Really bad to tease us like that, Dutch!

 

$25 for a ready-to-go anvil stand is quite a good price, in my estimation.  Even if you got a free stump, you'd burn up a lot of time and energy making that stump square and level.  Using dimensional lumber would be even more costly.

 

Very interested to see this perfect anvil stand.....

I started out with 2x10 lumber, bolted together with all thread and the boards staggered to form pockets in the stand to hold tools. those pockets end up being of limited use. On the other hand, an old cookie sheet from the Goodwill, siliconed down to the stand and the anvil hold downs just hammered thru the sheet, was very useful as a tray under the anvil, held tools, water can for cooling off punches etc.

 

Then a live oak stump became available, a friend had a few acres, some downed trees, a big chainsaw and a backhoe to move the log.  Once I got that home (a tale in and of itself) I hacked off the back, flattened either end with boards screwed to the sides of the stump and a router.

 

Made a hollow to fit the anvil, sunk it about 3/4 of an inch and routed three feet on the bottom of the stump.

As the log has dried it has cracked some, good opportunity to make a few staples to span the crack. Had a few bug issues, found that a thick wash of borax (we all have some borax don't we?) brushed all over the stump kills whatever was leaving little piles of sawdust next to the stump.

 

Now the stump has a long staple across the front, for tongs and a couple of rings on either side, for hammers and hotcut. A motorcycle chain is nailed to the front side of the stand with a heavy sash weight on the other end of the chain that hangs behind the anvil as a hold down. I had the weight on the other end, so it hung at the front of the anvil, but found that the weight got caught on the tong rack too much, there's less to catch onto when it hangs over the back.

 

 

Hopefully I'll make it back over tomorrow. Depending on whether my buddy and I can throw together a few stands I need, I may be $25 more poor and wealthier by a good anvil stand... the yard has several of equal dimensions and appearance

As far as anvil stands go along with the situating of said anvil... I have 2 make shift anvils at this time, one is an approximately 18" section of rail that isa work in progress based on Alexander G. Weygers' design in "The Complete Modern Blacksmith" and the other is a solid chunk of steel approximately 50 lbs with the dimensions of roughly 3" x 8" x 8".

Firstly, I am attempting a London style anvil pattern with the section of rail... definitely easier said than done.

Second, the chunk of steel. Trying to figure out a design in which I am able to have it either stand up or lie flat as the situation dictates. A grand idea given to me by the same man I acquired the steel from.

My main question for the masses among my rambling is the method of quieting the anvil. The steel block is relatively quiet by itself however the rail has a VERY distinctive ring. I live in a residential neighborhood and would like to not create a nuisance. The question: what materials and methods have you gentlemen used to quiet a loud anvil on the cheap while retaining maximum rebound?

Here are mine-

475# German on pecan countersunk in a half inch-

300# HB on a big chunk if some sort of hard wood.. No countersink but wedge bands on the side-

And a hundred pound no name on oak with a half inch sink.. I need hold downs on this one still.

How did the Pecan react and hold up? Here in West Texas, Pecan is very common but seen mostly as firewood.

My main question for the masses among my rambling is the method of quieting the anvil. The steel block is relatively quiet by itself however the rail has a VERY distinctive ring. I live in a residential neighborhood and would like to not create a nuisance. The question: what materials and methods have you gentlemen used to quiet a loud anvil on the cheap while retaining maximum rebound?

 

The rail will always be noisy because it doesn't have the mass or cross-section to reduce vibrations.  You can wrap it in chains galore, and bed it in silicone caulk, but a rail laying down is a better bell than anvil.  Stand it on end and you have a better anvil, but....

 

The 3x8x8 block sounds like a dandy of an anvil.  With a 3x8 face to hammer on, you've got a perfect anvil size for 99% of any smithing you want to do.  You certainly don't need an 8x8 face to work on unless you're truing saw blades for a living.  I'd stand that girl up on end in a bed if silicone caulk and call it a day.  She'll definitely work better as an anvil than a railroad track because you've got a lot of mass right under the hammer's impact point.  Not having a horn is small potatoes because you can mount mandrels in the bench vise.

