JHCC Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Silicone is easy: you just need a thick layer of silicone caulk between the base of the anvil and the top of the stand. Silicone caulk works great; just make sure to allow enough time for it to cure before you start pounding. If you like, you can fasten some blocks of wood to the top of your stand to help index the anvil in place. Marking the perimeter of the base helps too, so that you know where to put the caulk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melw45 Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 I am calling this done. For now. The old stand and the new and improved with the anvil mounted. You can see the supervisor checking to see if i did a good job. I am thinking of putting some legs on the old stand and converting it to hold My yet to be built forge. Thanks for looking! Mel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Nice sturdy stand; it should serve you well. If I may, here's a suggestion for hanging any hammers around on the stand. Use round rod for the loops rather than flat bar stock. On my stand, made of 4x4's, I made a strip from 1/8" bar stock with loops in it and screwed it to the base. The first time I used it I noticed that when dropping or placing hammers in the loops, the edges of the bar stock started chewing into the hammer handle. I took that off and replaced it with loops made from 3/8" round rod and in 4 years have had not one hammer handle damaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melw45 Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 Arkie Thanks for the pointers. Mel W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkham Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Mel, some dirt and an air supply added to that round shaped object in your last photo, and you have your forge. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melw45 Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 I will do something like that when I finish moving out of California. We keep having spate the air days. With large fines for any solid fuel fires. Thus the propane forge I am building seen in my other thread. I read the thread about the box of dirt forge and it sounds interesting. Mel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SReynolds Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 I like a truck brake drum as it makes for a very stable base i.e. the foot print is very small and works very very well on nearly any surface. Flat or irregular. I use a large section of log in which to mount the anvil upon. The log is lag screwed to the flange of brake drum. I'm talking about a truck drum; 16.5" shoes by 8-5/8" wide and 11-plus inches deep. From a truck. You need a log diameter about 14" minimum to mount the drum to the face of the flange. There are ten holes there to run some large lag screws through. About 13-15" tall depending on height of anvil......and your hand. 100 pounds? 150? Then the log. Very secure base. Dirt cheap. Folks are asking me to provide them with drums and logs. I have better things to do, honestly. The cool factor is I can roll it anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Are you assuming the base of the anvil is dead flat? Are you assuming that wood won't expand and contract with changes in humidity and every board will do it slightly differently? If it will be a "permanent stand" I would trace the outline of the base on the top of the stand and then rout it out say 1/4 to 1/2 inch and then bed the anvil down into that space with silicone caulk. You could also fit the anvil to the base by checking to see where the anvil is making contact and then lower that slightly, recheck, etc until the entire base is making contact. As my smithy has a dirt floor I don't have to worry about wobble due to inequalities of the floor or the "stump", When I take them to teach we use wooden wedges to stabilize them on a different surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melw45 Posted June 9, 2017 Author Share Posted June 9, 2017 7 hours ago, Scrambler82 said: How's it working out and why so much chain ? I know, to cancel noise, but is all that needed ? I was thinking chain on the stand I am working on but I didn't think I needed that much ! I got my Anvil with to pieces of right angle steel for clamps, did it quiet it down. I was going to use something similar to the original clamps, was thinking chain but do not want that much ! What does the future hold for the stand, tool racks, tool slots, maybe a steel top, just asking ! Working good. The chain is just a tow chain from harbor freight i did not feel like cutting it. I would like to have some tool holders just have not made any yet. The anvil is held to the top of the stand by silicone caulk. The stand looks some what different now I have put some plywood cut to fit the shape of the anvil center curve. I smoothed the top and bottom with a belt sander. The bottom still rocks on hard floors but works fine on dirt. I would like to mount it in the ground when i get to it's permanent home. Not sure hoe i will do that yet. Mel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 traditionally you mounted it *in* the ground, sink 3' of stand in the shop floor making a stable stand the correct height. My stands are pretty much all mobile. I have one to sink in the floor when I retire and get more time in my smithy. Concrete floors are notoriously non-flat so it might not be totally a stand issue if it's on concrete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judson Yaggy Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 On 4/7/2017 at 6:45 AM, Arkham said: Mel, some dirt and an air supply added to that round shaped object in your last photo, and you have your forge. Just a thought. That would be a cruel thing to do to the poor little dog... