This is the striking anvil I am working on. I still need to fill the legs with sand and oil and weld the anvil to the stand. I am debating narrowing the stand plate to the same width as the anvil. P.s this is the first welding I have ever done.

Looking good.

I'm making that to be about 5" w, 20" L , 2" thick from the pictures, if that's a 1" hardy hole.

I just finished mine yesterday and it was the first time I have ever welded also…  Congratulations on your success.

Mine is still missing a back foot.

Making good progress. I hope to finish mine soon since I finally picked up a stick welder.

 

How did you do you hardy hole? I'm trying to decide just how I want to tackle mine and If I want to do more than one and pritchels.

I took a Brian Brazeal class a few months ago and he described how they did the hardy holes in the striking anvils we used.

 

They were 1 inch hardy holes, the steel blocks were about 5x7, 2 inches thick. According to Brian, they drilled the hardies with a 7/8 bit cold, then got the blocks nice and hot in the gas forge (that took a while I'm sure) and drifted them square with a 1 inch square drift, made of some hot work steel. I don't recall the alloy they used, but only having to go a 1/16th wider, you could probably get by with a high carbon drift if you were only doing a single striking anvil.

I did both a 1" & 1¼" hardie holes. I drill the holes ⅛ under size for both and in a coke forge heated the sucker up and drifted with square drifts to size.  Continue driving the drift though the hole as many times as required as the block cools this help keep it to size and not shrink the hole. The plate I used is in the hard end on mild steel 1050 the drifts were regular mild bar. The drifts probably wouldn't survive regular use. The pritchel holes are just drilled in.

This is the striking anvil I am working on. I still need to fill the legs with sand and oil and weld the anvil to the stand. I am debating narrowing the stand plate to the same width as the anvil. P.s this is the first welding I have ever done.

 

Don't forget to brace the bottom legs

Damion you may wish to hold off on welding that beautiful piece down...bedding in caulk of some kind is really the best current method for making an anvil and stand one. I used plastic wrap AND non-stick cooking spray to ensure I was bedding only and not bonding. I've been known to change my mind.

DSW very close on the measurement calculations it's 21 long everything else is spot on. Eddie I drilled and filed my hardy and that took some time I still have some work left on it. Randy may just have to try caulking it , I would rather not weld it if I can avoid it. What kind of caulking would you recommend.

FlyingXS I really like how yours turned out well done. What are everyone's thoughts on hour glassing my stand so that in the middle there is no lip?

I have seen a lot with the lip so not sure it is an issue?  I guess if you removed it in some section it would allow you to work over the edge if need be.

 

For a an Aussie…What is caulking?  is that like silicon in a tube?

 

 

For a an Aussie…What is caulking?  is that like silicon in a tube?

 

 

Yes.

Caulk is defined as "nightmare in a tube" if you get it on you or your clothes.

I've seen posts on the caulk thing and would ask our more experienced what's working out there. If it's allowed to bond how does one get it apart? (heat?). Will plain old caulks or silicone ever harden or do they remain a gooey mess under there for eternity? Like when I change my mind in a few years.

Being able to work over the edge was my reasoning behind trimming up the stand.

Caulk is defined as "nightmare in a tube" if you get it on you or your clothes.

I've seen posts on the caulk thing and would ask our more experienced what's working out there. If it's allowed to bond how does one get it apart? (heat?). Will plain old caulks or silicone ever harden or do they remain a gooey mess under there for eternity? Like when I change my mind in a few years.

 

 

 

I've always cut it apart. When I have to free counter tops and vanity's that have been caulked down, I'll usually try a thin putty knife and see if I can't jam it between the two surfaces. The long break away utility knives used for wall paper can some times be used to cut thru it if you are careful ( note the blades on these are designed to break, so if you use too much force with the blade extended they WILL break and are very sharp with a high chance you can injure yourself if you aren't careful and are trying to force things)

 

It takes time but they usually come free without breaking anything.

 

 

As far as if they stay gooey, no. Not usually. If the caulk is very thick, it can take quite a while to fully cure, and the center may stay sticky. However the vast majority of standard silicone, latex and urethane caulks completely cure to a flexible material in a few days max, and most cure to workable use in a few hours if not too thick. Some specialized caulks will stay some what sticky over a long period of time. They are a rare exception though and aren't usually found commonly.

 

 

I'll agree caulks can be messy. Urethane caulks can be a nightmare as they are solvent based and tend to stick to everything. Silicone caulks are just slightly better and can be a real mess to get off things where you don't want them. Latex caulks aren't all that bad since they clean up with water when still wet.

For caulking check out 3M 5200 marine adhesive, that is if you want it to stay put.

If you want to move the 'anvil' from the base you can just bolt it down and forget the chaulking nightmare.

I had thought about bolting it down but then I would need to either drill holes or fashion brackets to hold it down and they would then be on the face and likely in the way.

I had thought about bolting it down but then I would need to either drill holes or fashion brackets to hold it down and they would then be on the face and likely in the way.

 

Shouldn't be too hard to weld some pieces of heavy angle to the base and anvil and bolt it through.

If you want it easily removable just lay a bead of caulk but put masking tape on the contact surface of the anvil before setting it in the caulk. You'll want the tape wrapped over the edges of the foot or the caulk will sure as sin ooze around the corner and glue it down anyway.

 

The caulk tends to glue itself to the tape but isn't too hard to unstick.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Update, I went ahead and used a construction grade adhesive.
Almost done, still need braces on the legs and a nice coat of paint on the stand the hardy hole still needs some cleaning up but it's functional.

Fyi the adhesive I used did not hold up as advertised lol. It bonded very well to begin with but has begun to separate. I think I am just going to weld the plate to the stand and call it good.

Make sure that you used a silicone caulking, I'm guessing that by construction adhesive you may have used something like Liquid Nails or something?  Also lightly sand/grind and clean contact surfaces if you hadn't already.