Learned the hard way about the importance of an anvil stand. I'm fairly impatient and have placed my set up on the ground to get used to my forge, my makeshift anvil(s) and working the metal as I'm very new to forging.

Working on a knee gives me an appreciation of a proper set up. My impatience may ring through and force my hand in building a better set up, albeit a set up unlike the one I have plans to eventually build with the help of my welder buddies. I miss working at proper height as I was taught.

I like two styles of stands, this three legged stand I like for larger anvils. To quite the anvil the legs are filled decomposed granite. I packed it in with a pneumatic hammer. The anvil sits on a one inch steel plate with a seven layer 5/8" plywood shim. This 407lbs S&S anvil would ring like a bell before and now is pleasurable to work on without earplugs.


Not a great picture of one of my wood stands. I fixed wheels and a removable tee handle to it for ease of use at events or just moving it around the shop. I don't recommand this style for an anvil over 150lbs.

So this is an oak stump which split in half when it was chopped down. I did think for a while that I would be able to put the anvil on the stump and then carry it inside when not in use, but its just to heavy to easily move it. But those 'handles' do make handy places to hold stock/tools.

 

 

 

 

It was also my 1st day forging metal today :)

 

Tom

 

 

So this is an oak stump which split in half when it was chopped down. I did think for a while that I would be able to put the anvil on the stump and then carry it inside when not in use, but its just to heavy to easily move it. But those 'handles' do make handy places to hold stock/tools.


IMAG0132.jpg


It was also my 1st day forging metal today :)

Tom

What kind of anvil is that?

What kind of anvil is that?

 

Err, I don't actually know. There's better pictures of it here: 

 

That was before I crudely painted it to try and protect it from the rain/frost/snow/ etc........

Err, I don't actually know. There's better pictures of it here:

That was before I crudely painted it to try and protect it from the rain/frost/snow/ etc........

Not that I have the experience to back up my preference, but I'm certainly digging the distribution of mass. Kinda the look I've come to know as "the mousehole" look. I would love one like that. Seems like all the hard stuff is where you'd want it! :)

I started out with a tree stump, but soon learned I didn't like it.  This is my anvil and stand I built.  Serves me well.

an "ironing board" all puns intended!

Hello all !!!  i show you the latest anvil stand i made for my 185kg anvil .She is "glued"  on with sicaflex 11 fc+ . 30 mm plate , welded foot are pipe and you have falling metal of my shop inside to have more weigth .

 

 

Made in France .

 

http://brutaldeluxe.e-monsite.com/

My anvil stand... 2 6x6 posts 4 feet long, sunk 26" in the ground and bolted/screwed together. its solid!

I made this stand yesterday out of a harrow blade and piece of 4" pipe. Filled it with sand and about half a quart of oil.

The little guy has his own stand now. Plus its easy to move around, just tip it back and roll it.

 

I hope the long time IFI members will forgive me if this has been covered, but I thought pictures of different anvil stands might be helpful for beginners.

The anvil I use the most is a plywood box, filled with sand. Anvil sits on a piece of plywood and space between the feet of the anvil and top of the box fills up with scale.

Very solid, doesn't move or bounce, very quite while forging.

I have 4 others,if there is any interest, and I'm sure there are a lot of good ideas out there.

 

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got the little guy pushed into a fresh cut oak trunk today.  I had to drop a couple small oaks and this guy was perfect for the little hilger and sons anvil

Two, nice workable stands. Don't think I've ever seen a anvil welded at the waste before. The stake stand looks good.

When it gets light I'll take and post a pic of a fabricated stake stand I made several years ago. But for now, here's my #2 stand. It was made in a weld shop where a meeting was held years ago. I bought it when he closed his shop down. Not sure why it's sideways.

her is my main stand

Very nice, hope every notices the swage block stand also.

Here's the stake stand pic. Sorry about the sideway pic. Face 32" high, stand 12" sq. base, 20" high

The swage block stand also allows me to put it up on its side and keep it low.

This is timely; I've got my eye on a section of I-beam out of a demo job down the street, and I'm thinking about ideas for a stand. Following!

Well most english/american anvils were forge welded at the waist (save for the cast ones)  In the 20th century some american manufacturers started arc welding the waist join though the cruder welds sometimes tend to be repairs to forge welded joins that failed.