I need some opinions. I think I have a stand for my 100# HB sorted out. I have an old hot water tank that is 16 inches in diameter. If I cut it 24 inches tall, it will put the anvil face where I need it. The question is: should I fill it with plain sand of some sort of mix? I'm not going to use concrete. I thought about a clay/sand mix and ram it in damp.

If you use sand and the anvil sinks into the sand, just pick up the anvil and reset it to the sand. If you want to raise the anvil, just add sand. some people mount the anvil to a piece of plywood and sit it on the sand. It doesn't sink.

 

If you fill the pail with marbles, that works too. The problem would be, "What if you lost a marble or two"...... :) :) :) :) :)

 

Neil

I was thinking of using 3/4 plywood cut to fit in the tank and some pieces glued/screwed to keep the anvil from walking around. I've seen anvils set on sand before. I'm just wondering if sand will absorb some of the force making hammer blows less effective.

Join the anvil to the plywood with silicone. Plain bathtub silicone sealer. It won't move, unless you take a knife or saw and seperate them.

The whole tank doesn't need to be filled with sand.  If you drop in a few cinder blocks to take up space, no biggie.  

 

It does pay to tamp the sand down.  You'd be surprised at how much it will settle if you simply tap on the side of the tank with your hammer. I'd definitely vibrate it a good bit to make sure you've got it settled well, then put your plate on top and mount your anvil.

I have a bunch of small stones. Fist sized sandstone and enough sand to do the job. I will post some pics when it is done. I just wish I had some heat in the garage. Wind chill tonight is supposed to be -30F

If you're using fist-sized stones to take up some of the space, remember to vibrate the sand down so it gets into all the nooks and crannies.  Add an inch, vibrate it down, then add another inch or two.

If my math is right. It should hold about 298 pounds of dry sand. 

If you use sharp crushed sand it won't shift like if you use alluvial (stream beach smooth rounded particles) sand.

 

Attaching a wide  base to the bottom of the anvil to keep it from shifting is almost a must if you use alluvial sand. In either case sand makes a very good base and can be easily adjusted for user/job height.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty,

I plan on filling it about 3/4 with the small stones and then sand. Actually its not sand. I have a bag of coal slag blasting grit and a big bin of ceramic grog. Since my compressor died I have no use for the grit. The grog on the other hand, I hate the thought of using it. It does a nice job in the sandblaster. A guy brought me a M-14/M1A magazine that had a wet rag lay on it for awhile. I blasted it with the grog and cold blued it. Looked like a phosphate finish. I re-blued my .22 the same way after that. Takes the shine off. 

the sand will migrate between the stones if you only layer stone and then finish filling with sand(or any other fine particle).  Vaughn is correct, put down some stones, fill with sand, vibrate/rod it to get the sand into the voids beneath and between the stones, next course of stone, sand, blah blah.

So long as the particles are sharp it'll form a reasonably solid base. As said make sure the sand has filled all the voids between the gravel. Mix and fill or vibrate will do the trick. Vibration from hammering will cause sand to migrate into any voids so if you're patient you can just level our anvil when it gets too wonky, eventually it'll stop moving.

 

Sand box stands work very well, they're solid, quiet are easily adjustable. If I didn't have steel stands I'd be tempted myself.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

My buddy has his 300 pounder sitting on crushed limestone.