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New anvil stand


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Hey everyone, this is my first post as I’m trying to learn enough through experience first so I have some real questions. I just received my new custom built anvil stand and I just wanted to share it. 
As I’m sure everyone knows, finding a good anvil stand and anvil is the first conundrum of blacksmithing. I’ve used an ASO till now on the garage floor, and I’ve also used my buddies NC anvil on his stand. Wasn’t thrilled with it and didn’t want to buy one for 500 that didn’t seem that great either. I stumbled across someone on Etsy that had a listing for custom stands. They had no sales, and you know how Etsy is, so I was skeptical. I sent a message asking some questions and he said to give him a call. He’s a blacksmith and a metal worker and knew that finding a quality stand for a fair price was tough, so he started fabricating his own. Long story shortish, I bought one and it arrived today. I don’t know the guy from Adam and I don’t get anything for passing this along, but he makes x xxxx of a stand and is just starting, so I wanted to help him out and possibly fill you all in on a new source. (name & sales name removed). Hope this doesn’t violate any forum policies, just wanted to support a small business and turn you all on to a new source. Thanks, I have learned so much here and I hope I have something to contribute one day soon. 

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Edited by Mod30
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Welcome aboard Joe, glad to have you. How did he establish the height to make YOUR anvil stand? You don't have an anvil do you?  It's a good looking stand, I like it. The wheels and fold down handle are a really nice touch.

Most folk find an anvil THEN build, buy, etc. a stand to fit.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Welcome...That is a good looking stand but like frosty said a stand should be made to the proper height for you and it will be hard to find an anvil that will fit it. I see a moderator has edited your post for several problems and you may get a warning about it. Don't take it personally though we all have been spanked for messing up. You may want to click in the Read This First tab at the top of the page (if you haven't already). Looking forward for more about finding an anvil and starting to beat hot steel on it.

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I should’ve mentioned that I bought an anvil to go along with it, so it’s measured from my knuckle height and made for that anvil. I’ve been using a friends and he’s taller, which sent me down the road of looking for a stand for this ASO I have. He had a good deal on what seems to be a pretty decent anvil for the price, so I bit the bullet and spent a little more than planned. 

Irondragon:  I was worried I might get a spanking for sharing it. I didn’t want to infringe, but the guys been very helpful and I just wanted to help him out. I’ll take my knocks for it, I hope it isn’t blasphemous. I’m really not big on sharing or posting for my own sake, but man it’s awesome and I don’t know anyone else that would appreciate it. Thanks for the guidance, I really do appreciate this forum. 

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Beautiful stand and looks very well done.  What do you plan to make?  Knuckle height is good for using sledges and top tools and way too low for blades in my experience---you end up crouched over to do precision work and your back gets messed up.

I tend to use the vertically oriented wooden anvil stands and large baulks of timber stands.  Stumps are not very common out here.

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I'm all about the cheap; those two stands, the wood was free and the fittings were US 20 cents a pound at the scrapyard.

I also teach and so have to have a range of anvil stand heights including ones for 5'2" and 6'4"  smiths.  Start of class is usually moving anvils and stands around until all the students are equipped in the range.

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What knuckle height do you recommend for bladesmithing? I’m a total noob, so I just went with the recommended buckle height. Cheap is good, this was my next option as stumps aren’t terribly easy to find here either. I was tired of fiddling with homemade options I’ve tried and ended up just pulling the trigger on this one. The anvil arrived today and I couldn’t be happier with the set up, it’s light years better than what I was using. Incredible how metal moves on a proper stand and anvil compared to an ASO and whatever I can make do with. 

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For me, doing "fine work" which includes most of bladesmithing, I like the anvil's face at mid wrist height.  You need to see what works best for you; but do pay attention to your ergonomics as we hope you will be doing this for decades and not have to give it up early because you trashed your arm or back. I am lucky enough that I can use different anvils for different tasks and so have a variety of heights available.

Another way to get a good indication is to put a thin piece of plywood on the face. Assume your stance and hit it with a "normal" blow of the hammer and see how the indentation looks. C with the opening facing you: anvil too low. C with the opening away from you: anvil too high.  C with the opening to the right or left---you are not hitting flat or the anvil's face is tilted. O anvil just right!

