beslagsmed

My anvil is about waist high.  I think no matter how thick the base plate is, you should have a way to anchor it down.  Have some holes in the corners, then drive some metal rods in the ground at aposing angles to keep it from walking.  Mine is on a concrete floor and I got it attached, but have a piece of rubber matting between the hammer base and floor.  I think a dirt floor might be the same.  And if not holes, then you can drive rods round the outside edge. 

After I retired from the U.S. Army, I grew a beard.  Once my wife, while giving me a hair cut ask when I was going to "shave that thing off".  My reply was - "When the army recalls me to active duty"!  She has neve ask about is since and a razor has not touched my face since I retired.

Also I feel - If God had intended for man to be clean shaven, he'd never put a beard on our face.

So you going to post a video when up and running?  Congrats and enjoy!

I voted "other" because my homemade one is not a tire type, its mechanical.

Here are a couple of mine. First one is the one I work mostly on. The other sets next to my coal forge.

I'm a farrier, so swing a hammer every day.  Like Frank said, shake hands with the hammer.  I think you might be holding it too tight.  Someone should be able to take it easly from you.  Correct weight also helps.  I also like to wrap my handles with the stuff they wrap tennis rackets with.  It gives a little softening of the blow and lets me grip the handle lighter when my hands are damp. 

MarkChiara,

The main mast on mine is filled with sand.  I believe this gives it a little more stability.  Something to think about.

Love the video, thanks! You are about to have more fun than you can imagine! Really!

Dave

Oh I know that.  I done some damascus knives, tomahawks.  I also use it to make some of my special need horse shoes.  It is such a great work tool.  I think the best part was the build.  Actually making something myself and having it work the way I planned. 

Here's a video of my hammer working for the first time.  Since building I have had many hours of good work with it.

Grahame,
I built one of the Krusty hammers. If you go to Youtube.com and type in: danish krusty you can see in in action. I made a few changes from the plans, but it works real well.

Here in Denmark if you are smithing traditionally (viking) you use charcoal. Coal is readly available here, and very good stuff at that. I was to a friend's place in Portugal and we got some coal - was not so good, not washed, sorted or sized. I spent about an hour or so washing it so we got a better fire. Was suprised at all the rock we got in a bag as well.

Also take a straight edge and run from horn to heel, and across to see how much the face has been pounded down. Sometimes this can get you a few bucks off the price!! Did it with the first anvil I bought and got about a third off the asking price. Then took it home and with the help of my trusty angle grinder, elbow grease and time, got it pretty good!!

Good looking pair. How much time did you have in making them? How did you weld the wings to the body?

Nice lookin tongs. Bolt tongs are so versital - really enjoy mine. I know you will get lots of good use out of those. Best part is when one needs a tool, it is great to make one instead of buying.

This is a pic of my daily working anvil stand with my Future I anvil mounted.

This is a pic of the stand I have in my van for everyday use. It is a Future I anvil.

My shop anvil stand is shown in the below thread.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=30925

Great pics. Would be great to see a video of this one working.

Great lookin avnil. I know a piece of rubber mat work great for taking away the sound as well. This just proves the point - The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys!!! Have fun and enjoy!!

Ya macbruce, I am not trying to discourage this guy but it has been my experience that building something from scratch takes a lot of leg work, and trying to find parts that are free or cheap takes time. Building your own power hammer would be a fun project, and rewarding when you start pounding on some hot steel with it. Seems a lot easier and probably cheaper to find a hammer that is working or needs some work

An old horseshoer told me once that they cut the horn tip off so if they got pushed into the anvil by an upset horse it would not skewer them. Probably not why large shop anvils are blunted though.
Rob

The time you spend building a hammer ? probably take 300- 400 hrs for me to build.

Yes. Finished my in December. Works great.

ok cant find krusty on net but I have a copy as it was posted with no copy right they are complete. can I post theme
?

Mink are great for mice, rats and any small critters that are around. Other than that, cats are great.