How can I make this work

[Skiazo]

I was looking for a scrapyard that would sell to me in my area and couldnt find much of nothing. Wound up in an area by my grandpa's house so i stopped by and asked him what i could do for an anvil, he gave me that tire rim in the bottom of the picture and suggested i go find a piece of steel pipe to place in the center of it and suggested a scrapyard that he knew would sell to me. That is where i found the steel rod, its about 2 and 3/4" diameter and 40" long, weighs just over 60lbs. My question is what should i do to make this set up work? Should i just find somebody that can weld the two pieces together, or should i find something else to place the rod in like a log? Any advice on this matter will be appreciated.

 

-Thanks

 

Damian

 

 

Edit: Sorry about the photo being sideways

[ThorsHammer82]

40" is really tall for an anvil. if you don't need it to be mobile I'd sink a stump into the ground low enoug that the post is at the right height  when placed into the stump. I wouldn't mess with the steel wheel at all. and get someone to weld a 15" across plate to the bottom with some gussets going up to the post if you want it mobile. You'll want to cut the length down a little though. just my thoughts.

[Chinobi]

depending on how portable you may or may not want it to be, I would set it into the ground so part of it is buried to bring the face down to a good working height.  probably need to make some kind of receiving base like a stump with a hole in it also set into the ground but much deeper than the end of the bar, because if you only have 10-16 inches of rod buried (no idea what height you would want) that could be less than totally stable without some external support.

[ThomasPowers]

can you get a piece of pipe that will hold the solid piece and sink *that* into the ground and then drop the solid piece in it?

[Skiazo]

I might be able to head back to the scrapyard for a pipe, but i do have plenty of large logs and stumps around my yard that i should be able to use, just gotta find a way to get a hole drilled through one. What height should the anvil rest at relative to my body? I think i remember reading that it should be two inches below my arm when i have my hand balled into a fist, does that sound right? Also it does not need to be mobile.

[ThomasPowers]

Ahhh generally *ABOVE* knuckle height not below.  Depending on how you are built and what you are going to do with it I prefer about wrist level for knife and delicate work and lower for heavy sledge work.  Anyway it should be high enough you don't lean over it while working and so preserve your back!

[Charles R. Stevens]

You might consider Tommas's advice. You might also consider cutting the rod to hight, then you can have a bick and a post anvil. With some ingenuity you can heat the rod and bend the end 90 deg, then cut it off having a bick (pore mans anvil horn) and a post anvil. Mount them in stumps and your in business. As to how to get a hole in a stump. A 1" spade bit is cheap, then you can use hot coals to In large the hole, or if you have access to a 1" bare you can heat it and burn it in. Make shire to scrape out the charcoal. It will turn to powder when you start pounding it, so you don't want to set your anvil in the char. Just keep at it till you have a tight fit and we've as needed. .

[Charles R. Stevens]

If you have a few bucks and access to a welder you can lay hands on a large splitting wedge and have it welded to the end and cut it to length, taking the leftovers and make a "t" stake. Latter when you lay hands on a old 20# sledge hammer head you can use it as an anvil and forge the ends of the "T" stake , one to a round taper and the other to a round. Then you can draw out in the middle, turn on the round and refine double 90 on the other. So now you have a post anvil at wrist high for fine work, an anvil with a bigger face at knuckle high for heavy bashing and a stake at wrist high oh, and if you cut off the end of the splitting wedge, keep it, weld it to another stake, maybe the one inch rod we used to burn the hole in the stump? And regroups the end to resemble the curve on an axe. Walla, hot cut hardy! For safety's sake you might want to put a soup can over it when not in use.