Avadon

Well I am going to have to disagree with the above and say that pre-heating anything more then about 1/2" is an excellent idea if not mandatory unless you have a welder that can provide adequate penetration without pre-heat, something in the neighboorhood of 500-600amps. Stick welding isn't giving you more penetration then TIG or MIG at the same amps, this is a common misconception. I used a HARRIS J-63-2 Oxy/acet rosebud tip. You can get these for about 50$, maybe less if you search around. This (attached) is about the biggest tip you want to use on a single acetylene tank unless it's a very large tank. It is about 75,000BTU tip. You must never draw more then 1/6'th of an acetylene tank out in an hour for reasons of disturbing the acetone/acetlyene composition and ALWAYS keep the acetylene out of the red arc on your regulator. I also bought the J-63-3 tip, and it is a very large tip and is advised (I was told by Harris themselves) that this tip was made for two or more acetylene tanks Y-harnessed together. So I decided not to use the bigger tip with my current setup and just hold onto it for possible future use, the J-63-2 was plenty adequate. I got the three legs good tacked where I wanted them, then I started evenly heating that piece of 2" plate steel with the rosebud torch taking the chill out of it. Once I got the plate probably around 400dgs I started really bringing the heat to the base of the first Leg I was going to weld on. I probably brought this area close to 800dgs I would guess. Once I did that I was able to get the full penetrationi out of my 200AMP Tig torch which is about 3/16's. Not a lot when your talking about a 2" piece of plate but without the preheat you would have had to sit there all day in one spot trying to heat up the weld pool and most likely you would get lousy penetration or a cold shut. The mass of the steel just wicks away all heat you pour into it untill you bring up the slab to a good heat, then it will hold it fairly well. Thus I emplore you to pre-heat! Everyone from Airgas to the professional welders I asked about this said that you must pre-heat to get a good weld. I would still pre-heat even if I had a 600amp machine. No reason not to. With both of the pieces of steel nice and hot I got good penetration and I started making stringers around the joint of the legs. This is where you lay the first weld into the seam. A second weld bead will be drawn to the left/above and the next weld bead will be drawn to the right of it/below. They will act like two welds sitting ontop of one. Thus you are building a shape that looks like an inverted pyramid. Here is a pretty basic drawing on this link. Look at the circles in the crevice with the numbers about half way down the page Types of Welds A minimum when welding to something so thick would be 3 passes. I think I was doing four to get a wider reach (1 under neath and three welds ontop), to grab more surface area. The result is I have grabbed a lot of that plate to hold to the legs, even though the weld is no more then probably 1/8 - 3/16's thick in most places. Don't worry about warping the steel it is way to large for that, but do make sure you get some nice and heavy tack welds in place before pre-heating as those tacks can bust off during heating and then your left trying to re-align hot metal which is not fun. All in all i'm really happy with the results so far and i'll have pictures coming for this thread soon. Thank you for all the help in here. So Hopefully others will read this before welding up your heavy duty anvil stands.

Are you talking about taking the I beam and cutting your legs from that? That may work, although they will be fairly massive. If you want to make a really serious steel anvil stand I would read through this thread. I am in the progress of finishing my own anvil stand, utilizing some of the tricks I learned from Hofi and people who've made stands for their Nimba Anvils. http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f83/anvil-stand-help-10503/ Anvil Stand Help

Really beautiful.. where did you find that bridge anvil? Are you gonna media blast the rust and debris off the bottom. I bet if you cleaned it up some it would be incredible!

Yah I was looking at the top down.. really not bad at all. Question for the others.. what is the quams about taking a torch.. heating the anvil up just a slight bit to get the chill out of it and then using a precision TIG or MIG to fill in small chips. ???

I would investigate some really good ear plugs. hehe That baby will probably rattle your teeth, but I wouldn't be so quick to lose it either. That thing would make an excellent stand for heating and welding or even setting things for cooling. I woud weld some feet on it with some holes so you can bolt it down. Never hurts to have an all metal surface that you can heat on or set hot metal on that you know won't catch anything on fire. As for really cheapo anvils I suggest going to your local steel yard. Nearly every town has one, or has one within decent driving distance. You can get something like this brick I mounted to a large log. It is 2" thick by 6" wide by about 12" long. I'm sure you could probably even get 3" or even 4" thick. They always have cut-off stock that is dirt cheap and it should be easy to find a rather large billet you can hammer away on for a good age. Granted it's not hardened material, it's just A36 mild steel, but it will still hold up to plenty of bashing for a good while. Then when you get the bug, and I bet you will hehe, then you can drop the big money on a serious anvil.

Okay thanks, I think I will use this idea on my anvil as it seems quite sound.

With those big hollow tubes you should try the sand as well. I already know it will work well as its essentially acting like a deadblow hammer. Now just trying to discern the best way to fill them.. well that is going to be interesting. See I fgured i'd weld the legs on while the plate is inverted, then later weld the feet on with it right side up. This way if something isn't exactly level I can shim before I tack on the final feet. That won't work if they are filled with sand. Think i'll probably drill a 1/2" hole and just pour the sand in with a funnel when i'm done. This will be easier then trying to do it all mid construction. Then I will weld over that hole and then drill a 1/16'th vent hole in a inconspicuous place so nothing ever gets pressure in it.

