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I Forge Iron

Tacoma Wa improvised anvils


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here is my improvised anvil. a peice of 516-70 steel i picked up from a fab shop for 20 bucks. its been hardend. Doesn't ring much and has about 80% rebound w a 1in ball bearing. I haven't used it much yet,just built the stand a few days ago. Still heating up metal with my torch.

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well its been awhile but I finally got my anvil stand built. I was wondering how to secure it to the stand. Right now its just sitting in it. granted it weighs almost 400 lbs and is pretty solid. But to move it I built it so I could attach wheels to the base to move it around. I was thinking about welding it to the base but its hardend steel and I would have to heat it up to around 500 degrees Fahrenheit to get good penetration. so does anyone have other ideas?

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I'm going to guess about 430 pounds, assuming dimensions of 5" x 10" x 20" and assuming 490 pounds per cubic foot.  Only a SWAG.  It is one of the nicer improvised anvils I have seen recently.  It should work fine and there are work arounds for hardies and horns.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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That is a great anvil! I'd REALLY like to see it on a wider base, if that falls on a foot it's a crippler. I'd weld it to the stand  and weld your stand to a piece of plate to make a wide foot. It's probably plenty stable long ways so I'd maybe make the plate square. You could move it with a hand truck with a flat square foot.

Try a couple long tack welds to see if the crack, if not I'd stich weld it an inch or so at a time in different places. Say 4-6 stitches to a side alternating sides should make it plenty secure. 

If the test beads crack, repeat the test with Super Missleweld a welding supply will sell small quantities, maybe even individual sticks from broken boxes. 

SWEET ANVIL!

Frosty The Lucky.

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Heavens to Betsy! That's an impressive hunka hunka steel!

I would second Frosty's suggestions, especially about expanding the footprint of the stand. If you're reluctant to do any welding on it at present, I would recommend putting a layer of silicone caulk between the anvil and the stand for a bit more rigidity and stability.

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Wow, I keep hearing "Also sprach Zarathustra"  just looking at that anvil!

I would weld to it and far enough from the bottom edge that if there is a problem it won't affect it; just in case you ever want to flip it over and use the other end as the face.  

If you don't want to weld on it: build a fence that clamps to the anvil to hold it    (Perhaps have the fence extend a bit past the anvil and put a bolt in either end to squeeze it.

I also suggest figuring a way to keep it from tipping.  I've managed to tip a 469# anvil working on it.  Not a lot of fun!!!!

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yeah I've been thinking the stand is a little undersized. However I like having a tripod to support it. my shop floor is not very level and the 3 points of contact make it pretty stable. the anvil is so tall that the stand is only 11 in high. I made the angle on the legs 11° probably should have gone 15°. I need to be able to put it away when I'm doing other projects, so came up with a way to attach wheels to it and a handle when I need to move it. I can cut pretty nice circles with my plasma cutter. maybe weld 5 in circles to the bottom of the legs. I have a piece of 3/4"×6"×4' cold rolled steel i could cut them out of. I'd fill the legs w sand but their so short i don't think it would make a difference. I'm not sure how hard it is. but I'm thinking about milling a dovetail on the side to add a horn or a hardy hole. I have a piece of steel for a striking anvil 2"×8"×14" just need to machine a 1" round hole into a 1" square hole. gonna try to do it on my mill. I have a 1/8" carbide mill then get it square w a file. anyway thanks for all the advice and I'll let you know how it progresses.

 

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Good to know that you’ve got the tooling and the skills. Flat circles under the feet is a good idea. Set up the anvil and stand in the place where you’ll use them before welding so that the pad feet will fit the floor nicely in that spot. 

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So, 1,400 cubic inches. At 0.283 lbs/in^3, that would be 396.2 lbs. 

On 6/17/2021 at 12:04 AM, George N. M. said:

I'm going to guess about 430 pounds, assuming dimensions of 5" x 10" x 20" and assuming 490 pounds per cubic foot. 

5” x 10” x 20” = 1,000 cubic inches, or 0.579 cubic feet. At 490 lbs/ft^3, that would be 283.71 pounds. 

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