Hello everyone!  I have a 196lb Peter Wright.  Started to build a three leg stand.  The stand is level.  Placed the PW on top and noticed it was close to a half inch off towards the horn.  Turned the anvil up side down and the four corners are not level as well.  Do I shim between the stand?  Build on anvil foot with MIG? Suggestions? 

Thanks

Greetings Freddie,

          The best way to correct your problem is to remove the floor pads from your stand , level your anvil and stand than reweld the pads flush with floor.. Shims will only yield uneven surfaces . Good luck and have fun .

Forge on and make beautiful things 

Jim

Thanks Jim for the reply.  I hadn’t welded the pads on yet.  What do I do about wobble in the anvil?  Again the anvil fool is not level? Thanks

Freddie

First, do what Jim Coke suggests.  Then bed the anvil down on a layer of silicone caulk; this will hold it solidly in place and deaden the ring. 

A tripod stand won't wobble. How did you mount the anvil to the stand?

Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome to IFI... I always suggest reading this thread to get the best out of it.

 

I’m using quarter inch square tubing for legs cut at a 12 degree angle.  The pads I will be using is 1/2 inch plate.  The top plate that the anvil will sit on 1-1/8” solid plate.  When I place a level on the top plate , it’s spot on level in all directions. No wobble.  The anvil on the other hand wobbles on the plate, on the cement pad, on any Level Plain.  The foot of the anvil is not level.  It’s out closer to 5/16 of an inch horn side low.  Can I build with a Mig on the bottom of the foot of the anvil, and grind down to level? Then silicone the anvil when all is true, plain, and level?

thanks

freddie

1/2" out of level on the feet is a lot !! I would grinded flat ? I need to see it ! or add to / & weld shim ? IN the end it Need's to be level no mater what ! some anvil I have repaired need to have bottom ground flat to sit right ! its just a casting or forging thing never done when new !  no problem

Recalculate the whole system, that is find a piece of floor or something that is dead level. Put the anvil onto the floor and measure level with both the face up and the face down. Rotate 90* and measure again. Put the stand on the level spot and measure the stand to test level. Rotate 90* and measure again. This should identify the problem in the anvil, or the stand, or both. 

From there, follow Jim Coke's advice.

As you test the anvil and stand, photos would help you get better answers.

 

Yes sir, I’ll take the photos tomorrow, I’ve done all degree( including Turing the level 45 degree turns) level test, floor, stand and anvil. I’m pretty sure it’s in the foot.  The photos will be up some time tomorrow. Thanks for everybody’s time! Much appreciated!

The problem is mounting the anvil on a flat plate. Unless flat surfaces are matched very carefully they always rock. Even if you polished the two to match. use will vibrate it enough scale and such will  work between the two and the anvil will get jittery again.

My anvil stand top is just a rim of angle iron flange up. The anvil  rests on the outside edge of it's feet and sits solid. I wedge it into the stand with the hammer and tong racks which fit between the rim and anvil foot. Quiet, solid and stable.

Frosty The Lucky.

It sounds like you want to add mig weld to the bottom of the anvil foot or feet as need be. Frankly, I would sooner air arc gouge that thick 1-1/8" plate before blazing your PW with a hot foot.

Did you plan on leaving the anvil to sit loose on the top of your stand?  Once you fasten it down to the stand, I don't think you will have to worry about the anvil wobbling anymore.

 

Don't weld on the anvil; weld on the stand. There's no reason that the top of the stand needs to be level, as long as it's holding the anvil solidly in the right place. I would experiment with putting steel shims under the anvil until you find the right combination, then weld them onto the stand. Then fasten the anvil to the stand with silicone, and you're golden.

Thank Gents!  I will build off the plate and frame the foot accordingly, adhere with silicone and bolt down the PW to the plate. I will not mig on to the anvil foot.

Please post pictures, we LOVE pics. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Silicone will hold the anvil down on its own; no need for bolting.

Hmm...listens to advice...I think this one's a keeper.

Old anvils were generally hand forged under steam or even water powered hammers.  Fairly often they are not parallel between the face and the base---where the idiots wanting to mill their anvil face often really screw up bad! I've seen several where they milled completely through the priceless high carbon face at one end or the other to make it parallel with the "don't care" base.)

While any sign of welding on an anvil drops it's resale price, I'll come out on the "it's your anvil, welding on the BASE will not damage it's usability."  Now welding on real wrought iron is a bit different than welding on plain steel so you may want to practice ahead of time.  Note the base is low carbon so NO preheat needed.

This type of issue is why many anvils had central depressions to avoid the rocking anvil syndrome.

Why not just use it as is?

because it rocks on the stand as it's used?

He’s surely not going to use it unaffixed whether it’s level or sagging, right? That will walk all over the place. Once fixed to the stand with any number of methods (chains, bent tabs, silicone, duct tape.... whatever) the level ness won’t matter much. 

Unless they mount it like mine that are just "drop ins" so they are easy to transport and then rocking can still be an issue.  As everyone usually replies based on their experiences it can be hard to remember that others may have different ones...I have not mentioned that if they just snug it down on their stand you can just dig a bit of the floor out from under the appropriate foot of the stand to make it level as most folks don't have dirt floored shops Like mine is...

Or you could always mess with the dirt from the other end; do the "big box of sand" stand. Wouldn't wobble, at the least.

Very good point and a great way to deal with the issue!

But again, who cares if it’s a half inch out of level?