New stump

[GottMitUns]

I acquired a 100# acme anvil a couple of weeks ago that has been setting on the shop floor waiting on me to get around to building it a stand,  My other anvils are on 3 legged pipe stands so I figured I would do the same for this one.   That was until I spotted some tree trimmers hauling off a cut up ash tree when I left the shop for a early lunch. 10 minutes and 10 bucks later they rolled a stump off at my shop door.

it had a bit of a slop to the top cut.

I stood it on end and fired up the chainsaw to "flatten" it out a bit

I set the anvil on it and traced around its foot print and then marked the "front" of the stump at the base so I would know were to cut in the feet.

I scribe 3 feet into the base using a 5 gl. bucket for a pattern and then cut the lines in about 1/2" deep with the chainsaw.

I used the chainsaw to relieve the wood between the feet down to around 1/2"

I cut the anvil foot print in with a router about 1/2" deep.

My 8" level says its about 1/2 a bubble off in the X and Y plane,,, but so am I..

 I didn't think it was to bad for 1-1/2 hours effort 

I'm sure a wet ash tree is not the first choice of wood but it does NOT rock and it does NOT roll, how many years I'll get out of it before it cracks is unknown.

The anvil it wrist high for me.

 

Russell

 

 

[Frosty]

Looking good Russell, kind of the way I made my spruce anvil stand. Well, it IS the same thing I did I just used a little different methods and set my anvil deeper. I got the block from a saw mill in Anchorage and it was green too. As it dried it shrunk onto my anvil's base clamping it down solid. the checking never effected anything so I wouldn't worry. That was white spruce though, I don't know about hickory but expect it'll be just fine even if it checks.

What killed my block eventually was the concrete floor. Wood doesn't last very long in direct contact with concrete mind rotted from the heart out so I didn't even notice for years. Then I went to load it in the pickup for a Demo and noticed all the rotten bits on the floor when I hoisted it up. That anvil has a steel stand now and will live on it while I'm around.

I'm thinking if I'd put my block on a piece of green or brown pressure treated ply wood it would maybe still be sound. Or once it had dried I'd treated it with copper sulphate wood paint stuff. (I can't recall what it's called) I was recommended to dilute an oil that sets say boiled linseed oil and keep mopping the top till it starts coming out the bottom.

I know the copper sulphate wood treatment works, we used to paint guardrail posts with it before the state finally broke down and bought treated posts and it lasted decades unless broken off of course.

That's a pretty block and is going to serve for a long time. Are you going to peal it?

Frosty The Lucky.

[GottMitUns]

Thanks Frosty!

 

  I think I am going to leave the bark in place until it becomes a nuisance or starts falling off on its own. I like the look of it if nothing else.

Russell 

[Glenn]

Remove the bark from the stump. Bugs and rot like bark.

Weld a piece of angle iron to each end of some 1-1/2 inch wide, 1/8 inch or 11 gauge strapping. Go around the stump and use a bolt through the angle iron to tighten the band. Bands in 3 places (top, middle, and bottom) should be sufficient.  Round the corners of the angle iron for your protection.

The top band can be used as a attachment point for loops for hammers, tongs, etc. Watch where you naturally lay your hammer and tongs so you can put the loops in a convenient location.

Use the anvil a for a while before you secure it to the stump. That way you can turn the anvil any way you wish to use ALL the surfaces of the anvil not just the face. You can always secure it to the stump later if you want.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Glenn

[ThomasPowers]

Well I had a long reply written out and the update wiped it out evidently.

so short version:

1: peel and treat ends to slow drying. Ash splits easily leaving the bark on will exacerbate this. 

2: make a band that will take up with a bolt and use a router on a jig to rout a round "step" in the outer edge for bands top and bottom. If you know a blacksmith you can bend the end of the strap to 90 deg and drill or punch a hole in it for the bolt. Use a stout strap---looks better, works better.

3: I would have mounted the anvil off center so I could stand right next to the anvil in use.

Edited March 30, 2015 by ThomasPowers

[Michael]

That's a nice wide stump! You've almost got some table-like surface around the anvil, that should come in handy.

 

[GottMitUns]

Thanks Glenn!

I like the strap idea, especially for adding loops and such for hammers and hardie tools. I guess I'll start chewing the bark off of it tomorrow

 

 

[GottMitUns]

I used a air hammer with a chisel tip to de-bark the stump. Got it done in about 5 minutes. I thought it worked real slick!!!

[Frosty]

Pretty darned cool . . . Oh WAIT! That is NOT the traditional way blacksmiths did it back in the day, they had the apprentice do it with a dull draw knife.

Oh. . . Wait again, I used a draw knife though it wasn't dull I made the mistake of letting the bark dry first so it was much harder to remove.

That's a pretty piece of wood, I'd be thinking about stain while it dries. I'm a fashion maven here about you know so I naturally think about making the forge look pretty.

Glenn lives in his own  little world most of the time but likes company and started IFI so folk could visit. Physically he's in Big Chimney and if memory serves Tenn. I won't be a bit surprised it's another state or he lives IN A big chimney

Frosty The Lucky.

[GottMitUns]

It is WET,WET,WET!! when I pealed the bark off the wood underneath smelled and felt like a just peeled potato!

I'm guessing by what Frosty, Glenn and Thomas wrote I need to seal the ends with something like boiled linseed oil and let the moisture work its way out the side grain.  I'm going to try and run some steel pallet banding around it in the morning to put some tension on it while I get stuff together for a more permanent solution. 

 

 

[Frosty]

Hey I was right, I WAS wrong. Glenn lives in the western half of Virginia I don't know why they have two but it's not the only state with a split locality so I guess it's not so strange. Makes me wonder if living in a big chimney soots him?

Frosty The Lucky.

[GottMitUns]

Frost, you are getting better with age!

[Frosty]

Frost, you are getting better with age!

​It's the cheese in my you know.

Frosty The Lucky.

[LastRonin]

​It's the cheese in my you know.

Frosty The Lucky.

​better cheese than whine.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Ok, I'm going to try and explain this (its dark out so no picture till tomarrow, on yout straps, bend the ends back on them selves, i usualy do it the same as the strap width, the  bend the doubled ends to 90 deg. Make sure the original end is tord the end side or the bend will open up, on the other end take a diferent tact. Leve a tail and bend the end over 90, bend the ear over and then back so you have a tail to go under the other strap, makes a continus look, with a bolt and the ends dont dig in.

lastly if you mix up a salution of borax, boric acid (roach lroof) and glycol (ethiline like aintifreeze works fine) drill a hole down 2/3 to 3/4 of the way into the middle of the stump and fill it up with the salution. Glycollikes water and will fallowit into the wood, rot doesn't like borax and boric acid. Onc it is dry oil to yourhearts content, but remember wood, oil and hot steel...

youcan either place the hole under the anvil or right beside it and plug it

. 

[Frosty]

 

​better cheese than whine.

 

​I like to wheel in and loaf with a happy little whine.

Frosty The Lucky.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Old house paint also works to seal the ends. My Dad used wax to seal some smaller lots for projects.