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Welding an anvil down?


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I have seen a picture on here of one that someone purchased that had been welded to the base. Why would you want to or need to. I wouldn't weld an anvil down. Easier to move it. And no real benefit in my opinion since they can be mounted very sturdy with out welding it. 

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If you can think of any conceivable way of attaching an anvil to its base, chances are good that someone's tried it already.

Brian Brazeal-style striking anvils are usually welded up as an integral unit with their base. Standard-type anvils are usually not so welded, but there are always exceptions.

Why do you ask?

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Yes it's been done but I can't imagine someone who uses one regularly who would unless they grow legs too easily. Of course my imagination has it's limits, still.

Securing an anvil is just too easy to need to resort to welding one down. Mine sits in a flange up angle iron frame with nothing but my tong rack to wedge it in place. Chained to a wood block is common and a good way to quiet an annoying ring. Staples, spikes, etc. are just as common. 4" x 4" posts on end, screwed and glued, spiked, strapped, banded, etc. together with any number of retainers is common and popular, almost anybody can buy a stick or two of lumber. Less effective but equally popular is lumber stacked on the flat and screwed, spiked, etc. together.

I think most of us cringe at the thought of welding an anvil to anything unless it was absolutely necessary. 

Frosty The Lucky.

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My mouse hole has a tube of construction adhesive and the end boards of the stand  holding it and really helps silences it . My sisco supreme has metal straps with screws in the stump holding it . I may build a stand like my mouse hole , it really helps on noise.

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I've cut a few anvils off of a welded onto a base. It seems sort of silly to weld an anvil on to something because it becomes a fairly permanent attachment which may be ok for the person that is doing the weld at that time but things change. I wouldn't recommend it because every anvil I have had to cut off of a base wouldn't be of much value for anyone else because of height, style, or some some other use issue. 

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I have an 18 wheeler rim and a piece of heavy wall 8" pipe that will soon have a slab of 10"x10"x2" fastened to the top of it. I plan on inverting the whole lot and filling it full of sand and miter for weight.

The easiest way to hook the anvil to it will be welding it.

I don't plan on selling it, and it will still be semi-portable.

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Ah, now we're getting somewhere. Asking a general question only gets you a general answer. You're really asking a very specific question in a very particular context, and we need to know both in order to give you an appropriate answer.

in other words, a good question would be "I have a slab of 10" X 10" X 2" steel that I want to make into an anvil. I have some heavy-walled 8" square tube and an 18-wheeler room; what would be the best way to make a base?"

 The answer to that question is, start by turning your slab on edge, as that will give you the best rebound. Narrow and deep is better than wide and shallow. For the base, the square tube would be good for a vertical, but a lot of people here have cautioned against using rims as bases. They aren't always as stable as if they need to be, but for an anvil of that size, this might not be an issue. Tripods are always good, and you might consider that option if you have enough of the square tube.

Something to think about: one of the real advantages to a square slab anvil is that if you have a stand where you can lift the slab out, turn it,  and put it back in, you can keep one edge straight and flat and grind two or three different radii onto each of the other three sides. That would give you a tremendous variety of forging surfaces, and you could even grind in some half-round hollows (swages).  Some kind of removable wedge could help keep it rigid while you're hammering on it. 

 Another thing to think about: you don't say what kind of steel your slab is or what degree of welding experience you have.  I'm certainly no welder, but I do know that high-carbon and high-alloy steels can develop cracks if not welded properly. Please be careful. 

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I am confused ...

Which one is the anvil and which the base? Is the wheel and pipe and plate the base and you want to weld an anvil to this base? Or is the plate the anvil?

What sort of anvil do you have? If it's cast the weld may break off. I would bolt it down.

if you are making an anvil ... nee, can't be :)

 

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Marc1 makes a good point; I assumed that the slab was the anvil itself. If it's the top plate of the base assembly and the anvil will be attached to it,  that's a different matter. In that case, I would recommend bolting the anvil down or attaching it with silicone adhesive. 

Same design considerations about round base vs. tripod still apply. 

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2 hours ago, jpfabricator said:

The wheel,pipe , and slab will be the base. I have an anvil already, I just needed some I do on attaching.

It looks like some bolts and chain are now in my shopping list.

Good. Thank you for being flexible in your outlook; we've seen far too many people come to IFI just looking for affirmation of the lousy idea that they're going to go ahead and do anyway. (Full disclosure: that was me when I first arrived.)

Now that that's out of the way, head over to the Introduce Yourself page and say who you are -- but remember to READ THIS FIRST!

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Best way is to make two brackets with 1/2" flat bar or angle depending on your anvil legs shape, and bolt them to the base. Chain will be hard to tension unless you include a beefed up tensioner. Every fixing method you can think of will manage to work itself loose unless you also glue the anvil to the plate with roofing material. 

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Which is a terrible way if you need to lift the anvil off it's base and move it often---like this weekend when I will be lifting 4 or 5 anvils off their bases and taking them to the local University to teach a smithing class and taking them back afterwards.  "Best" is a specific situation term and not a general one.

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16 hours ago, Latticino said:

@John, wish we had a like button for that comment.  Going to have to remember that one ;)

Me too, that's a gem and a pearl! 

Uh, my personal preference is LOSE THE SEMI RIM! Unless you want to mount a tire to put on your truck they aren't much good. Even for a guy wire anchor they're overkill and for any kind of tool stand base they're more trip hazard than useful.

Mount that steel plate on end on a stand that holds it securely but is easy to remove it from. This allows you to turn the plate and make use of all 4 sides, you can grind different tools (bottom dies) on each side for an outstanding anvil. ALA Brian Brazeal's anvil. 

Frosty The Lucky.

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One of mine was welded to an I beam at some point in it's life.

I bought a very big Peter Wright about 30 years ago from a mechanic that had it for years in his junkyard. Supposedy it was used on a ship or barge before he got it .

Being as it makes it hard to steal and sets it at not a bad height I never tried to detach it.

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Wandering anvils are the norm for many people: demos, teaching, travelling, having to move the equipment around in a limited shop space or out in the yard...perhaps not in your area but not uncommon in AR, OK, OH, NM, TX in the USA, (places I've lived or had experience in smithing at)

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On 2/8/2017 at 5:27 AM, George Geist said:

One of mine was welded to an I beam at some point in it's life.

I bought a very big Peter Wright about 30 years ago from a mechanic that had it for years in his junkyard. Supposedy it was used on a ship or barge before he got it .

Being as it makes it hard to steal and sets it at not a bad height I never tried to detach it.

I'm going to guess that it's not one you take with you to shoe horses....

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1 hour ago, JHCC said:

I'm going to guess that it's not one you take with you to shoe horses....

No lol!

It's a bit of overkill for horseshoeing. It required the winch and boom from a tow truck to get it loaded into the back of my pickup. Offloading was a little easier with the help of gravity. 

Definitely one for a fixed location.

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