Proposed "moveable" knife work anvil - a reasonable plan?

[picker77]

Glad to hear that, Frosty. Seemed like everybody loads sand in everything under and around an anvil including the legs, so I guess I thought that was the thing to do. And Irondragon, thanks for the illumination, hadn't considered bits & pieces dropping down the black hole, which could cause a major headache. I think I'll saw a loose-fitting ring out of 3/4" plywood that would just drop over the anvil and rest on that first tier of adjusting bolts.

As for height, it's 39" overall right now. Original plan was 36", which would probably have worked better, but I added 2" when I put casters under the base plate, and then, following the law of "you can't cut some on", I left the 4x4 a tad long. My "knuckle" height is a bit over 34" (I'm just shy of 6'4"). I knew the anvil grew some during the making, but figured if after trying it out it was uncomfortable to work on I could trim the top of the 4x4. Of course, any trim exceeding 1-1/2" or so would probably require torching a little off the top of the 6" pipe to maintain working clearance. I may not be that great at MIG welding and torches, but I'm hell on a fast horse with an angle grinder lol.

I will likely add a small 3 or 4 hammer rack down low. I even briefly considered welding on a piece of heavy wall 3/4" ID tubing on the back side of the pipe near the top for a wanna-be hardy hole, but so far can't see how hardy tools could be much help in knifemaking.

Excuse my mixing topics here, but do you guys think a couple of those Vaughan hammers at around $20 a pop are reasonably decent starters for newbies like me, or would I be just as well off the at Home Depot or Lowe's for Chinese specials?

Anyway, thanks for the comments and suggestions!

[Frosty]

Yeah, it seems to have become a common THING to fill stand legs with sand and even adding oil to it. Might damp the sound some I don't know. 

A sand filled base is another thing, the anvil rests on the sand making it easily adjustable for height, no need for any further support other than containing the sand. You'd probably need to screw or weld a flange on the bottom of your anvil so it wouldn't settle through the sane. Use crusher run sand so it'll pack hard and not shift.

Where does 39" come on you? Mine is just 30" but I'm just 5'6", I've lost a couple inches over the last few years I'm close to needing to shorten my anvil stands. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

[picker77]

Right now the anvil itself is sitting directly on top of the 4x4 (there is a 1/8" pad of hard neoprene rubber glued to the top of the 4x4). The bottom of the 4x4 is sitting on a welded stud in a 1/2" deep puddle of asphalt roofing cement. Sticky, but never really hardens. This anvil is probably as quiet as it's possible for an anvil to be, even without sand. It doesn't ring, it just clicks, and it will bounce a light hammer blow right back at me.

39" comes to just above my wrist bone. Guess I'll find out pretty quickly through use if it needs lowering. OTOH, I'm not going to pound this thing 14 hours a day making plow shares and wagon tongue braces either. It will get relatively light, intermittent use.

[Frosty]

I don't know if the asphalt is a plus but probably wouldn't have the rubber pad between the anvil and ground. I've found a rubber pad usually makes the ring last longer. I wouldn't expect a solid shaft like that to ring much it doesn't have thin sections like a London Pattern anvil.

39" hits you just above wrist height!? Gads, now I really feel short, I'm thinking 31" is a touch high! 

You want your anvil your correct height to make it intuitive to strike with the hammer parallel with the anvil face. Once that's natural, adjusting to different height tools and stock or angling the hammer is much easier.

Frosty The Lucky.

[picker77]

15 hours ago, Frosty said:

You want your anvil your correct height to make it intuitive to strike with the hammer parallel with the anvil face.

Pretty sure it's a bit tall to allow that, so I'll likely have to adjust it after I try it out more. I think it would have been just about perfect without the casters, but they work so well I don't regret putting them on. I really need to find a forge before I do much more. Been reading & drooling over the Centaur catalog, probably a bad thing for a retired newbie on fixed income to do, heh. I currently heat blade stock with a torch/rosebud, not exactly ideal but it's what I have till I zero in on a gas forge.

[pnut]

If you don't want to wait until you find a gas forge you could build a jabod out of what most people have around their house or for next to nothing and be forging tonight. It's definitely worth a look through the jabod threads. I originally intended to go with a propane forge until I saw how simple a jabod is to build.

Pnut

[Frosty]

Ayup a JABOD or a bean can / 2 brick forge is as expensive as a couple K 26 IFB or less than a sq ft. of Kaowool and a Bernzomatic torch. Easy peasy. Blades don't need a large forge, 2" dia x  8" long serves many folks who make blades.

Of course a bean can 2 brick forge is quite an investment compared to a JABOD and it's hard to beat free. You CAN come up with a bucket of clayey dirt and a foot or two of pipe can't you?  An El' cheapo blow drier is a yard sale everywhere. Well, okay a box can be a hassle might have to make your own.

If you burn charcoal the neighbors will never know. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[picker77]

Heard the "JABOD" term a few times on here, never really looked into it. Finding clayey dirt is never a problem in Oklahoma. Seems I read on here that Royal Oak brand chunk charcoal works better than regular grocery store backyard grill charcoal. Pretty sure I saw Royal Oak stacked up for sale at Lowe's a few days back. Hmm.... the wheels are beginning to turn. I'll start looking into the jabod threads and see what develops.

[Frosty]

JABOD = (Just A Box Of Dirt) 

Lump charcoal works better than briquettes which are made from powdered charcoal dust with a binder of some sort, from Anthracite powder to wood pulp to milk glue, etc. and has calcite powder added to retard the burn rate and control the heat and make it last longer. You can forge with it and do any process I know of but it's a lot more work and not terribly good it tends to be dirty.

Plain old pyrolized wood, lump charcoal,  (Royal Oak, etc.) is nearly pure carbon and burns fast and HOT. A little practice and you can not only weld without flux, you can cast iron, bronze, etc. and cook dinner. All your JABOD needs is a grill or griddle and it's easy to convince the neighbors you REALLY  like to BBQ, all the pounding they hear is you tenderizing cheap cuts.  Go ahead, invite them over for a BBQ and feed them something TOUGH after beating heck out of it on the anvil. Shouldn't hear any more. 

Frosty The Lucky.