Doglegged Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Friend of mine who is a local blacksmith found this 5x5 square stock for me at a junkyard and it's about 4ft. Long. I bought it off him for 10 bucks and has alot more rebound than my railroad track and I was wondering what would be the best way to mount this? Upright like a post anvil?or horizontal? and weld some legs to it? I asked him and he said it's really personal preference but he is not sure. He has never used a post anvil or anything like what is pictured as an anvil and he didn't want to really tell me anything wrong. So I'm asking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewayforge Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 I would mount it upright so that the 5x5 face is your anvil face. Radius each edge, now you have 4 radii. Mount it in a box of sand, or something similar. Just something strong to transfer the force down to the earth. That looks like a stellar anvil! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doglegged Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share Posted May 13, 2017 I was thinking the same I've always been told "The amount space you work on is how big your hammer face is" or something like that lol. But yea I hope it makes a great anvil for now till I at least get a real anvil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 You know if we knew what kind of forging you want to do with it we might be able to give better answers... In general I'd mount it vertically; but there are specific cases where horizontally would be a help and others where being able to flip it from one to another would be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doglegged Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share Posted May 13, 2017 That's the thing I'm not exactly sure what I want to make right now. So far ive made some J hook type stuff, I've made 2 pairs of tongs. I'm not real big into knife making but making a knife will be something I do just not a lot of and if I was to make something with a sharp edge I would want to make a straight razor blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 If it's 5"X5" upright would be my choice Most anvils are not 5" across so you will have plenty of flat face so to speak.. If you have a way to drill a holen or weld on a horn a little lower than the what would become the face, you would be all set for just about any task you can think of except punching but that is what a punch block is for.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatfudd Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 Thomas Powers is right, I would try to mount it so it could be used in either direction, As mentioned most anvils smaller than about 250lbs have a face that is narrower than 5in. If the rebound is as good as you indicate I would like to be able to use the horizontal face for laying out and working on longer pieces plus you have holes already drilled which could used as pritchel holes. I don't know that there is a right or wrong way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51 Papy Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 Doglegged I have a post anvil like yours. I set mine on 2pieces of 3/4 plywood ( base ) and then came up with 2" scrap. I staggered the wood and not all goes full length. Then I started filling with sand. By the time I got done I have better then 100# of sand in the base. It is very stable. If this one fails the next wooden base will not be as tall. One benefit is I can use the "side" of the post to straighten pieces or as a fuller or rounding surface. I have not given up on finding a London pattern anvil but I'm not spending a lot of time looking. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 Nice $10.00 SCORE!! You have two why pick just one orientation? 5" x 5" x 48" tells my arithmetic challenged brain those puppies weight around 336lbs. EACH! Sweeter and SWEETER $10.00 score. For a vertical mount you'll need to trim it to a proper working height for you, wrist height is about right for a one smith operation. A cut off band saw would be near perfect for the trim. The through, pin maybe holes can come in handy I'd leave one at the top end in a vertical mount. You can place round pin in it and use it for bending or perhaps an anvil bic. it'll have 4 edges so you can have a number of different radius edges. If you are a welder you can make a vertical steel stand you could flip it end for end and have a number of useful surfaces. Horizontally mounted gives you up to 48" x 4 edges and all the fun with a grinder you can have shaping them. The holes make it easy to roll it with a bar. Another thought is a treadle hammer. There is a LOT of potential there, is there any more where they came from? They'd make dynamite trading stock at a blacksmith club meeting. Thinking about it just now, if I trimmed it to MY working height of around 32" the cut off 16" would weigh 112lbs. That alone would be a nice traveling anvil or the combination would make a better treadle hammer than I thought at first blush. This is getting better and better! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doglegged Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 Well I really only have one of those sorry I didn't mention that before I just noticed the picture included the 2nd one, the other he sold to someone else. I'm thinking about cutting about 12in. Off of it and having a post anvil and then using the remaining 3ft. As an horizontal anvil. We didn't have a way to weight them but it took 2 burly men to pick it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Steel weighs about 0.28lbs cu/in your bar weighs about 7lbs. per linear inch. Soooo, 12" will weigh about 84lbs. nice bench anvil size. Good score no matter how you slice it. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 For the 12" section, you could grind some grooves across one or more faces, like the trunion swage block from Blacksmith Depot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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