anvil hold-downs

[bourne101]

hi everyone, hope your spring is ending well. for me spring brings another few seasons of ametuer smithing on my forge but as i'v started working on larger projects i'v come across the need for more than 2 hands for holding my pieces down.i am sure i'm not the only one that has been in this delema and i was wondering about the anvil hold downs out there. any suggestions for a way i can hold the metal on the anvil while using my other two hands for puching splitting etc.?

[Naz]

I use these modified pliers, I cut the bottom jaw and welded a hardie shank.
Simple and easy to make, they work out pretty good on small stock. I never used them on anything larger than 1/2" but I would be limited on stock size, the jaw size having it's limit.
(Still trying to figure how to get normal size pictures.)
Naz.

[ThomasPowers]

I found the top (movable) jaw of a pipe wrench and welded a T to the top of it and forged the shaft to fit the hardy and drilled a hole across the shaft at the bottom and hooked a spring to it.

A neat one I have seen used by knifemakers uses a spring and a T handle but looks more like a stirrup upside down with the T sticking up. These are sized so they fit over the heel of the anvil and can be taken on or off at will. (I believe that Bill Moran used one like this...)

With large hardy hole(s) I can use a pipe clamp through them too.

And then there is the chain fastened to the offside anvil support that you throw over the anvil and piece with a stirrup on the end to stand on pulling it tight.

[infinityblacksmithing]

Check out the demos on anvilfire, they have a few different ideas on hold downs, A real easy one to make is a bent dog as I know it. Just a rod the size of your pritchel hole bent so it comes back down to the face of the anvil then bent again to be parallel with the face and flattened with just a slight curve to hold a variety of stock. Hope this helps.

[Paul42`]

Really like those pliers Naz.... great idea! Gonna use this one for sure!

[Judson Yaggy]

I'll add another vote for a bench dog that slips into the pritchell hole, not the most bomb proof hold down but simple and fast, does the job. Also you can make one with just a forge and anvil, should take 6-10 heats depending. Tighten by hitting on the top, loosen by tapping horizontally on the back of the dog.

[bourne101]

that "bench dog" as you called it looks quite interesting and looks to be about the only thing i can make with the tools available to me at the moment. i'll give making one of them a try and get back to you guys with how it turned out. in the mean time are there any other ideas on how to solve this problem?

[tzonoqua]

I have a motorcycle chain that is nailed to the opposite side of the stump on which my anvil is mounted. On the end of the chain is a metal square - which acts as a "stirrup". Anything that needs holding down on the anvil, the chain is lain across it, my foot then goes in the "stirrup" and the pressure holds the piece on the anvil in place. When not in use is pushed out of the way, or slung on the other side. This method is very simple, versatile and extremely handy! Apologies for the quality of the first photo, as it's cut from the background of another.

[ironstein]

Tzonoqua, that is a beautiful anvil! Looks like a handy hold down too. Did the anvil come with the round piece? Or did you modify the anvil to fit it?

[tzonoqua]

Thanks! This anvil came from a retired smith near Inverness. I don't know who made it or even how much it weighs but he told me it's about 4 1/2CWT- It was very rusty when I got it-the sides are deeply pitted, so no markings that I can see. It's well worn but it does the job!

By round piece, you mean the pipe that sits on top? It is in a hardy hole, this anvil has two hardy holes. It is a bit of pipe with a piece of square stock welded on the inside- I use it for making flowers, used to use the "hole" in the pipe for forming the flowers into- now I have a swage block with a better circle in it, but I still use this piece of pipe to form the petals over, and it also doubles as a former for making a "vase" to put the flowers in.

-Colleen