Avadon Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 My anvils are all setup just under my wrist height and it's excellent for most of my work but for armour work it starts making most hardy's to high. So I'm thinking about making a free standing and variable height 1" hardy tool holder where I can walk easily around it and without much effort I can adjust the heigh for any hardy tool depending on what i'm working on. And of course it also needs to be heavy, at least 150lbs. Has anyone made one or heard of plans for one, or does anyone have ideas and suggestions as to how they would go about one. I'm open to sand or concrete as well to get the extra weight. shoot me some ideas :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 What are the adjustment heights (low and high) and how fine do the adjustments need to be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 I could take some measurements tomorrow to get a better range, but a fairly broad range of height would be nice. The adjustment doesn't have to be precise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Swage block on adjustable legs / jack under will fit your stakes and hardies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esensible Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 I have made a stand alone hardy holder since the top plate on my anvil is broken off diagonally through the hardy. The height is not adjustable, but it is heavy enough & could be made adjustable. I started with an 8" round disk around 1.5" thick then drilled, cold chiseled and finally drifted (just to clean it up) a square hardy hole. On the bottom I have welded 4 x 3" diameter by 12" long bars. The whole thing is on a stand with caulking to kill vibration. The whole thing is a good concentrated mass and is very quiet - better in both respects than a traditional hardy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) Two more options: 1. The photograph below shows tooling that sits in sockets/square-tubing at the two corners of the table that have nuts welded to the side. A bolt with a piece of steel are welded together to form a handle that can be inserted in the threaded holes to tighten against the tool to lock it in place. Or you could use steel pins that go through socket and tooling. 2. Or you could weld up some sockets that fit your stakes and attach them at appropriate heights to the side of your anvil stand or table. The table has a length of angle iron between two legs so that it can be moved with a hand-truck. Edited August 17, 2009 by UnicornForge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) I'm making one a the moment the base a brake drum from a tilt bed wrecker with 3/8plate welded to the top with a 4" square tube for the up-right filled with all the cutoff I could find then the steel tabs from 40 pounds of wheel weights with a bit of the lead added to hold it together. the top is 3/4 plate with a one inch square hole ...I am going to block in around the hole with more 3/4x 2" long then weld it to the top of the 4 inch post. the whole thing weighs about 125 pounds and is about the same hight as my anvil Edited August 17, 2009 by jimbob adding picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten Hammers Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 I have a forging table and a swage stand. Both are 33 1/2" height (same as anvil) and can be used for long piece support when forging on anvil. If I need height, I just use a couple of pieces of bridge plank (that are roughly 3" in thickness). One stacks on the other nicely and this will make a WORLD of difference in the arm at the end of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 My anvils are all setup just under my wrist height and it's excellent for most of my work but for armour work it starts making most hardy's to high. So I'm thinking about making a free standing and variable height 1" hardy tool holder where I can walk easily around it and without much effort I can adjust the heigh for any hardy tool depending on what i'm working on. And of course it also needs to be heavy, at least 150lbs. Has anyone made one or heard of plans for one, or does anyone have ideas and suggestions as to how they would go about one. I'm open to sand or concrete as well to get the extra weight. shoot me some ideas I've only had one adjustable stand and stopped using it because there was too much vibration. Stands need to be solid for what I do. I have had different hardy or stake stands and I like them at striking height. I am making a new anvil right now to travel with and it is just a 10"x4"x2 1/2" block that I drifted a 1" hardy hole into it. I will have the stand made where the anvil height will be 27" with the legs backing the anvil just like the stand Ed made for the nail header which is basically the same thing you are talking about. Make sure you put some good feet on it so you can anchor or spike it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Yah it does kind of seem like the vibration (unless it's very light) would just destroy any conventional type of variable height assembly. I'm racking my brain for something better then a bolt squeezing it into the wall of a socket, but so far haven't come up with much. I definitely like Brians free standing hardy but again it would be ideal for me if that was adjustable. I'm not using it for striking or anything that heavy so maybe there is a another really solid way to do this? (back to the drawing board) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 I'm starting to think something like this Bladesmithing anvil 5 but with the hardy as the star of the show instead of just an attachment. Anyone know how he makes this setup adjustable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easilyconfused Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 I'd say your best bet would be to use either wood planks, pieces of sheet metal or another option I've seen is a barrel/tube assembly filled with sand and a plank on top of the sand to set the anvil in. If you made a large block like Brian's you could maybe use that. If you make the hardy block or whatever you come up with heavy enough, you shouldn't loose too much energy from the sand and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Can you actually put a jack under something to give it adjustable height or will the jack give you a springy rebound? Doesn't it have to be locked in place regardless? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Can you actually put a jack under something to give it adjustable height or will the jack give you a springy rebound? Doesn't it have to be locked in place regardless? why not just use pins out class 5 bolts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 why not just use pins out class 5 bolts How would I use this? Do you mean like have a channel with bolts stacked in it that I can take in and out? That seems like that would be a ton of bolts, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
