Show me your anvil stands

[Chris C]

50 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

heavy 2" squares wire grid

Now that's a good idea, Thomas.  I like that.

Chris

[tanglediver]

[ThomasPowers]

Going to paint flames on the bottoms of the legs?

[tanglediver]

Nah, they are still open tubes. I am prepping some 3/8" bottom plates for them. I'll have to flip the whole thing upside down and weld the plates on (no I won't, that won't work...). Paint would get wasted. Besides, I didn't want red paint on the floor.

Flames would be interesting though.

[ThomasPowers]

I have a stack of old Cheerios boxes opened up and flattened for use as floor guards for such work---also good for laying out the bow tie for a folded axe. (And if you get a shape that really really works well---transfer it to sheet metal, drill a hole in it and hang it on the shop wall!)

[Oakley Forge]

Foreground: My great aunt's flower box holder, found in the basement at Oakley, now serves as our tool rack for demonstrations. Still elegant after all these years.  

Further back we have the anvil stand for the 70# Mankel, which usually sits on a higher stump in the forge for light or delicate work.  This is the portable mount, with heavy oak table legs that were acquired by my younger son while in college, and salvaged woodwork from a door frame at may parent's house.  

Then we have a stump mounted bickern with an extra black locust foot attached at the base (nicknamed "Gobber"); and a stump mounted block anvil for the Y-1-K setup at the St. Mary's County Fair in Southern Maryland this September.

[ThomasPowers]

Cptn Atli; that you?

[Frosty]

20 hours ago, tanglediver said:

Flames would be interesting though.

Stockings and wing tips? 

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

After you weld on the pads you could paint a small flattened coyote around each leg on the top of the pads.

[Oakley Forge]

Thomas Powers:  I'm afraid so. 

I registered quite some time ago, but I couldn't post.  Now it all seems to be working.  With Far West Forge going into the west, and the Armour Archive somewhat moribund, I figured I can keep up with Anvilfire and, maybe, here.

Worth a try anyway.

[tanglediver]

12 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

After you weld on the pads you could paint a small flattened coyote around each leg on the top of the pads.

Not enough real estate, barely enough for a 1/2" hole and the weld beads.

[tanglediver]

So, here are the feet. They were a just a single leftover piece I cut into three to get just enough.

Just need a flame job now, right? Give this thing a hot foot? The paint is actually just XO-Rust Rustoleum. Ez to touch up, ez to cover with any color.

[Yanni Rockitz]

How come I can't view any of these photos people have posted -- the links all appear broken -- error 404: File not found -- in Chrome, in Firefox... Anyone know? Do they expire after a while or something? It's like a 9 year old thread, I know, but would love to see everyone's pics!

[ThomasPowers]

We lost all the old photos in an "upgrade" that was made to the site; they are greatly missed.  Newer photos should still be available.

[Glenn]

The site upgrades have sometimes broken the links to the photos from the past. The soft wear developers have been notified of this and we are still waiting for the fix.

[Old Crew]

I am about to build a steel stand for a 559# south german. I have looked at many of the stands here for inspiration. I have decided to build a tripod style , I have lots of steel to chose from and will incorporate fork pockets in-between the legs so weight is not an issue.  The top will be made from a piece of plate cut to the shape of the anvils base with a piece of flat bar formed around the base and welded to the plate. The flat bar will be continuous and project above the plate an  inch or 2 to enclose the base.

My question is how much is enough and if I have it why not go bigger.  So my choices for the top plate are 1" AR 500  or   1-1/4 mild steel   or  2-1/4 mild steel

For the legs  I have lots of options but the ones that stand out are 4" x 4" x 1/2" wall tube   or 2-3/4 round solid rod    or 4" round solid.

I am leaning toward the 1-1/4 plate with the 4" square tube for legs.  Any comments or suggestions ?

[ThomasPowers]

Definitely don't use AR!  A pain to grind.

I'd use tube legs and fill with sand and oil for more damping.

I think you are way into "diminishing returns" on weight so no need to max that out.

[jlpservicesinc]

Old Crew:  What you use depends a lot with what you have access to and then how much weight you want to have in the stand. 

I'm a fan of making the stand as heavy as I can and also having it be stable enough when using a bending fork on 1.5" square stock so the anvil and base will not move even without being bolted to the floor. 

First photo is 460lbs Refflinghaus on 1.25plate, 2.25X1/4"sq tube, with 1/2"X4" plate for the mounting plate.  Second is a Peddinghaus 275 on 1" plate with 2.25X1/4Sq tube with 1/4" diamond plate for gussets and 1/2X4" for bottom mounting plate.  Third is the Blackwidow stand holding a 368lbs Hay budden on 1" plate with 3" round pipe, 3" heavy channel, 2" sq tube for assecory shoes, and 1/2" filler plates for more weight input into the center for more mass if need be. 

