Jump to content
I Forge Iron

anvil and stand restoration


Recommended Posts

 I came across a rusty anvil and stand for sale, decent price and I could see there was a lovely Arm & Hammer anvil hiding beneath all the rust and dirt.  The cast base was quite heavy, guessing the 300# ballpark for base alone.  I spent several hours stripping and cleaning.  There is a recessed square "dish" in the top of the stand where there was a 1.75" thick wood piece under the anvil.  That wood piece was cracked and rather rotted and needed to be replaced.  I managed to save the original custom formed U-bolts, they looked home made by evidence of the rather random thread length on the ends.  The underside nuts for the U-bolts were completely rusted and seized in place, I doubted I would get them all off without destroying them.  But some liberal soaking of PB Blaster for days leading up, and then some torch applications of heat finally got them loose without serious damage.  

This is what I started with:

ah2.thumb.jpg.740d98fa5e3fdd41183f65214e

I had a chunk of 1.75" thick maple butcher block left over from a work bench cutoff end.  I'm glad I had saved it years ago as it made the perfect piece for this restoration.  I liked the idea of painting the base fire engine red, and with the maple wood piece I thought a nice clean anvil on top would really stand out.  I took these pics as a trail-fit of everything put together for the first time and hadn't cinched the U-bolts down yet....   Many hours involved, but very happy with the results. :)

ah1.thumb.jpg.f74a329fcefc7d4b8d4e5ab91a

ah3.thumb.jpg.3f3cfbd1fcac19f43085f95a31

ah4.thumb.jpg.1c409e5c6a314011fe1f3b7404

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beautiful job Froggy, another hearty well done to you sir!

Uh . . . Have you figured out how to tighten the nuts on the hold downs? A video of the operation would be fun and instructional. Just remember this is a Family friendly site so you'll have to edit the language when/if you get a hand stuck under it. :huh:

Good color choice, shes a beauty.

Frosty The Lucky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frosty,

I have a hydraulic toe lift that handles up to 750# up to 52" high.  Love that thing.

I lifted up the base/anvil combo up to my 1" thick steel plate table.  I slid base onto the table and plenty of empty workspace between the table edge and toe lift platform edge to get up there and install the nuts.  

.....maybe some bad words were uttered here and there as well.  ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes on both counts, you see "blacksmitherly" in older publications and all words are conglomerations of syllables meaning something to someone. <Sorry, couldn't resist> I'd cite a couple books but they were among the parts of my library that was stolen.

Hey, I avoided my usual rant about thieves!

Frosty The Lucky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good Job BF, it does look really nice that way.  The anvil has some interesting weathering;-) but I really like how, and how much the edges are beveled particularly on the shoulders of the sweet spot...

Edited by SJS
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...