Hey yall,

I just built a new steel anvil stand, but I need to bolt it down to my shop floor, which is concrete that was poored 25-30 years ago. So what is the best type of anch to use???

Thanks,
Trip

It depends. If you use Drop-In anchors like these you can unbolt the stand and move it without a trip hazard and can easily replace it.

http://www.concretefasteners.com/anchors-fasteners/drop-in/index.aspx

Para bolt anchors are another choice but aren't as easy to patch over and stick up if you need to move the stand.

Are you sure you need to bolt your anvil to the floor? Neither of mine, one on wood one on steel stands dance around on me. I do however move them as necessary and can'timagine sticking either down for hand work.

Have you used your anvil and stand? You might want to see if it's necessary before making your anvil a part of the building.

Frosty The Lucky.

Are you sure you need to bolt your anvil to the floor? Neither of mine, one on wood one on steel stands dance around on me. I do however move them as necessary and can'timagine sticking either down for hand work.
Have you used your anvil and stand? You might want to see if it's necessary before making your anvil a part of the building.
Frosty The Lucky.

Yes I am sure. That thing will slide a foot after just 1 heat on a piece of 1/2" stock!!!!!
My shop is big enough that it won't make a difference, and if it eventually does, it will give me the excuse needed to build a addition to my shop. :)

Yes I am sure. That thing will slide a foot after just 1 heat on a piece of 1/2" stock!!!!!
My shop is big enough that it won't make a difference, and if it eventually does, it will give me the excuse needed to build a addition to my shop. :)

I like the way you think Trip!!! :-D

-Hillbilly

Red Heads are anchors that really work. Drill the hole...blow out all the dust via a straw or air supply...insert the anchor...and drive it home spreading the rivit bottom into the concrete. ..Bolt the stand down..simple.

Down side is the bolts are simi-permanent. To remove the stand remove the nuts but the studs are still in the floor. These same studs can easily be cut off with a grinder, torch, etc. BUt your stand will be there really nice.

There is another really heavy-duty screw that can be inserted into a hole in the concrete and still removed leaving just the hole. I do not use them here because all my construction stuff is permanent. That insert screw can be found at specialty nut and bolt supply stores....not the big box stores. And it is pricey. The drilled hole is specific too.
I stopped using lead shields / lead inserts years ago. They are made to barely keep a load from sideshifting and have very little other construction qualities than that. If I had them I would melt them into fishing weights.

Carry on

Yes I am sure. That thing will slide a foot after just 1 heat on a piece of 1/2" stock!!!!!

Blimey! Can't imagine that, is it a particularly light anvil and stand? Mine has never moved in use. It is on a cast stand which is raised up on 3'' blocks of wood and just sits on the concrete.

I suppose my shop is not over large for the size of projects I have taken on, so I have always had to reckon on a flexible space and I second the idea of being able to move the anvil. No matter how big the shop it is always going to be in the wrong place when you come to straighten out that 6 metre length or swing the new assembled sculpture around. Even the 100 ton press is permanently sitting on rollers and two out three power hammers can be moved, the 3CWT hammer is the only one bolted down but that has a separate anvil, every thing else is on rubber buffers which need minimal sideways location.

You may also consider not bolting it down but just having a couple of drop in pegs which would solve your side shifting. I have a seldom used bar bender which I position in the same place and drop a couple of bits of 16mm round into holes drilled in the concrete.

Dang! What a good suggestion..

I just used 3/8" drop-in style anchor and grade 8 bolts, that way I can remove the three bolts any time I want to and will only have three small holes in my slab. With those in it the anvil isn't going anywhere fast.

Yes I am sure. That thing will slide a foot after just 1 heat on a piece of 1/2" stock!!!!!
My shop is big enough that it won't make a difference, and if it eventually does, it will give me the excuse needed to build a addition to my shop. :)

Wow, that's a LOT of movement, I have trouble getting mine to move that far when I'm moving it! How heavy is your anvil? If it's light it may want to do the shuffle in use but even my 60lb RR anvil isn't that much of a gypsy.

I'd still hesitate to bolt it down till I'd tried a couple few less permanent things like say a smear of silicone calking on the bottom of the feet. Once dry silicone calking is about as sticky as it gets, we used it on the bottom of the dishes on board boats to keep dinner on the table when it was rough. Just to be clear, I'm not talking about glueing it down, a thin layer allowed to dry is as non-skid as the commercial non-skid mats and a whole lot tougher.

However, if bolts are the only or best method I'd do it in a heartbeat, tools and especially equipment must be right or the shop isn't right.

Frosty The Lucky.

Well even with a 500+ pound anvil I found it wanted to creep on the stand when in heavy use. Had to use a couple of fence staples to hold it in place on it's large timber baulk.

I noted that the tripod anvil stands at ABANA tended to 'hop' when hammered heavily. Those with heavier construction and/or cross bracing moved less.

I noted that the tripod anvil stands at ABANA tended to 'hop' when hammered heavily. Those with heavier construction and/or cross bracing moved less.

Ah that would explain it. The legs are splaying out and then springing back. If it slides out the back one and drags in the front one it would move a bit like one of those pressed steel hobby horses from a few decades ago!

i have one of those horses your on about and it would be a decidedly bad thing if my anvil moved in the same manner .....!