How to spike down an anvil to a stump.

[Timothy Miller]

This may be total obvious to some and ridiculously basic but I see many a smith with their anvils not fastened down properly.  I know many now use fabricated anvil stands but I have always liked stumps.  This method is a quick, simple and inexpensive way to fasten your anvil down.  It also requires no special tools other than a hammer, forge, hardie and anvil.  Pictured below is my 400 lb anvil held down with 8 spikes forged from 5/8" square steel.  We regularly strike on this anvil and it has not come lose to date.  It may be a bit old fashioned for some of you new school smiths but it works well for me in a professional setting.

 

 

I started out with a 24" bar of 1/2" square hot rolled steel you know the stuff they make porch railings out of.   I draw out a square taper about 4" to 5" long.  Longer is better but if they are too long they may bend wile driving them in. Obviously a bigger anvil will need bigger and longer spikes. You can also use 5/8" round 3/4" round and 5/8 square"  A spike takes me 3 heats 2 it i am showing off.

 

 

Next I cut barbs into the spike with my hardie I hold it at an acute angle to the cutting edge and slightly lower the end of the bar in my hand wile striking one sharp blow with the bottom edge of my hammer.  I cut the barbs about 3/8" apart.  I cut then on opposite corners on 2 sides to not damage the barbs on the top wile cutting the ones on the bottom.   You don't need barbs for the last inch or so of the spike because this part wont be driven into the log. The barbs are important to stop the spike from pulling out under heavy stress. 

 

 

Lastly you cut it off of the bar and forge a short right angle bend over the edge of the anvil.  This short bend will catch the feet of the anvil and stop it from rocking back and forth on the stump.  If you are driving this spike into a dry log it is a good idea to pre drill a hole so you don't split the wood. I found 4 will work but the anvil will loosen up over time when I switched to 8 with 2 on each foot driven down tight on either side of the foot I never had any problems. 

 

 

One final word to remove these spikes you merely take an adjustable wrench and twist the spike gently back and forth until it starts to come loose than pull it out with a crow bar.  Don't twist too hard at first or you will twist the spike and perhaps break it off in the stump. 

 

[MLMartin]

It is pretty serprising at the number of people that do not fasten down there anvil. I dont use spikes, but mine is held fast with chain and lag bolts.
A anvil that stays in one place is a happy thing.

[Timothy Miller]

I have used many things over the years.  Bolts, clips, chain Etc...  but this is simple enough and cost nothing it sort of kicks the legs out from any excuses a person might have about not doing it.  Like I would fasten it down but those lag bolts were 10 bucks or I did not have the time to go to the store.  I didn't have a piece of steel big enough.  It is also attractive and keeps the base uncluttered so frequently used small tools can be kept close at hand resting on the stump.   Also it keeps the job at the forge where it belongs.

[MLMartin]

Your right, anyone that uses a forge and anvil can afford to fix there anvil down. The small amount of steel used to spike it down with will be easily payed for with a higher production rate in work.

[ThomasPowers]

Tim; my excuse is that I have to move the anvils and stumps separately for teaching smithing classes many times a year.  I think it still holds even with those spikes!

 

What I generally use is two pieces of 2x6" lumber cut out to match the curve on the sides of the anvil bass and nailed into the top of the stump.  Allows the anvils to be lifted off easily for transport and keeps them from moving around in use.  I agree that you don't get as much efficiency as with a tightly mounted anvil; but in beginners classes efficiency is rather a foreign concept anyway...

[Frosty]

Barbs are a nice addition. I morticed mine into the block and it's as secure as gold, easy to lift out and reset to move.

 

When making spikes for the anvil I upset for a properly square angle to make driving easier and offer less spring for it to work loose. With or without barbs spikes will loosed if they can work unless they're really long. I found twisting the shaft acted like a barb but it has to be a tight twist or the spike wants to turn as it's driven.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Timothy Miller]

I have had good luck with them not working loose.  But I tend to use white oak logs that are still a bit green.  The iron seems to almost bond in some way with the wood.  I just wanted to put this out there as a simple way to do the job for the beginners out there that may lack the skills and or equipment to do it another way.  Mortising out a stump to accept an anvil is a bit of a job I could see this taking a few hours.  It took me 20 min to spike down my anvil.  Obviously your time will
vary with your skill level.   If you need to frequently remove your anvil from the stump this is not the way to go.  Our main anvils are over 200 lbs they don't get moved much.