The Peddinghaus is the anvil that is supposed to live in the demo trailer so the stand is pretty much done.  The Refflinghaus anvil will be the main shop anvil and is about 1/2 done. I will add more to it and create the same Blackwidow shape  with some extensions of the 4 legs that it all ready has. 

personally I have worked on tripod stands and farrier anvil stands and wooden stands or stumps and even with heavy anvils end up moving them all over the floor as well as nearly knocking the tripod stands over everytime I work on them, 

 I like the metal stand like the blackwidow stand the best. It's crazy stable. 

here is one from Anglefire. I'd love to get one of the anvils. But not so on the stand. 

[jlpservicesinc]

Here is one of the reasons I like steel stands. It is fully adaptable is such a fast and easy way. 

[marcusb]

My humble setup.

[jlpservicesinc]

Marcus. That is a great anvil and stand.  What does the block weigh? 

[Glenn]

What ever stand you build, be sure you CAN NOT tip it over.  There is no way to jump out of the way of a falling anvil, with hot metal in your hand, while looking for a soft place to land, in a blacksmith shop.

[marcusb]

13 minutes ago, jlpservicesinc said:

Marcus. That is a great anvil and stand.  What does the block weigh? 

Thanks! Its right at 300 pounds if I remember correctly.

[Old Crew]

11 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

What you use depends a lot with what you have access to and then how much weight you want to have in the stand. 

Jlp

I have viewed you stands and your stand build thread and appreciate your experience and the willingness to post it and share your expertise . I own a small steel fab shop and have all sorts of steel from which to chose. I was going to use a tripod design because my concrete in my shop is not super flat , but is probably good enough for a 4 legged stand which should be more stable.  I don't like the look of the first couple of pictures you posted , with the vertical legs. Im not questioning the functionality just the eye appeal , I assume that those are set up for attachment in your demo trailer. On the first picture the anvil appears fairly high while sitting on the grey cube is that the trailer attachment ?

I like the look of the "Black Widow"  Does it have a solid base plate ? if so doesn't that make it rock if what you set it on isn't flat ?

I ran the numbers and and If I use 1-1/4 top plate cut to match the anvil with 4x4x1/2 tube filled with sand and 3 legs the stand will weigh about 236#    If I use the 1-1/4 top plate with 4" round solid and 4 legs it would weigh 364#   If i use the same 4 legs with 2-1/4 top plate it weighs in at 420"

The anvil is a big sexy beast 559#     5-1/2 inch by 43-1/2 face    15-1/4 tall    with a 5-1/4 " x 4-1/2" side wing and a 5-1/2 x 5- 1/2 x 6" tall upset block on the other side.

I want to build it a stand that does it justice is sleek like the anvil and above all else is functional and usable for whatever and I don't really want to bolt it down.

David 

[jlpservicesinc]

Thanks.  

The thimble in the trailer was designed for the original 175lbs Hay Budden.  My forging skills sucked enough that I dinged it 6 times in 6 months and while not bad dings I knew better so bought the Peddinghaus..  New.. Not so bad as it's not a piece of history and as a way to show some respect to both the MFG but mostly to the guys whom remain nameless who forged that anvil. 

So the original stand has a really nice taper to it and I loved the looks of it.Clean and kinda oldish, kinda stump like..   I built the original stand pretty light with 5/16X4 angle and ran a 2" pipe up the center to a 1" thick plate matched to the outline of the feet.   I was still working it all out.  With the this stand if I worked hard on the horn the whole stand would flex and the horn would spring.    I was trying to work keep the stand fairly light at this point.  R and D.. 

when I made the stand for the Peddi it was more about functionality and rigidity with what "Base block" I all ready had so did the first redesign and completely beefed up the inside of it adding the 3/8X6" cross in the bottom adding more substantial bracing and such.  but then set up to make it rigid with the 1/4" diamond plate and make it kind of snazzy.  I to don't really like the straight sides.  I like a cone shape. But it isn't needed in the trailer because the base block is pinched in the thimble so it does not move anywhere. 

Anyhow,  heres a bunch of photos.  It has been a Research and developement kind of thing.    the Blackwidow stand does not have a flat bottom.. It has heavy channel that was welded together into the blackwidow shape then put on a hollow and I beat it with a hammer so only the very outside edge all the way around touches the cement..  I designed it not to turn while having a bending fork in the hardie hole with a 1"sq X 6' long bar torquing on it and not move.   I designed it to have a hollow cavity that I can put more weight into if I want to. 

With the 2" Sq going through the mount and bolts and such it was close to 300lbs when finished.  This particular setup is pretty neat as when it's time to move it around  it is very hard to slide.  But it can be rocked up onto the horn or tail section and balanced on the stand and walked around.. Well at least I could when I built it. that was a few years ago now. 

The Stand for the Refflinghaus in the trailer is the building blocks for another Blackwidow stand. I planned it out as i built the stand so I can just modify it when the shop is done and with only a little welding and metal work will be a refined 2nd generation blackwidow. 

By the way.  With stands like any of ones I made.  there is no reason to pack the legs with anything in less you want the extra weight.   The original reason for doing it was because the fabricated stand were noisy.  These stands make no extra noise and because the anvils are mounted so tightly to stand the anvils barely ring if at all. Not as quite as a Fisher but pretty quite overall. 

You can see the arch in the bottom of the stand in the last photo..

So, when do we get to see this Sexy lady?