I think most people don't do this because of moisture in the earth.

I see what your saying now with it locking the anvil in. Did you drill holes or some small indents for the bolts to sink into? Or is it just friction that stops the bolts from sliding down? Or is it just pinched so tightly that the stand won't fall from the anvil when picked up. Yah I think i'll go ahead and drill those holes just in case.

So those cramp bolts that go through those nuts, right? And their purpose is to lessen ring? They don't really pin the anvil down much do they? Or is that not even their purpose? Plus what is the harm about welding up the anvil legs with sand in them. Is there an explosion hazard or moisture hazard with just welding them up tight? I mean the legs are never gonna get hot.

wow, i've never heard of this technique, do you have a picture of all that?

So I suppose it will help some. Should I weld the sand in or should I make it removable? I can't see any harm in welding it, is there? Do people ever make clamps to clamp the anvil to the base or is this something not necessary?

So i'm soon to be welding up my anvil legs on my anvil stand and was thinking of what may be a really good idea. The legs are 5" x 3" x 0.25" Steel rectangular Tubing and ~17" long. Each leg has 255 square inches inside it and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to fill them with sand? I was thinking of either making a metal plug at the top of each leg so I can fill them, or simply just weld the sand in. I would think that would take any ring out the stand, or an ring the anvil itself is trying to transfer to the stand. Is this a good idea? Or is there something wrong with this?

I settled on 32.5, and i'm 5'9". It just seemed to work well without me having to bend over a lot and it also made for keeping the stock level in my left hand at a relaxed stance. Since its on the high side I can always use the advice here, like standinig on a comfortable mat, or mat ontop of plywood to lower the anvil. Thanks for the good advice everyone.

The Brazeal bro's anvil is cool especially if your on a very tight budget but aesthetics mean a lot to me. So i'd much sooner go with dodges design (plus it has a horn) or just save up for a real anvil in the 100# range. My Gladiator was my big 30year old present which came from parents, grandparents, and family all chipping in. It was a very cool present, one that they couldn't really understand why I would want, but now they are seeing more of my work I think they get it ;)

I think i've settled on 32.5" which is just highe enough for sheet metal work and blade work and still not so high that working on 5/8's rnd stock is doable. Coming from a jewelry making background, and the fact i'll always be working alone without a striker, I think the higher height will allow me to get my face closer to the detail work and keep me from endless hunching over. I have a super ergonomic computer setup so I guess i'm finicky with the feel of things. If I totally messed up I can always cut the feet off the legs caerfully and then reweld some feet on where it needs to be, and if I need to raise it I can always put a piece of steel or board under the feet or the anvil itself.

Good posts all, appreciate all the quick info. Thank you very much, i'll keep taking a few measurement and then start cutting today :)

Jeeze, i'm really glad I asked before I just started cutting because what Matt was saying was sort of in the back of my mind. See I don't intend to work giant stock, I will probably mostly be doing armour and blade making so hunching over makes your back sore and I want the work closer to my vision and not where i'm stooping over to see get at it. My initial height guess was about 30.5" (i'm 5'9) and now I wonder if that is a little low. Can anyone else tell me what height their anvil is just to have something to go by. Probably going to low is more of a fear then a little high.

So I know about standing square and measuring the height just below your knuckles but I also remember about people in here liking their anvil a little higher so it didn't bother their back or because it seemed closer. So i'm 5'9" and i'm looking for a good anvil height. What height is everyones anvil at here, and do you guys have it higher then just below your knuckles? (This is kind of a one shot welding, so I want to get it right. My initial measurements show about 31". I'm guessing if you go higher then your knuckles you lose some of your hammer stroke, to low and you may hyperextend your arm during its travel?)

How is it heating it? Is it creating friction by restructuring the grain? I imagine that is work hardening the **** out of it because your constantly tightening the grain to create friction, right?

From worcester to marshfield it's about 1hr 20min drive, but thats not really that far. Just come with some big containers and stock up. They are pleasent and easy to work with on the phone and they are expecting blacksmiths and small orders as well as large so I get the feeling that things go fast and smooth there.

Okay did some scouting they, WILLIAMS COAL, IS still in business. Welcome to Williams Coal, Oil, Natural Gas, Propane, Kerosene, Diesel You can get a 50# bag of coal for $10.95 Or you can fill up your car/truck (obviously with some sort of container you bring) and they can weigh your car before or after. They do deliver coal but you have to order a minimum of a ton. Here is their correct contact info. Williams & Sons, Inc. 39 Adams Street, P.O. Box 850310, Braintree MA 02185 717 Plain Street (Route 139), Marshfield MA 02050 781-843-0415 I guess I score because I have aubuchons around me in every direction and Williams is only about 30 mins away :)

oh nm it really is called Blacksmith Coal, 40 Lb. I thought you were just referring to it by description.

What is the name or brand of the coal they sell at aubuchon?

THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!! You do good work!