I am currently planning a small blacksmith shop, and I would like to build a power hammer of either the Krusty/Rusty or Tire variety (still undecided, I like the simplicity of the Krusty, but the space savings of the tire hammer is a big draw). My question is about the anvil. My idea is to use 36" of 12"x12" square tube with a .5" wall, with a 36" piece of 1.5" 1045 bar centered and then filled with aluminum and capped with a .5" plate. By my calculations, the overall weight would be roughly 676 lbs (228 for tube, 18 for the bar, 20 for the plate, and 410 for the aluminum)  which would allow me to use a 30 lb hammer and still maintain a little better than 20:1 ratio. So do you fine gentlemen think this would work?

 

 The idea of the bar in the center is to help absorb some of the force and better distribute it throughout the depth, I was worried that the aluminum alone under the plate would possibly deform with heavy use. The main use for the hammer will be larger tools and eventually pattern welding as well. 

I don't know too much about power hammer anvils but 410lbs of aluminium at the scrap rate (roughly $0.60/lb?) is $240. For $240 you would buy yourself a good, large piece of steel from a scrapyard at $0.30-0.$50/lb so you could get  500-900lb piece worth of steel, solid if you are lucky or several pieces so you could do a vertical welded up anvil.

I would use a solid steel anvil even if it were a bit lighter you should get better results than from tube or such even if it is filled.

Solid Steel only, no lead filled, aluminum filled or concrete filled......SOLID Steel only. might be a bit more in the beginning but will pay 10 fold in the long run, don't do it twice - solid steel to begin with. - your choice though.

I built a 2 piece anvil for my hammer. It's a piece of 8" round sitting on a piece of 12" round. There are ears welded to the top piece and it bolts to the bottom piece. It has worked well for me since 2000. It's probably not as good as a single piece anvil, but it works very well. I agree, solid steel only, no tube, no Al, or anything else. Look at what the commercial hammers used, steel anvils, sometimes 2 piece steel anvils. The weight is not the most important issue. steel will return energy to the tup and resist deformation better than anything else.

It's too bad you're on the other coast, I know where there is a perfect power hammer anvil, several of them, in fact. One is 16" square and 11 feet long, and that is just a medium sized chunk. The same yard has a table, 3x5 feet and 4 inches thick, about 2500 lbs, about $1200 plus the truck and trailer to move it :wub:.

Geoff

Thank you all for your input, time to send my son to the scrap yard and see what he can find!