Contest - Design an anvil stand

[yesteryearforge]

just wondering what the outcome of the contest is ( thought the dead line was dec 31st )

[rthibeau]

I use the fork lift tine anvil stand all the time. The anvil has the same rebound as before, it's just moveable now that it is on wheels. The whole rig weighs more than 500 lbs.

[rthibeau]

Just so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle, was a decision ever reached??

[Glenn]

The entries below are workable but appear to be unlike those in the next post.



Burying a stump (or log) has been used for years as mention in the posts.



Burying a Rail Road track rather than using it in a horizontal position is much more effective as all the mass is directly under the impact point of the hammer. A second piece of horizontal section nearby would be nice when a larger face was needed.



Buckets as stilts are interesting, but I can see a problem with uneven ground, tools junk etc on the floor, and falling off the buckets.

[Glenn]

A good idea, but there may be some problems here with the bolts becoming loose and wallowing out the holes, making the adjustment difficult over time.


The sand in a barrel is a traditional method, easy to assemble, mobile and works well.

[Glenn]

This is a very workable design. Easy to adjust and portable. Most likely this will be duplicated, or modified, and used in many ways.



Thibeau was thinking outside the box (referring to the box that is used to contain an anvil - and pun intended) with his design. It is adjustable, mobile within the shop, and breaks with the traditional thinking of what an anvil stand looks like. His use of unusual materials is refreshing.

The time for the contest has expired, I will declare these two designs the winners with the nod going to Thibeau for originality. The Thibeau design will be presented as a blueprint so you can look over the details of the design.

One type or size anvil stand will not fit everyone. This is a good subject for discussion. I would like to see it continue with additional postings, ideas, and designs.

[rthibeau]

And to the winner of any future contests, we have this beautiful work of art as an award to strive for, courtesy of the Institute for Advanced Rube Goldberg Studies at the Dancing Frog Forge....

[the_sandy_creek_forge]

Glad to see you found a way to...um....recycle...that cracked hammerhead!!
-Aaron @ the SCF

[JWBIRONWORKS]

This is to late for the contest but I thought I'd share anyway.
This spring I will need several anvils/stands for the local 4H members to learn and practice on. The age and hieght of the members vary alot. In planning the needed stands I started out looking through I forge Iron and the books I have on the shelf at home. I also thought of the stand I used at John C. Campbell. What I ended up with was a cross between Mark Aspery's stand in his book "The Skills of a Blacksmith Volume 1" and the John C. Campbell stands.
The legs and table are 2"x2" heavywall pipe cut at 20 degree angles with 4"x4"x1/4" pads. The sides are 2"x2"x1/8" angle iron 6" long.
The adjustment is done with 6 boards 3 - 1 1/2" thick 1 - 3/4" thick and 2 - 1/2" thick.
With the anvil sitting on the bare table the floor to anvil face height is 26" even. with all the boards sitting in the frame the floor to anvil face height is 32". My two shop anvils are both at 29 1/2" so I thought this was a good spread.
The chain around the anvil waist is welded and so are the two chain drops. There is a hook on one side for the one chain to hook into and a bolt/hook on the other side to hook the chain and tighten the anvil down to the stand.
The hammer/hardy racks are made from 3/8" square.
As always the design was based around what I had in the resource pile.
I made a couple of drive hooks just to try it out and it seems to be very stable.

If you would like a BP I have 2 more to make and will work one up while I make them.

John

[markb]

I just found this site and I've been resurecting my shop the last couple of months.While cleaning up I realized I needed to be able to move my anvil easily because the space is multi purpose.So her is what I came up with.


I made a little pocket for a crow bar to fit in, to lift the stand and insert the wheels, roll around the shop and lift to remove the wheels.


It's not finished yet, still need to anchor it to stand and make hardie, tong and hammer holders.