes and forged tools. Crafting anything in a crafting bench that involves beating and shaping as a recipe feels wrong now.
In terms of achievements I think books and studying materials is the way to go. Books provide information on what can be done and studying materials provides clues on how you can use it. Is it Bibliocraft that provides the crafting bench that lets you record recipes to books? Something like that, but where the books are already written and can be found of traded for could also work.