[VaughnT]

Wonderfully neat and a clean presentation.  I wouldn't have thought of cutting in the barbs.  I have my Wilkinson anvil on a "stump" made from 6x6 lumber and held in place with chain and turnbuckles.  Can't stand how it looks so I'll give this a whirl.  The combo is plenty light enough to be moved as a unit.....

[billyO]

Here's what I do on my 85# Trenton that holds well and allows for easy anvil removal for transportation.  Made with 1/4" x 1" with about a 3-4 inch taper with no barbs on my points.  If it starts to loosen during use, a quick tap on the corners makes me solid again. 

[Timothy Miller]

I often do striking with sledges on the heel and horn that would not be good for me.  I am a strong proponent of anvils that don't move or work loose.  This is hard enough work, you don't need jumping anvils to make your life harder.

 

[Ten Hammers]

Nice work Tim.  Simple and to the point.

[Kal]

I use two pieces of garage door cable and turnbuckles to tighten em. Another benifit of tying down your anvil is that it quiets it. My 190# Hay Bodden rings like a church bell if it's not tied down.

[Steve Sells]

Here's what I do on my 85# Trenton that holds well and allows for easy anvil removal for transportation. 

that  close enough to what I do for my portable also.  forged from mild scrap, 2 inch screws to hold the arch's to the stump

[Timothy Miller]

We upset a large hardie swage out of 3" square with 3 strikers into my 400 HB anvil and it did not move or loosen up at all.  I challenge you to try this out and find fault with it. 

[Faber]

I just use a plastic zip tie....one single zip tie. :P
(actually I'm getting ready to fasten my 300# with chains and other things, just want to get a new stump first. The one I've got looks like it's gonna split)

[Pault17]

My little 110-lb Russian HF "platypus" was laid into a 1-inch deep routed depression in the top of my stump.  The bottom was cut with three generous feet oriented with the heel and the horn (two to the rear, one to the front), with about a slight 1/4 inch gap around the anvil.  The stump has since dried a whole lot more that when I first got it (and it had fallen years prior, but ended up not on the ground), and has shrunken so tightly around the anvil that I would need a crowbar and chisel to wedge the thing out.  It sticks in there even when using an 8-lb sledge. 

[DanBrassaw]

I have a concrete floor in my shop, and chained the anvil down to eyes set in the floor. Three chains, tensioned with turnbuckles, go down right next to the stump. Not as simple or cheap as spikes, but my anvil doesn't move a millimeter!

[ThomasPowers]

My main shop anvil isn't strapped down.  It's 515#.  I did add a handfull of fence staples to corral it as it would shift slightly and slowly under heavy sledging.

[Frank Turley]

 

This approach was shown in the old book, "20th Century Toolsmith and Steelworker."

[Timothy Miller]

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This approach was shown in the old book, "20th Century Toolsmith and Steelworker."

I have done something simailr to that it worked well but it takes more steel and a set of threading tools to accomplish. A beginner may be thwarted by this.  

[ThomasPowers]

Naw just scrounge some round stock with one end threaded and heat and bend the other end to go round the lag bolt.

(How I get around needing threads and being too cheap to buy a good large threading set...the local Scrap yard is full of such pieces.)

 

*or*  you could bend and flatten the end of the stock and drill a hole through it to match the hole in the crossbar and drop a bolt through and use that to tighten it up.

 

Or use bailing wire and a spanish windlass.

 

Shoot smithing is inately full of possibilities!

[Timothy Miller]

My method takes about 12" of half inch square about $.30 worth of steel last time I checked and its one of the most common sizes.  I'm trying to give a beginner a method that builds forging skills, takes minimal tooling and can be done at one session at the forge.  Too many would be smiths are thwarted be poorly set up tooling. 

[texascherokee]

I may not have an anvil yet but I really like Tim's hold downs. It'll give the beginner some good work time and some good practice under the hammer. When I get my anvil I'll be doing this.

[Nobody Special]

Took some 1/2" round on mine, about 8 or 9 inches long, tapered the ends, and turned the middle to make 'em into big staples.

 

I drove those over the corners and into my pecan stump, and it hasn't budged since the day I put them in. I was worried it would split the wood, but it worked fine.

[BlackthornForge]

This is awesome!  I made spikes from 1/2 inch square but this will work much better!