Very quiet anvil stands

[dan_m]

I finished a stand for my 100# Peter Wright today, exactly the same as one I built a couple weeks ago for a 300# Hay Budden, just different dimensions. Both anvils rang loudly before, and now they are noticeably quieter than my (unmounted) Vulcan. No need for magnets or chains or whatever if you've got good, solid connections and built in vibration absorption.

The frames are 2x2 square tubing with 1/8" walls, filled with sand and oil. I got the oil trick from Brian, it adds weight and prevents the tubing from rusting from the inside. There's 3" of hardwood bolted to the frames, I cut up the countertop drop from when we installed our kitchen. The anvils are secured to the wood with lag bolts, with a layer of silicone in between. I used close to half a tube per anvil to ensure a continuous layer since the bottoms are rough, and just scraped the excess from the sides after tightening it down. I also put a layer of caulk everywhere the holddowns contact the anvil. The feet are 3/8" plate bolted to the slab, with a piece of 1/4" thick, 70A durometer rubber between the steel and concrete.

Here's the one I finished today:


Here's the one for the bigger anvil:


I like the holddown arrangement better in the first set of pictures, but the Hay Budden doesn't have the flat along the edges like the Peter Wright. I still ended up having to grind the flats even today though to get better contact, so if I ever redo the Hay Budden stand I'll probably add some flats to the feet.

Also, here's a similar stand I made for my post vise:


Same methods as the anvil stands—oil/sand filled, caulk under the mounting plate, and rubber under the feet. I didn't go with the tripod stand for this because it seemed like the legs would be in the way, so I used some heavy steel from the scrapyard. The plates are 7/8" thick, and the tubing is 4x4 with 3/8" walls. I think the stand is probably heavier than the vise.

[ironstein]

Nice job on the stands! I made one for my fontanini 460lb, i used one inch laser cut plate with thick wall square tube legs. I set the anvil on the stand and it had a ring that would deafen you! I used a whole tube of silicon under the anvil, and she is super quiet now!

[pkrankow]

How do you get the sand and oil in the tube?

Very nice.

Phil

[dan_m]

How do you get the sand and oil in the tube?

Very nice.

Phil

The legs are cut at a 20 degree angle, so the ends are a little bigger than 2" in one direction. I welded them to the top part of the frame and a little bit of each leg protruded on the inside of the rectangle. Alternated pouring sand and oil with a piece of folded sheet metal to prevent spilling it. On the vise stand, I just welded the tube to the base, filled it, and welded the top plate on from the underside.

Edit: the top part of the frame is not filled, since I drilled through-holes for mounting the wood. Just realized you might have been asking about that part. If you wanted though, you could mount the wood, lay it down, drill a hole through the side of the top part, fill it, weld it shut, and stand it up. But then you'd have a huge mess if you ever needed to remove the wood.

[DanBrassaw]

If you really wanted that top portion filled, you could weld round tubing into the square to accommodate the bolts, and go with your drill, fill, and patch route.

[VaughnT]

Oil and sand? That's brilliant. I was planning on a metal stand for my next anvil, and was going to add sand to the legs. Oil's going in with the sand, now.

Thanks for the enlightenment!!

[Glenn]

I would suggest carrage bolts for securing the wood to the base. They have low profile heads which hug the wood and eliminate the catch basins for scale from the anvil. If you need more surface area, add a finder washer. Use a router or rasp and round all corners of the wood. They will wear that way in time anyway.

Rather than the bar front to back across the feet I would suggest a piece of anvle iron or flat bar welded to the angle iron that goes left to right across the feet. No reason for a bolt as it is only keeping the anvil from moving sideways. This would eliminate any metal corners that could cause injury, as well as the bar that would likely catch or hook objects.

I like the design and will most likely incorporate some of the features into my next anvil stand.

[kevan]

Nice, neat job!

[Bentiron1946]

Nice looking stands, however I liked to move my anvil around the shop to where I was working on my various sculpture so I needed a moveable stand for both my anvil and my leg vise. My machinist vise was mounted on my welding table so it just stayed put. I did a 3/4" hole to get the sand in the box tube for the anvil base, 14" square structural( or just about any profile of structural box tube) and then weld it closed. I would get round 3/4" thick by 16" round drops for top and bottom and use these to mound the anvil on with 3/8" square mild steel rod to hold the anvil to the base, just clinch them over like nails. Made for a very quiet base too. That is a handy looking vise stand with that rack for hammer and such on there. Good job all around I'd say. well done.

[dan_m]

I would suggest carrage bolts for securing the wood to the base. They have low profile heads which hug the wood and eliminate the catch basins for scale from the anvil. If you need more surface area, add a finder washer. Use a router or rasp and round all corners of the wood. They will wear that way in time anyway.

Rather than the bar front to back across the feet I would suggest a piece of anvle iron or flat bar welded to the angle iron that goes left to right across the feet. No reason for a bolt as it is only keeping the anvil from moving sideways. This would eliminate any metal corners that could cause injury, as well as the bar that would likely catch or hook objects.

Glenn, I like your idea for using carraige bolts. I don't mind the pockets that will fill with scale, since I can always vacuum them out if I needed to remove the nuts, but they'd look nicer. And yeah, I'm not really into the way the Hay Budden is mounted, and I think what you are describing is how I mounted the Peter Wright (correct me if I'm wrong...), but that's how it happened and I'll leave it unless it proves to be a problem.

