Hi,

I just got the back of a forklift tine:



It's around 150lb and looks like it will get me started very nicely.

When making a stand for it, what do I want out of the stand? Other than height are things the stand can help with like noise reduction or spring?

Are cinder blocks acceptable or will the crush? What about tree stumps?


Thanks, sorry for spewing all these questions.

Stay away from concrete and cinder blocks.  The repeated impacts with eventually crack and crush the material.  Stick to wood or a beafy steel frame.  You might want to weld "tabs" onto the tine to provide a place to bolt it down tight.  What ever you make the stand out of, you keep the the "anvil" from moving  or bouncing.  The more rigid to the stand you can get it, the more effective it will be.

Use 3 legs if possible. Look up Brian Brazeal's anvil and stand for ideas.

That should do fine. You may find the best way to use it is vertically, using the small end as the face.

 

Whatever is used to mount an anvil, apart from height considerations or what it happens to be made out of the anvil should absolutely not move.

 

There are plenty of videos on the net showing a smith working at the anvil and all the while the anvil is jiggling around under the hammer blows. This you do not want. Totally immobilized is what you want.

You've got a great start on a smithy!

 

A tripod stand will sit flat no matter where you put it.  A four-legged stand will have some wobble depending on where you put it.

 

By standing that tine up on end, you get all of the benefits of the mass under the hammer, without any of the draw-backs.  How you want to secure that time to the base, making sure it doesn't wobble..... well, that open to discourse. 

 

Personally, I've make a stand from dimensional lumber and have the tine resting on the ground.  If you're not working on a hard surface (cement), then you need to think about something that will absorb and distribute the force of your blows.

 

Lots of options and ideas. You're on the right track, though, so don't be disheartened!

You've got a great start on a smithy!
 
A tripod stand will sit flat no matter where you put it.  A four-legged stand will have some wobble depending on where you put it.
 
By standing that tine up on end, you get all of the benefits of the mass under the hammer, without any of the draw-backs.  How you want to secure that time to the base, making sure it doesn't wobble..... well, that open to discourse. 
 
Personally, I've make a stand from dimensional lumber and have the tine resting on the ground.  If you're not working on a hard surface (cement), then you need to think about something that will absorb and distribute the force of your blows.
 
Lots of options and ideas. You're on the right track, though, so don't be disheartened!

Thanks! Is it possible this is filled with concrete? It looks like it might be from the cut end. Not sure if it matters now.

It also rings like crazy when flat, but on end it is better.

I'd have to see picts of the cut end, but I seriously doubt it. Every forklift blade I've ever seen over the years have all been solid steel.

 

Concrete is very strong in compression, but super weak in tension. It doesn't do at all well when bending loads are applied to it without a lot of height to the structure and reinforcing. Thin concrete snaps vs bends.

If it was cement-filled tube, it wouldn't make a very good forklift tine.

 

I would stand it on end, with the biggest end becoming the anvil face.  How you want to support it when on end is up to you.  I've see a lot of them set in a bucket of cement, or using a cardboard tube as a mold for the cement.  This makes a very sturdy base that can be rolled out of the way, but the tine actually passes through the cement to rest on the ground.  All the cement does is surround it and give some ballast.

 

You could also make a wood frame around it.  I've seen several on the net that are quite attractive and functional, and pressure-treated lumber is readily available.

 

Durability is a good thing, but relative.  Weight at the bottom, or a wide footprint, will make tipping a non-issue, and that's important.

When you say it looks like it is full of concrete on the cut end, is it possible that the end was broken, or notched and then snapped? The break may look like sand to the naked eye, but under magnification you can see metal crystals.

 

The internal characteristics of a break can tell you a lot about what kind of metal it is, and what kind of abuse it suffered. Forklift tines lead a rough life.