Hi there,

I could use a little assistance in finding a round of hardwood to mount my anvil on.  Dimensions around 14 to 16 inches across and 22 to 24 inches tall.  Open to any suggestions.

Thank you!

Check with some tree cutting firms those guys always have large stumps you could get.

Check the "free" section of craigslist.  There is always someone trying to get rid of wood. 

Call tree service guys.  They may even cut a piece to your requested size.  Most likely free, but a box of sweets or beer would probably make you some good friends and future supplier of free wood.  

 

Thank you!  Called some of the local arborists, waiting on call backs.  Also a six pack is just good manners. 

GTTS works for many things, not just metal.

2 hours ago, Glenn said:

GTTS works for many things, not just metal.

What does GTTS mean?

GTTS is Go To The Source

Simply put, go to where that material is used, or found. Arborists have tree sections as part of their work. If you are looking for an anvil stump, that could be a source.

Ah, thank you.  Trying that.  Need to make some arborist friends.

Decks use 4x4, 6x6 inch and other size support timbers. Construction businesses use large timbers for cribbing. Join them together for a constructed anvil stump. Lots of ways to support an anvil. (grin) 

What he said on that. Don't "need" a tree stump. You could go with 4x4s,6x6s, 2x12s, and on and on. Even metal stands.... don't get hung up, there are many ways if you aren't too hung up on " one" way. 

Do you have a chainsaw? 

I've made several stands from Waterbed rails, cut to the proper length and bolted together---standing vertically of course!  Used to be a common scrounge around college campuses in the late spring.  Currently I have 4 stands made from the oak floorboards from a scrapped horse trailer and the bolts used to hold guardrails onto wooden posts. Also utility pole fittings.

Here's an anvil stand that I built and posted on IFI a while back, but I thought it might be useful to post an updated image of it in this topic with more callouts added. This particular stand will work for small- to medium-size anvils. If I ever get a large anvil, I'd make a larger version of this stand.

Al (Steamboat)

Thomas, ever do any forging on that cleat in the photo? I've wondered about how they would work as an improvised anvil. I'm sure they are not all the same composition but every time I go to the gulf coast I see them in sizes from door stop up to small car.

Picked it up out here in the desert to use for armouring so sheet metal and soft hammers.  Will dent under a hard faced hammer.  (Armouring trick: hard over soft or soft over hard.) The mystery is how it got out here!  No open water large enough for it's use for hundreds of miles...

No doubt! I worked in El Paso/Jaurez in the mod 90s. Open water is not the first thing that comes to mind. On the way down to Presidio I stopped off to see the "highest natural waterfall" in Texas, down in the Davis Mountains. Sad little trickle, looked as if someone had drug a garden hose up to the top of a desert cliff! Good find on the desert cleat. If I get a chance to bring one home for not much I'll add it to the pile.

And the scrapyard it was from is 250 miles north of El Paso in Central NM.

250 miles closer to the Arctic Sea!

I wondered if it had been used in the mines out here; but the very heavy rust looks like saltwater exposure to me!

I wonder it was a career navy retiree doing one of those "going to go inland until someone asks me "what's that funny looking thing you are carrying?"

The anchor chain out here is understandable: sling it between two dozers and clean scrub from pasture with it.