Ok.. was going to make an anvil stand and wanted to double check my logic, before I made this...

Steel Square 8 x 8 x .25 thickness.

2 x ---> 5/8 Inch Thick plates. Top/Bottom. Should these plates be thicker?

(will be bolted into the ground)

The anvil weight will be right around 250 pounds.

I was going to place support gussets under the plate on the anvil side.

The support column should I fill this with sand..or keep it hollow..thought I read this somewhere.

Other are a few threads on anvils stands that you may want to check out before building.

Keep it simple. A stump works fine, so your steel stand doesn't have to be more sophisticated than that. I would leave it empty, and put a hole in it somewhere so moisture cannot collect in it. 

Got the anvil?

^ my property has termites, so avoiding stumps. All Excess wood has all been removed from my property, used to have those old railroad ties out here. The house is being treated, but yeah... It's really bad we all got together with neighbors to treat.

my current stands are wood so trying to swap them out.    

I didnt really consider moisture being in Phoenix...

(oh yea this is the final project for my welding class, so the steel is included in the cost of the class. So trying to maximize benefit, but odd random stuff to work with) 

Alternatively I could make a post vise stand.

Thats fair enough

Go with something like this...weld up a stand and fill it with sand. I added the side trays this past week.

I like mine. It damps the ring of a Soderfors anvil to tolerable levels. It's easy to move and holds the anvil securely. Getting a tripod to sit without rocking on almost ANY surface is easy peasy. The anvil wedges in with the hammer and tong racks. There's no plate just a 2" angle iron top flange up, I had the 2"x3" rectangular tubing all cut without changing the angle on the cut off saw.

Frosty The Lucky.

Ok did part one with scrap and got at least two pieces together.. not much progress I guesss...(again first welding class taken..it's for final project)

I have created a bell so far.....wow..lol. So definitely got to fix that. Place sand inside..right?

Next I have to decide if I want to Weld a top plate on, or create some sort of removable one, would a removal one be a good idea even?

Ayup, that's a "sand box" stand. Float the anvil on the sand, no need to weld the top. The anvil mounts to the top so it can act like a piston that floats on the sand. This will make it as quiet as it's going to get. It also allows you to adjust the height by adding or subtracting sand. Heck you can even go so far as to empty the sand for lighter transport.

It is hard to find better than a sand box anvil stand. No need to be fancy with the sand either, river sand will shift a little and crushed sand will lock up like a rock. Don't fall for the adding oil to it "improvement " that's just more is better thinking and it ain't so. Plain old UNWASHED dry sand works a treat. If it turns out to shift too much pour in some . . .water. 1/2 gal to start and see how she works. If that's not enough add a LITTLE more at a time, hammering will distribute the water quickly enough. If you start seeing free moisture, (that's a soils lab term for: water starts pumping to the surface) it's too wet let it dry some.

Just don't get too fancy. You're going to LOVE the stand.

Frosty The Lucky.

^ only problem is I only had 8 x 8 square tubing. They have a bunch of remnants so worked with the two pieces that looked the best (..I should have put something in the pic's for perspective).

Easy Path

So a plate is going the best bet and just weld to the top, and cut up 4 piece of angle to create corners, and then two holes with something* holding down anvil.

or

Hard Path

Cut up four pieces of angle and weld to the top and create a support. Plate would then have to be drilled into 4 times to secure it.  Honestly, don't know how to do that part. This creates a problem in welding those 4 piece perfectly flat..I could see that being problematic. Then the four holes would have to be sunken in the plate.

Weld 4 corners with angle iron onto plate and two holes with something to hold it down.

Easy path, fill with sand.

Hard path, weld top on, then you need anvil to weld stoppers on top to keep anvil in place.

Still easier path. Cut a base that fits your anvil from wood, screw and glue wood blocks to the bottom that slip inside the sq tubing.

Frosty The Lucky.

I finished this stand this weekend. Here is the final result. I can lower if needed and make it taller with plywood.. I welded a 1 inch plate on it. 

I have angle iron for when I place a larger anvil on it someday, doesn't seem to be needed.

Forging on a stable stand has made this so much more effective!!  It's a Peter wright  at 101 pounds. The stand clocks in with sand at 185... Lol

Dont mind the mess. New post vise stand is next....

You may find a need to add some stops or redo the clips to prevent the anvil from moving when hammering laterally towards the anvil. I had an anvil setup the same way and it kept on trying to escape...

I don't know if you can tell from that picture, but I have two more holes in middle outside for support items if needed. I may come up with something, so far not moving...Those plate's sit parallel with the peter wright flat sections there.

When I get my larger anvil I plan on welding tall angle iron <4 Corners> and dropping in plywood as needed for height..

 

Looks great.  A good anvil stand makes a real difference in the performance, but I've also found that they make the smith happy and want to actually forge stuff.  Good tools are like that!

Now, get out there and make the iron move!