Anvil stand build

[Ranchmanben]

Thought I’d post pictures of a new anvil stand build. The pipe is 12” diameter 3/8” wall. The round plates that will be on the bottom and top is 16” diameter 3/4” thick. The 4” square tubing will be welded To the center of the plates and lend additional rigidity. The interior of both square and round pipe will be filled with sand. 

 

[Ranchmanben]

This is pretty much what it’ll look like with the addition of a hammer rack and swinging shelf for tools. 

[FlatLiner]

I like it.

[Marc1]

That is a big stand!

Are you going to fill with sand and oil?

[Ranchmanben]

It’ll certianly be heavy but I do t know if I’d call it big, still easy enough to get right up next to it. I do plan on filling it with sand and oil, I don’t like my anvils to move. If I could, I’d like to bolt it to the floor but that’s not in the cards. 

[Ranchmanben]

Made a little bit of progress. Cut the square tubing 1/4” longer than the big pipe and welded it to the center of the bottom plate. 

 

Next I cut a 4.25” square hole in the top plate to give me a little wiggle room when doing the fit up. 

 

I then welded the pipe to the bottom plate and did a test fit of the top plate. 

At this point I’m at a stand still until I can get some sand and drill holes for mounting bolts. Ordinarily the sand wouldn’t be an issue since we’ve got a couple of dry creek beds running through the ranch but last night we got a couple inches of very much needed rain. I suppose I could cook the moisture out of some sand but that sounds like a pain. 

[MC Hammer]

Just go get some bags of play sand at the hardware store.  It's all clean and ready to go.  You could even spread it out in the sun to dry it a little more.

[stevomiller]

I like it too, very robust and solid!

One suggestion I’d make, and it’s just what I like, is I’d cut the top to just cap the large OD pipe. Sometimes I like to get in as close as possible to the anvil.

[Ranchmanben]

Thank you. I’ve been going back and forth about doing that. It only over hangs the pipe 1.25” all the way around so I don’t really think it will be too much of a hinderance if I don’t do it. I’ll probably stick the anvil on it as is and see how it is. I’m planning on putting a rack for hammers and tongs so that might make me stand too far away. I really should just make a rolling hammer rack and only put the swimming tool tray on the anvil stand. 

[stevomiller]

Ben, sounds like a good plan!

It has to work for YOU.

A few hours at work and it will tell you all you need to know.

[Ranchmanben]

After standing around the stand, with anvil in place,  in every position I could think of, I don’t think the lip on the top cap is going to affect the way I operate.

I filled the round pipe with used motor oil and 130ish pounds of sand. After that I welded on the top cap, first to the square tubing through the hole I cut and then around the outside of the round pipe.

 

 

Next I filled the square tube with oil and and 20ish pounds of sand. Cut a cap for the square hole and welded it in place. 

 

Started on the mount for the anvil by cutting a couple pieces of pieces of pipe to the contour between the front and back feet and welded them in place. I also cut a piece of boot sole material to the footprint of the anvil to use in place of silicone caulk. 

 

At this point I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do to actually secure the anvil to the stand. I’d like to do something the works well but also looks decent. 

[arkie]

Aw, heck. Just get a couple of bungie cords and call 'er done!! Great job on the pipe stand.

[Ranchmanben]

I was thinking about a zip tie, less give. 

[Ranchmanben]

Drilled and tapped holes for 5/8” bolts and used a piece of angle iron on each foot. Cinched it down mighty tight. I’m not exactly pleased with the way it looks but it’ll be fine for the time being. Next it the tool shelf. 

[MotoMike]

That anvil must feel very special.

what a great stand

 

[Ranchmanben]

Thanks Mike. It’s the most stable, quiet stand I’ve used thus far. 

[Ranchmanben]

Made some progress on part of the swinging tray. You can get an idea of where it will be. I’m embarrassed to say that these are the first two scrolls I’ve ever forged  

[Thad]

Great work!

[FlatLiner]

I really like your stand. It looks really good.

[stevomiller]

Ben it’s fantastic, I’d be stoked to use it (and proud if I’d made it).

I love the curved pipe pieces you made to support and fix the anvil in place.

The clamps are fine, heck just paint the galvanized boltsblack so they don’t stand out. Or not, you really did great work designing and fabbing your stand.

[Ranchmanben]

Thanks folks. I’m really pleased with how it’s coming along. I should have been more specific earlier and said I’m not completely pleased with the way the clamps look. I think stripping the coating off the bolts or painting them will help a lot. 

My in-laws are arriving this evening so I doubt I’ll get much more work done til next week. 

[Steamboat]

13 hours ago, Ranchmanben said:

It’s the most stable, quiet stand I’ve used thus far. 

That's a really clean and solid-looking stand! The rubber under the anvil combined with the sand fill should do a good job in reducing harmonics and ringing. I like the curved pieces you welded on to secure the anvil. The clamps should be fine as-is, but if you want more clamping force, you could use a larger size of angle iron and drill the hole farther from the vertical side of the angle iron, which would give you more clamping leverage. I see that you have the stand sitting on a large steel plate. Will the stand be connected to that?  

Nice job!

Al (Steamboat)

[Ranchmanben]

Al, the clamping forge is plenty sufficient it, I would just like something prettier. No need for it to be pretty but if I’m going to look at it all the time I’d like it to look nice. 

It’s actually sitting on a rubber stall mat. I’m sure having it on rubber absorbs a tiny bit of my hammer strikes but, to me, that’s better than always having sore feet. 

[Steamboat]

The mat's mill-scale color and the rust deposit on the mat fooled me. And yes, I think there's enough combined mass in your anvil and anvil stand that a rubber mat shouldn't absorb any noticeable amount of your hammer energy. I have 1" stall mats in front of two workbenches, and they do make it easier on the feet. I don't do any welding or forge welding over them, though.

I don't mind the way the clamps look now, but if you used a smaller washer that doesn't extend over the edge of the angle iron (or trimmed off the part of the washer that extends over the edge) and perhaps put a small radius on a couple of the corners of the angle, it might give the clamps a more finished look without much extra effort. And as Stevomiller mentioned, a bit of black paint might make them blend in nicely.

Overall, it looks great.

Al (Steamboat)

[Ranchmanben]

Thanks Al.