Help with Anvil Base

[gauge]

I know I know...I still haven't posted pictures of my Mousehole, but the wife lost the chip for the digital camera.....

Anyway, I wanted to create a base for the anvil to sit on. A buddy of mine works for the electric company and has access to telephone poles that are chemically treated to never decay. Apparently they treat the entire pole and then cut them to the length they need. He gave me a piece they cut off of the bottom of a pole. It was 15" in diameter and about 2 feet long. Perfect - or so I thought.

The problem is I have tried, (in vain) to cut it flat and I can't. I used a chain saw to get it pretty straight and then used a planer to try and get it as level as I can. No matter what I do, my base shakes from side to side. I just can't seem to get the base level. Any ideas?

If I can't get it to work, I am thinking about just buying two 2" x 12" x 8' pieces of wood at Home Depot and cutting it into 2 foot lengths and then bolting it together to form a cube about 1 foot by 1 foot by 2 feet high.

Any other ideas?

[dablacksmith]

try cutting a hollow in the bottom with chinsaw it dosnt have to be deep just a slight hollow will help get it to not rock ..good luck and have fun!

[Mlmartin15]

you might try to router a Y shaped cut into the bottom about a 1/4 in deep, this will leave 3 "legs" coming down so it sould not rock around, or you could simply cut yourself 3 pieces of something like 2 by 1/4 flatbar about 6" long, drill a hole and counter sink it so you could screw them to the bottom and then you would only have 3 places of contact. anything with 3 legs sits flat, when you have 4 or more, much less one big flatish leg its had to make it sit flat

[ThomasPowers]

What are you placing it on? Your floor may not be flat!

[LDW]

I saw a base that looked good. It was made from two by fours, it had like three a foot long or so side by side then had three more on top running the other direction, just keep stacking till its high enough. I think they had these pieces leftover from a project and decided to use them up. I will see if I have a picture of it.

[pete46]

Try A Piece Of Mud Flap From A Truck ?

[mike-hr]

I use a stump that rocks on the floor a bit. I keep a cedar shingle or two on the floor and just tap it into the low spot. Works fine.

[MooseRidge]

The biggest question is what is the base of your forge area? I've always been a fan of packed gravel (more forgiving on the old knees and back!). I drilled three holes into my old stump (about the same as the telephone pole you have) in the uneven end. I then hammered in rebar show leaving about 8 inches showing, then ground them to a point. Placed the points down in the location I wanted and jumped on the stump to get it started. I then put some old boards on top and used my sledge to hammer it flush. This left me with a nice flat top and it never moved in the 2 years I used it....

Chuck

[MooseRidge]

Now I have a 3 1/2' stump that I dug out below the level of the floor (and gravel), lined the whole with plastic, abd then dropped the stump in. With the cravel packed back in around the edges (plus the weight of the stump itself - 3.5' wide x 3' tall oak), it's my anvil base, swage block base, and post vise base.....

Chuck

[Glenn]

IForgeIron > Blueprints >

BP0335 Adjustable Anvil Stand
BP0336 Adjustable Anvil Stand