How do you prepare a stump for an Anvil?

[Borntoolate]

I am on stump #3 for my 275# anvil. I am quite happy with it for now. I say for now because it is not a hard wood but rather an available wood at the time I decided I needed to change it. This is a spruce stand. Prepped with a chainsaw and leveled with a router using a square frame and sled that the router sits in. I say for now because it has numerous cracks in it. THough it is VERY solid. But maybe it won't stay that way. I don't know.



Here is the router jig. Behind it is a wood slab that I used the jig on to smooth. The router goes in the sled on the right and slides on the square frame over the slab or anvil stand hunk of wood. I did not create this I got the idea from Finewoodworking magazine under how to deal with slabs.



Just curious how others prep and/or make a good stand from a piece of wood. I am working on another stand from this piece of oak. This was just cut down this week. I have chainsawed away the back to make a rough shape. I have not done any routering yet. The wood is very green.



Finally, I choose this particular stump because it is actually a section of tree where the tree spits in to two trunks. This means that the grain inside divides and makes this type of wood hard to split. You can't see the grain from this side. My thinking was that if it is hard to split then it will not be as likely to split over time. I have no experience with that tho.

So I'm trying to understand what makes a fabulous stump for an anvil stand and what you folks consider when picking a piece of tree and how you prepare it. On the other hand maybe you just need one big enough and flat enough to hold the anvil more or less level and still.

[Stash]

Looks to me like you pretty much figgered it out- you have a flat on top and bottom with some wood in between. I try tokeep it to 4 sides, tapering from top to bottom for max stability and to give you a few flat places to mount the tool holders you'll need. Good idea using a crotch section, but you'll still get some splitting- just don't worry about it. No need to overthink things.

Steve

[brianbrazealblacksmith]

I believe they used to cut a tree down and mount the anvil to the stump with the roots in the ground and then build the shop around that. Other than that, you could bury a stump 3 to 6 feet in the ground, and that would sufice. A stump on the ground or concrete is going to move and you will loose work to the vibration no matter how big your anvil is. You may be able to mount some brackets to that stump where you could anchor into concrete or the ground.

[bigfootnampa]

Well my 256 pound Trenton sits atop a log section (oak) of about another 300 pounds and then just sits on the ground... I don't think you are gonna see it move or vibrate at all! I really do not see the need for burying a log stand like mine. I've never known it to move since I anchored it to the log with staples and bent over spikes. If it does move I think you'd need good instruments to detect it. BTW I flattened it with a chainsaw and I think it would be somewhat overkill to rout it with a jig. The horn does deflect a bit when using it for fairly heavy fullering but no stand would help with that.

[knots]

There are several postings in IFI regarding using a router to level stumps. I have leveled 4 stumps so far using that method. The beauty of the process is that both ends can be made both flat and parrallel.

Your stump looks like a keeper. If it cracks squirt some glue in the crack and tap in some shingle shims. If you really want to stabilize it bore and countersink for all thread rod. Snug it up and keep forging.

The last stump that I prepared got moldy on the bottom. I brushed on anti freeze to stop that. There is a thread here in IFI on that subject as well. There are some precautions that need to be observed regarding the toxicity of anti freeze, so be sure to look that thread up if needed.

[sorefingers]

I actually made mine from 6x6 pressure treated lumber. I cut the pieces to length and then bolted them together with 7/8 ready rod. After that I banded them at the bottom middle and top with 1/8" x1 1/2" steel flat bar. Made a pretty good stand for my 200 pounder. Had too much trouble finding a stump I liked so I just decided to make one. No worries making it level if you use a large enough chop saw or a radial arm saw.

[Blacksmith Johnny]

You could make some heavy iron bands to clamp around the log to keep it from splitting

[Yetti]

the one we have at work sits on a large chunk of oak. it rocked pretty bad. I used a palm grinder to dish out the center of the bottom and create a 3 leg foot arangment. that way no matter where it moved to in the shop it would sit stable without being shimmed.

[ThomasPowers]

Rout the top edge circular and make a band for it. For seasoned wood a welded band you can tighten by tapping down on the log works well. For unseasoned a band with the ends bent out and drilled for a heavy bolt to take up slack is suggested.

Now myself I just forged some cleats to go across the worst splits.

Here in NM we often have humdidties in single digits and *all* wood shrinks!

Are termites an issue where you are at? If so and your log will be resting on dirt you may want to soak the base in something to discourage them. IIRC borax works and is relatively non-toxic and found in smithys anyway...

Finding stumps is difficult where I'm at in NM and most of my stands tend to be old creosoted mine timbers, most likely softwood to boot. They seem to work.

For one travel set up I found a hollow log I used for a "traditional" base that was easy to move. Not nearly as good as a solid base but a whole lot easier to take on the road! Putting a couple of tool racks on your stump that can function as handles to move it is a big help if you will be traveling with it. For the stands of a couple of traveling anvils of mine I actually have big commercial folding handles mounted on them and drill into my helpers that *2* people should move them.

Finally my 515# anvil will move on it's base when we get to sledging on it. I installed a hand full of fence staples around it's base to "corral it". Of course it's a Fisher and so doesn't need a hold down set up to mute the ring

[SmoothBore]

The traditional material for wooden spoke wheel hubs, ... in Elm or Gum, ... because the spiral nature of the grain in those woods, make them the least likely to split.

Here in South-Central Pennsylvania, Black Gum is fairly common, and certainly has a reputation for being hard to split.

So I'm on the lookout for a Black Gum stump, ... but in the meantime, a piece of Silver Maple has served me well for about 20 years now, ... even though it has a "check" in it, that's well over an inch wide.


I trued the ends of that log up with a router as well, but found that it needed a shallow hollow on the bottom, and a bit of edge relief as well, to create the same kind of "3-point" base, that "Yetti" describes.

On the top of the log section, I routed a pocket about 3/4" deep, in the shape of the Anvil base.

My 177# Peter Wright sits so securely in that pocket, that I can grab it and "walk" it around the shop floor, to wherever it's most convenient at the moment, ... and the Anvil never moves a bit.


I've heard of guys using caulk or construction adhesive on the bottom of an Anvil, to make it sit more solid, ... but personally feel no need for that.



.

[Borntoolate]

I also used the three leg bottom approach such that it will always find footing. I see no reason why the three legs can't be affixed to the stump rather than routed as I did previously. Just some oak pads screwed to the bottom might be what I try on this one. This would be a useful idea for those that lack the chainsawing resources or routering resources. The three pads could help level the top by adjusting the thickness of the pads.

I like the routering approach to get things true though as I am not the best chainsaw-er. Though my new one is sitting pretty tight with just rough chainsawing.

I was actually thinking I might do some serious belt sanding and staining with a clear coat. That could look awesome! BUt I was a woodworker before I started blacksmithing. Yeah I know that is way way overkill but I may do it because I can. Why not forge hot iron on a fine piece of furniture? The burn marks will add patina. I might go into high end anvil stand fine woodworking business. Another wood treatment I might consider is ebonizing. The water from the slack tub should do the trick for oak. For those that don't know of ebonizing you basically let the iron in water react with the tanin in certain woods and it turns a blackish color. Not all woods ebonize well. Oak ebonizes pretty good. In fact I think I will go dump some slack tub water on it right now and see what happens?

[Borntoolate]

hey, Brian,
By the way. The anvil stand above that my anvil is on is the one I was working on while you were packing up. Now I can do the crotch hold. ;)