I don't agree that the only point should be to prevent the anvil from moving sideways though. When you strike with a hammer, you are presumably, at least most of the time, putting force straight down on the anvil. I dont think this alone should move it sideways across the stand, rather I believe it's a result of the anvil hopping ever so slightly with each blow. If it's even slightly airborne, as in even just a fraction of a millmeter on one corner, it can move any which way with relative ease. They do rebound hammers after all, so consider their springiness. If I had to choose between bolting it straight down and putting in brackets to prevent sideways movement, I'd go with bolted down. Preventing sideways movement is accomplished with either, but even though I haven't tried it I'd bet that if you took the same anvil, and same stand, and tried bolting down vs bracketing you'd find that bolting it down made it quieter. I could be wrong, but that logic makes sense to me, and my anvils barely make a sound the way they are mounted.

My machinist vise was mounted on my welding table so it just stayed put.

I like my vises on dedicated stands so I can work 360 degrees around them. My primary bench vise is on a stand similar to the one pictured for my post vise, but it's higher and lacks most of the vibration reducing features since I don't hammer on it. I also just bolted some 1.5" square bars to the bolt holes of a spare bench vise, so I can drop it into my platen table to use for holding stuff to weld after tacking it together, but not much else since the pegs have a decent amount of play.

[confederatemule]

I know this is an old thread, but maybe I can still get a response.

 

Sand and oil in the stands.

I've used sand for years.

Why add the oil?

 

Mule

[njanvilman]

I know this is an old thread, but maybe I can still get a response.

 

Sand and oil in the stands.

I've used sand for years.

Why add the oil?

 

Mule

 

#1. The oil adds weight.    #2.  The oil keeps the sand from moving/bouncing in the legs, keeps everything stable.  #3.  The oil keeps the steel from oxidizing on the inside.  #4.  The oil/stabilized sand help absorb the sound/shock waves. 

I am sure there are a few more reasons.

[confederatemule]

Well now that I see that I need to start adding oil to sand, is there a standard amount of oil per standard amount of sand?

[njanvilman]

The original post stated that he added the oil and sand in alternating layers.  Probably more a trial and error thing.  I would think that a 10w oil, fairly thin would work, but probably any oil would do, even drain oil.

[Glenn]

Rather than layers of sand and oil, I would suggest that you mix the two outside first, then insert the mixture into the legs. You could drill a hole, thread it, and insert a bolt at the top of each leg, on the back or inside of the leg and out of sight. You could then top off the sand oil mix as it settled.

[confederatemule]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will, for sure, be adding oil in the future.

 

Mule

[Everything Mac]

I've never done it to my stands but surely just filling it with oil after you added the sand would work fine? The oil would just seep into the sand, though it might take a fir amount of time... 

 

All the best and Merry Christmas

 

Andy

[KRS]

Mixing scale in the oil sand makes it even heavier, it fills up all the gaps between grains.

[confederatemule]

Thanks y'all.

Mule

 

I'm wishing y'all a merry Christmas.

[Sluicebox]

If you can find it look for black iron sands from a placer deposit or a local miner, better yet go get your own it's free! Please respect claim owners rights and research first. Many public areas for you to do this with out a claim. I guarantee you that black sands are many many times heavier than blond sands. Trust me on this one. Most miners sell their black sands after they get what metals they can out of them. Typically $5 per pound or cheaper. If you do buy some from a miner go through it first and make sure they aren't concentrates full of gold he was going to work later. These pack so tight hauling more than a 1/3 5gal bucket over any trails gets old, more than that you might stretch the bucket bail. If you have running water near you, odds are high you have black sands. It would be perfect for your base projects. Extremely nice stands you have there Sir, I bet those counter tops turned out pretty sweet in your kitchen. I would love to see the Peter Wright mount that you came up with.

[Gandalfgreen]

Anyone still have a picture of his stands cant get them to load. I am trying to figure out good way make a stand.

[ThomasPowers]

Lots of ways to make a good stand.  I've done everything from a stump, to a large baulk, to constructed wood, and I have a steel tripod I got in "Iron in the Hat".  Don't over think it!   Don't try for perfection before you even know what perfection will be in your case!  

Make a stand and use it and see what you want changed in the next one!  Would you expect the first car you buy to be the same one you use for the rest of your life or would you expect what you drive to change as your life changes?

  Anvil stand bolted together from scrap oak boards.

  Large mining timber stand.

 Traditional stump.

Sorry I don't have a picture of the steel tripod; it's on loan to a CC Fine Arts Metals class along with my "loaner anvil".

Where stands need optimization is when your working methods require them to.  Example:  I don't bend 1" sq stock using the anvil hardy; I use a 6" postvise for that.  If I did use the anvil the stand would need to resist tipping under those loads.

 

 

[Gandalfgreen]

Thanks I understand. Right now looks like I will have to build. Have been trying local tree services for a piece of tree but no luck. I dont have shop will be in my back yard. If can get and afford piece of tree big enough wanted to barry 2.5 to 3ft and 24inches above but having no luck.

[Gandalfgreen]

Also say I had some large magnets if I sunk some holes into the timber I use and place anvil on top would that help quiet and hold my 70lb anvil. I have some rather strong magnets espicially if I stack them.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

All the pictures in the early threads were lost in a forum upgrade glitch, I think in 2015, unless the OP sees this and still has them to reload. He hasn't been on since April 2018 though. The best way to quiet an anvil is to put a bead of cheap latex calking compound under the feet/base which will also help hold it down once cured.