Note that this can change as you adjust how you are standing and using the hammer over time.  (I know I'm one to two inches shorter than I was 40 years ago!)

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5 hours ago, JoeYunker said:

What knuckle height do you recommend for bladesmithing?

Joe: first, you aren't going to get spanked unless you use profanity, call someone names or post a commercial web site link. Mentioning company names and products is just fine. Anybody interested can look it up ourselves. So you're golden on those regards. Cool?

Right now "Knuckle" height is stuck in your mind but that is NOT a particularly good height for doing precision work like bladesmithing. WRIST height is much closer to a good working height for a one man operation and hand hammering. 

Not to beat you with it but get WRIST height lodged in your mind, you'll have much better results forging blades. however do NOT think it HAS to be exactly wrist height, I've found it usually falls between knuckle and wrist height but closer to wrist. My knuckles are almost 4" lower than my wrist and I like my anvil approximately 1" below my wrist but am comfortable enough within 1" of my knuckles. Remember though I've been beating hot steel for probably 50 years with some regularity and I set my anvil at knuckle height according to "Art of Blacksmithing," by Alex Bealer like so many folk. For a while anyway, I found other books and experimented till I KNEW what fit me better.

Okay, now the happy news! Having a stand that's too low is easily compensated for, screw it to a platform and elevate it to what is comfortable for YOU. Lumber works fine, if you need to stack lumber to gain your height I highly recommend you screw and glue it together. 

Again, I highly approve of your stand and the anvil is beautiful. They'll last generations, your great grand kids will be bragging to their friends about great grand dad the blacksmith and YES, this is his anvil and tools!!

Frosty The Lucky.

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Thanks frosty, yes, knuckle height is stuck in my brain but it makes perfect sense what you all are saying. I had no idea there was so much nuance to even your stand height depending on what you’re working on. I’ve got a lot to learn and I’m happy to be hear amongst you all that are so much more experienced. Smithing of all kinds just seems to be a great community so far. I’m happy with the anvil and stand at knuckle height for now, but like you said, it’s easy to make adjustments. I was standing on a block when I used my buddy’s anvil and it worked just fine, a little awkward to move around the anvil at times, but an easy solution. I’ll try making some adjustments and try wrist height. I have no doubt it won’t be my only anvil or stand. It will definitely last forever and I’m glad I went ahead and bought it. What a difference a stable base makes! The anvil seems like a great deal. Cast 1075 with a heat treated face. A little extra cleaning, grinding and chamfering seems to have been done by the person I bought it from, I don’t think it was manufactured in that good of condition. Did a little forging on it today and it’s like upgrading from a gremlin to a 2020 f150 for me. 
As far as the spanking, I just got a warning for using the @ symbol. Good to know, I’d like to be a contributing member of the group, and at the very least be respectful of the rules. Not a problem, just learning the ropes. 

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8 minutes ago, JoeYunker said:

I just got a warning for using the @ symbol.

 

Yeah, don't do that again,:angry: it really messes with the operating system.  if you got a no points that last forever notice don't let it bother you, those messages are built into the operating system just like the pointless reaction to the (at) tag. IFI Admin can't do anything about it without actually rewriting code for each post. 

They don't make warnings lightly nor without reason but it's not some kind of personal attack and it's not hard to stay off the radar. 

And just so you know the frowny emoji above is just me messing with you. Please don't yell at anybody else.:)

Frosty The Lucky.

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6 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Another way to get a good indication is to put a thin piece of plywood on the face. Assume your stance and hit it with a "normal" blow of the hammer and see how the indentation looks. C with the opening facing you: anvil too low. C with the opening away from you: anvil too high.  C with the opening to the right or left---you are not hitting flat or the anvil's face is tilted. O anvil just right!

The wood will tell you what you are doing, right or wrong.  Use it early and often or when you have a question.

 

You can not sneak past the radar, but you can fly below it. (grin)

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Haha, I won’t be a bad boy again Frosty, I promise! I don’t take it personally, I know a forum is a pretty tough to moderate. The fact the IFI is still going strong means they’re doing something right. I should’ve paid more attention to the rules beforehand. 
 

Glenn, I’ve seen the wood mentioned a few times, I’ll be using that one for sure. 

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