Yet another Acciaio anvil - hacking, base build, using

[Vinito]

I picked this anvil up a while back but then got busy with other stuff so the smithy took a back burner. But last evening I finally got the base I made for it functional and got a chance to try it out first time. Now I know what the most of you already do in that a hardened top makes all the difference. Compared to the mild steel anvil I made a couple years (behind the Acciaio in photos below) ago and have been using ever since, this little cheap import just bows it away. The rebound thing is a drastically different and improved feel to the hammer hand. You can really tell you're doing work when the anvil surface is higher quality. Yeah I know - duh. Anyways, I'm really happy how this turned out so far.

I'll paint the base and at some point I'll add a few hanger type things underneath. But I think I'm not going to go too wild on that because the thing is kinda mobile now and that's appealing. The clamp holding the anvil to the base is extremely simple so segregating the two is quick & easy in case I want to load it into the truck. Otherwise the two combined are just to heavy, at least for one guy.

The base is made from 1-1/2" thick plate on the top and the legs are 2" square solid bar, so it's a fair bit of mass underneath the anvil. I drilled a clearance hole under the hardie hole in the base so it's a pass-through, which I've found to be quite useful in the past. My scale measures the anvil to be 86# (39Kg) and the base (so far) is 113# (51Kg). It will be slightly but not significantly heavier after I add a small hammer/tong rack of some kind. Just a couple hammers/tongs. I want to use it for a while and let it tell me what I want to add to it rather than rely on my inexperienced guesses to stick something on it now. I figure for a kind of mobile anvil like this, a separate utility table build for a larger collection of that stuff will be more practical and useful, can move it wherever is most convenient, and leaves more clearance all around the anvil.

So my take on the design of the anvil is that the solutions for "fixing" the goofy round hole are too sketchy or risky to bother. I'll just leave it there and maybe use it for some odd task now & then. But I wanted a pritchel hole so I dug out a high-quality carbide drill (around 9/16") and drilled one. That went well, but if you're so inclined, don't try this with anything but carbide. This will indeed be useful in contrast to Acciaio foolishment. I cleaned up the hardie to fit 1" which was pretty much just cleaning up the casting bumps. Dressed the edges some and also put a few minutes into dressing the sides of the anvil as well which I kind of like the look of (appears odd in the photos, but much better in-person) and makes for a little smoother finish in the event I'm kind of working off the sides, i.e. bending a 90° or something. In the process, I went ahead and ground off the lettering from one side since it didn't need to be there twice, removes possible interference, and it's not like anybody is "proud" of these anvils and considers the lettering to be valuable or anything.

Anyways, let me know what you think. I really like this thing so far - quite a bit more than I expected to. Pleasant surprise.

[George N. M.]

Nice.  I would check the welds periodically, like every month or 2 depending on how much work you are doing, for incipient cracks.  Other than that it looks like a good solid job and something that you grandkids may be working on in a century.  How is the ring?  If loud enough to be annoying a layer of caulk between the stand and the anvil will help as will a large, strong magnet under the heel.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Vinito]

Thanks.

I was thinking the same thing regarding the welds. With that in mind, I did do a three-pass fillet on the legs which I'm hoping will help keep it beefy so it won't crack, but thanks for the tip - I will check those welds from time to time.

The ring was loud and prominent just sitting on a table, but clamping it down to the base mitigated it quite a bit. I do agree that some caulk or RTV or the like at least won't hurt and it might help the ring a little. I did find that a magnet on either horn pretty much eliminates the ring. I guess that means it's the horns that are vibrating now. I will find a dedicated magnet the right size and type eventually (just haven't yet) which will stay with the anvil, but even if it falls off or something, what ring occurs without the magnet isn't too bad. It's certainly not the loud, painful ring it had before mounting it to the base.

Oh yeah, I did kiss the feet just a little with a face mill to flatten it out a bit. The manufacturer milled it, but it was extremely rough and it had a bit of rock to it which my face pass flattened out. That wouldn't matter if mounting to a stump or the like, but since mine is a flat steel plate, a flat plane on the feet I figure will just help it seat solid as possible. It seems to have worked I guess.

By the way, I considered (along with a bunch of other bad ideas) filling the gap between the legs with big hunks of steel. There are several reasons that isn't a good move. But now that I've seen it assembled, it occurred to me that I can make some lemonade here. I kinda like the idea that the gap makes a little shelf I can lay punches or hot steel or whatever. Anyway, turns out I think I'll like having that gap there after all.