A collection of improvised anvils

[Charles R. Stevens]

At 10” the edge is strait for most purposes (bending, fullering, half blows etc.) so go to town. On edge you get a Chinese crowned anvil, but ai have know experience forging on one.

[ThomasPowers]

Honest Bob Cruickshank of SOFA used to demo with an anvil much like that.  His stump was carved to hold it flat for most forging and on the side for drawing.  Rounding some of the edge is all I would do.

[M.G.]

Thomas Powers, JHCC, Charles R. Stevens,  thanks guys. I'll make a stand and soften the edges. Then get to work!

[M.G.]

Ok so after consideration and moving this hunk of steel out of the back of my car and along the shop floor to its temporary resting place. I have decided this weighs much much more than the 90 or 100lbs the fellow guessed it weighs. And if my math is even close to on track this thing weighs close to 200+lbs its 10.75"dia.x9.75" tall. 

Here is a pic of the start up pile on what I would consider day 1 of building a smithing space.

Thanks to everyone that have welcomed me to the community with some small tidbit of advice, I am sure I will have many more questions in the future.

[HojPoj]

At the heaviest that'd be 257.51754 lbs.   (884.9ish cubic inches multiplied by a density of 0.291 lbs/in^3, though the density is cited as somewhere between 0.28 and 0.291)

[M.G.]

It seems like a lot, but those numbers sound like better math than mine. But really Im not gonna be the one picking it up and putting it on the scale. I'll be lucky to get it on to a stand. Hahah

[ThomasPowers]

Should roll up a ramp nicely.

[M.G.]

That was the thought we had. I like the way you think.

[Frosty]

It'll be even easier to roll it up the ramp onto a bathroom scale. 

Everything a blacksmith does involves things that are: HOT, HEAVY, HARD, SHARP and DANGEROUS. It behooves us to always look for leverage when dealing with everything we do. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Yup; I was "gifted" with a 14' long 2' diameter propane tank that I hoped a friend would use to make a large BBQ/Smoker from for his church's annual wingding.  Didn't pan out; so it's been sitting and waiting.  Well I had to move it to get ready for the electrician.  Had a friend offer to come help this weekend; but I tossed a chain around a fitting and around the trailer hitch on my old pickup and towed it to a place out of the way in the yard.  Just because we're blacksmiths doesn't mean we have to do *everything* the hard way!

Anybody need a 12' long gas forge shell? (Allowing for removing the domed ends...)

[M.G.]

Haha, true. We used a tractor bucked to get the 250ish+ lbs of makeshift anvin  in to the back of my car when i picked it up.

[ThomasPowers]

For my 469# we used a cherry picker when I bought it. The wheels were rated at 600# but they sure looked flat going across the lawn with it.

I tend to use ramps, rollers, a come-a-long and lolly column reinforced roof trusses; also big burly friends in sets of 4+.

[M.G.]

Got a stand made, and got the dang thing on it.  Rolled the piece onto a 2x6 laid it down, set my stand upside down on top of the steel. Used a couple ratchet straps to secure it all together. Laid it on its side....Then me and 2 very doubtful friends tipped it upright.  And there it sits until I build my forge.  Still gonna soften the edge of the striking surface.

The striking surface sits perfectly high enough to tickle my knuckle hairs with a fist.... 

[Glenn]

Lay a piece of pine sheeting on the anvil surface and hit the sheeting with a hammer.  The crescent moons will tell you if you need to adjust the height.

[M.G.]

Awesome, thanks Glenn, will do.

[Frosty]

Looking good. I might've screwed a long 2" x 4" to the stand as a lever to tilt it up but having burly friends is always a good thing.  Well done.

It might be a little low though, knuckle height is a more appropriate when working with strikers or top tooling for the most part. In the days when blacksmithing was a large part of industrial iron working strikers and specialty top tooling was common and so knuckle height is the recommendation in the older books.

For hand hammering, wrist height is generally closer to THE height for most folk. 

The most effective level for max power with a 2 handed (double jack) sledge hammer is lower than a single jack, one handed hammer. Make sense? 

Don't sweat it, use it a while and see how YOU like it. The right anvil height is YOUR right height. Yes?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Glenn]

To save you the time to look it up.

If the crescent moon is at 12 o'clock the anvil is too low.

If the crescent moon is at 6 o'clock the anvil is too high.

If the crescent moon is at 3 or 9 o'clock your tilting your hammer. That is if the anvil face if flat and level.

Knuckle high is an old standard for blacksmith shops, using the metal thickness and work of that day.  Anvils used with a striker are lower because it fits the swing of the striker. Again use pine sheeting to check what is best for the striker. Also take into account the thickness of metal that is being used.

Thee pine sheeting takes into account YOUR physical height, and the way you swing a hammer.

[M.G.]

Oh perfect. I was just going to clarify that Glenn. But that was totally my assumption of how it worked. 

Frosty: Perfect sense has been made and understood. 

You guys are great!

[Glenn]

For many projects you can simply adjust on the fly for many projects. 

If you are working a specific production project using a top tool, than stand on a platform so you now match the proper height you need.  Your body will thank you by the end of the day.

[ThomasPowers]

With practice you can adjust for a lot of issues, like tilt and height---but it is putting extra wear on your joints and ligaments so if you plan to do this a long time; getting it "perfect" now will increase the time before you wake up and have to run hot water on your hands to get them to open and close or wear an elbow tendon pad.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Wait, what? Your not sepose to preheat your hands befor use?

[Frosty]

I think Thomas is just funning folk, Charles, I don't think preheating your hands it's optional. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[horse]

I worked for a few months in a meat boning plant. I did run hot water over my hands every morning before heading to work so I could open and close them. Rough work and tendinitis was a huge problem. Didn’t take me long to get out of there and work retail meat where the work was far less repetitive. I simply could not move my fingers in the morning before the hot water. 

[JHCC]

Welding isn’t the only thing that does well with proper pre-heat and post-heat. 

[M.G.]

Having been a tattooer for the last 17 years. My hand, shoulders and back are already a mess.  I definitely have to warm my hands up before a day of work. I'm very familiar with repetitive wear on the body.