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 How much hot scale are you generating? You may need to tweak your heat source! If you are worried about them catching on fire, give them a borax wash! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 Well with 36 years of smithing I don't recall setting a stand on fire with scale. I do often demonstrate "black hot" or "Blacksmith Cold" using my wooden stand---impresses the kids as the smoke and flame erupt but the stand does not usually continues to burn and if it does a handful of water from the slack tub takes care of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melw45 Posted June 10, 2017 Author Share Posted June 10, 2017 You can see the ply half rounds in the photo with the chain. I would never turn my dog in to a forge. She is the good one. So far the only time scale started any thing like a fire was when I pulled a spring out. Some got down in a crack in the stump and started smoldering. Mel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stash Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 I flatten anvil stumps with a jig I cobbled up for my router that I originally made for flattening large slabs of wood. I made and attached a larger rectangular base to my router, and welded 2 pieces of angle spaced the width of the base with some flat bar, so the router and base rides in the angle like a sled. I then set the frame on whatever I need to set it just above the height of the stump- concrete block, or large timbers, etc. Chuck up a 3/4" flat bit and set the depth to take ~ 1/4" max cut, run it in the sled to cut a flat channel, slide the whole rig over, and take another cut. Keep doing it till the log is flat, flip it over and do the other side, et voila, you have a flat top and bottom. I could have done a log in the time it took me to type this. Hope this was clear as mud. Steve Mod Note: Link to the related post with photos Flattening a stump, Sinatra style Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gote Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 How you do it depends upon what tools you have available. I used an electric wood plane to flatten the surface of the stump. I thought about using Steve's method but I felt that it was unnecessarily complicated for a single stump. Then I put the anvil on and traced the footprint. Anvil off again and, using a router, I cut a 3/8 recess to prevent the anvil from walking. I use no chain and the anvil just stands in the recess. This works because it is heavy enough. (250 pounds). What is important is that I made the recess slightly dished (about 1/16) so the anvil stands on the rim. That helps dampening the sound and also gives stability. (here I disagree with Thomas. I do not want contact in the central parts of the anvil bottom surface.) A smaller anvil will need some kind of tying down, both for stability and silencing. An anvil is usually not machined to high precision on the underside so you will have to make sure it makes good contact with the stand in the corners of the footprint. Even if the stand surface is dished you might need to shim a little. Caulking will take care of it but if used all over the surface, it will not support the rim only and that is my hobby horse. I started from a solid piece cut from a tree trunk. I wedged it up, future upside down, to a good vertical and then cut it horizontal, too tall and slightly dished, using a chain saw and spirit level. Since it was intended for a dirt floor the chain saw precision was enough. For a hard floor i would have finished with the plane. Next step was to turn the stump and measure the intended height (+3/8) from floor level, cut with chain saw, plane and router. On a solid floor I expect to need wedging around part of the edges, even if the bottom is dished but this is easily done. Thin slivers of wood cut with a knife work well. Rock and push until the rocking stops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 As many anvils have in indentation in the base so they don't contact the center; having a harder center may have no effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WNC Goater Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Just thinking out loud here. The top of my timber anvil base is routed out about 1" deep. I pour some sand in there and seat the anvil in it. After a few minutes of hammering the anvil sits solid in there. Helps deaden the ring too. So for those timber stands mentioned that tend to rock a bit on a solid floor. Would it be feasible to do something like I did except on the opposite end. In other words, build a simple frame of 2x4 with a plywood base and pour in an inch or so of sand. Then sit the base in that, wiggle and twist to seat it, then with the anvil on top and a bit of hammering steel it would stop the rocking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 On old anvils I have sometimes found them bedded in tar, or on a couple of pieces of tar paper or even sheet lead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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