double_edge2 Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) Ill be making something similar though not adjustable height, ill probably weld four bits of 5 inch lengths of the 45mm square solid to to get the holes size and another four bits to suport the shallow corners, sit it on a plate and pedestal. if you have oxy and heavy plate and an acro support you could do a similar though. Edited August 18, 2009 by double_edge2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Yah i'm thinking of something similar double edge. Simply weld piece of bar together to get a 1" square hardy hole. Once I have the shaft/recepticle then i'll let it slide up in down in either a piece thick wall sq tubing or have it guided by 4 piece of thick angle iron. Then I was thinking of cut up wood or solid steel plates (probably around 4"x4" in various heights) under it to support it i and give me different heights, and a bolting mechanism of some sort to clamp the hardy hole holder thing in place. Anyone see any problems with this idea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) How would I use this? Do you mean like have a channel with bolts stacked in it that I can take in and out? That seems like that would be a ton of bolts, no? I was thinking along the lines of tube within a tube using the two bolts on the bottom putting holes every inch or so. another option would be to use screwjack that they use to lift houses with I think it would take the beating Edited August 17, 2009 by jimbob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) Yah the bolt idea is similar to this idea that Chuck Robinson just gave me. He made blademaking anvils out of large sq stock. You can see he used 2.5" angle iron that is 3/8's thick and cut notches in it. Then he has a plate that slips in. The plate has sq keys welded onto it so it doesn't fall out. In fact I believe it actually falls into the notches. Beyond that I don't see any way to tighten it in place but I suppose some grade8 bolts could be used to pinch it in place. I'm waiting to hear back from him to ask him if this setup jumps at all without some kind of fasteners pinning it in. *okay just heard from chuck and he says "No, my small anvil weighs 91 lbs and the large one is 182 lbs. not including the weight of the base. They are rock solid. Chuck" so seems like pinning or bolting it in is rather unnecessary. Edited August 17, 2009 by Avadon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 you know the way he has that made you could put a 1" hole in one end and a flat face on the other and just turn it over when you wanted to use the other...plug weld a solid chunk in in the anvil face and a plug weld a one inch plate with your square hole in the other Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Can you actually put a jack under something to give it adjustable height or will the jack give you a springy rebound? Doesn't it have to be locked in place regardless? I would use an old fashioned screw jack not an hydraulic one, or a scissor one, that way you could have a solid connection to the base plate, and it could easily be made to fit in between a couple of channels that would act as guides for the top location plate for the hardies, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) Another thought is to make the outer piece from square tubing and the hardy from another sedtion of sq that telescopes into the base. Adjust the height by adding or removing sand. It wouldn't be fast but it wouldn't vibrate or any of the other headaches associated with adjustable stands for impact tools. Frosty Edited August 18, 2009 by Frosty Typing too fast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 I think I got enough info now to be dangerous. I should be able to come up with something fairly formidable. Enough to make all the armourers jealous ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
double_edge2 Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Yah the bolt idea is similar to this idea that Chuck Robinson just gave me. He made blademaking anvils out of large sq stock. You can see he used 2.5" angle iron that is 3/8's thick and cut notches in it. Then he has a plate that slips in. The plate has sq keys welded onto it so it doesn't fall out. In fact I believe it actually falls into the notches. Beyond that I don't see any way to tighten it in place but I suppose some grade8 bolts could be used to pinch it in place. I'm waiting to hear back from him to ask him if this setup jumps at all without some kind of fasteners pinning it in. *okay just heard from chuck and he says "No, my small anvil weighs 91 lbs and the large one is 182 lbs. not including the weight of the base. They are rock solid. Chuck" so seems like pinning or bolting it in is rather unnecessary. that is nice....after you've made mine ill give you the stuff to make yours... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avadon Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 lol.. sounds like a deal doubleedge. I have a feeling it's going to be a lot of welding to do right.. but i'll get around to it. ^_^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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