new and nearly finished anvil stand

[FieryFurnace]

I built this today for demonstrations. It holds the anvil more securely than my last stand, via a screw down clamp system. I've got places to hold hammers, hand tools, and tongs. I still have to add a few more pipes for hand tools and a few for hardy tools. Pretty compact little stand and very stout and very stable.











I also put tabs on the feet so that I can put large staples in the ground over the tabs whenever I'm not on concrete or gravel.

[Bentiron1946]

Looks handy with all the places to put tooling. :P

[pkrankow]

Good thing it is a travel anvil. Those punch holders likely will fill with scale and the stand need upended every now and again. Does it unbolt easily to separate the anvil from stand? Or do you feel that the weight of the stand is not a big deal with loading and unloading.

I hope when I finally get around to making a tripod stand it looks as good and useful as yours.

Phil

[FieryFurnace]

The weight isn't really an issue...maybe 150 pounds or so all total without the tools in it. It can unbolt in a matter of a few seconds though. Portability, and compactness was the goal.

Welds and corners will be ground down for safety and for a good finish look.

The scale build up in the pipes is a good point, but a total of two minutes to unbolt the anvil, invert the stand, and reattach the anvil every six months, isn't too bad.

The placement of the legs and bracing was done so that my legs cleared all hard objects. The legs on the working side of the anvil go straight down in one plane, and angle out in the other plane. This allows me to "belly up" to the anvil without hitting anything. The placement of the hand tool pipes on the near side of the anvil is so that they can be reached and identified easily. The placement of that tool holder is between my legs when I am in my normal work stance.

[Rich Hale]

I keep one of my punch holders full of hoof packing to cool tools in.

[FieryFurnace]

I don't normally work on Sundays at all. I'm at church in the morning and evening and pretty much take a break on Sunday afternoon.
However I've only got three days to forge this week before my first show and I've got to get some stuff made. This afternoon I spent about an hour and finished up the stand.

It can hold three hammers, two wire brushes, two hardy tools, at least 16 hand tools, and at least eight pairs of tongs. It is very compact and very portable. The total footprint of the stand is about 14 inches square.

I probably won't have time to get it painted before this next weekend.

Pictures later!

[FieryFurnace]

The scale build up in the pipes is a good point, but a total of two minutes to unbolt the anvil, invert the stand, and reattach the anvil every six months, isn't too bad.

Uhhh didn't mean to come off as sarcastic there boys! Sorry!

Well it's finished except for paint.

I added a tool holder to the far side of the anvil. Eight or more short tools go in here and there is a place on either side to put hardy tools. What's neat about it is I can put my small handled tools in these too.



Here is the tool holder on the near side. This holds the longer hand tools lower down so that they are out of the way. My wire brushes (brass and steel) go on either side of this holder.



Near side!


Far side!


I also tried dressing up my old trenton anvil a bit. The edges are worn down pretty good though, so it was hard to get sharp edges. I've got good forging radius edges but not really any good hard edges.




And finally here is the one-piece key-wedge cone mandrel I made the other day. The horn on this anvil doesn't go down really small, so I use the cone mandrel for when I need a small horn. It's made from race car axle and works good.

[pkrankow]

Did you grind the sides of your anvil back some?

Phil

[FieryFurnace]

Yeah I did! There isn't enough overhang though. I'd have to grind past 90 degrees to get a sharp corner.

[pkrankow]

I have been considering grinding a portion of my anvil to establish a few inches of good clean edges. I think I will continue thinking about it for now.

Phil

[VaughnT]

Sweet setup. Did you forge that axle to shape and then machine it round, or just turn it on a lathe? Why the key? I like that idea, but it's definitely the first I've seen it used on an anvil tool.

I'm definitely going to rethink my anvil's stand...

[Frosty]

Good looking set up Dave, well thought out and executed. If you really need sharp edges make a stake with sharp corners, it's lots easier than trying to dress an anvil, there's just so much grinding necessary to bring the sides in enough.

Frosty the Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Which pipe is sized to hold a can of water to cool off some of those tools in? I generally use a tin can from the kitchen but have haggled the top off a coke can in emergencies.

[pkrankow]

Good point Thomas.

Seems it would be little effort to fab up a swing arm that can hold a coffee can under the heel, or out and away. Take it off when you don't need it...

Phil

[FieryFurnace]

The axle was forged to shap, and the ground down smooth. No lathe, no machining. The key wedge holds it firmly to the anvil so there is no wobble.

An edge of the anvil tool is in order for both of my anvils.

A small quench tank next to the anvil will serve the purpose of a water can.

[Glenn]

Cut a piece of metal the width of the anvil face and the length you want. Weld a hardie post to the bottom and be happy with the new sharp edges for your anvil.

[Bigred1o1]

FFF on the small quench tank i really like the stainless steel soda kegs you can cut the top off roll the edge and you have a nice deep quench tank that is about 9 inches across so its out of the way but still about 2ft deep so its nice for just touching the tips of hooks or a quick dip for a punch or the like

[FieryFurnace]

Yeah that'd be nice! I like the stainless beer kegs too. Right now all I have is a 7 gallon galvinized feed pan. :(