Anvil Stand

[David R. Pennington]

I had picked up this little Vulcan anvil in a trade a while back, and while it is not a great anvil it is smaller and I am getting tired of lugging 150 pounders to demonstrations so I decided to make a stand for it. I had a nice wide poplar plank so I came up with this stand. No nails or screws, and I can take it apart to store. Gravity and the two wooden keys lock it together. I will just need to give it a little paint.

[Ky-Flinter]

Now that is slick!  I like your work.

-Ron

[Treebeard]

Very neat-- forwarded pictures to my blacksmith son-in-law who likes to see creative solutions to problems.

[TMerkley]

I LIKE THAT!!!!

Don't even worry about the paint,  Looks great the way it is. 
Or linseed oil would do wonders as well.

[hanshi]

That's seriously cool!

[David R. Pennington]

Thanks guys. I probably will give it some paint, I think I still have some milk paint around here somewhere. Poplar is pretty bad to soak up moisture left unprotected, and as I plan to cart it about for demos it will be outside some in our generally humid weather.

[Dave Patterson]

After packing "portable" steel stands around for 25 years, that makes me look like a bloomin' fool.

That is SUPER cool, David!

[Treebeard]

I have a small anvil this would be perfect for. Whenever I finish the flint build I have going I may
Give this a try. Thanks for posting.

[Gun_Nut_73]

Please don't paint it.  I would just go over it with a good preservative, like Water Seal, and let it color naturally.

[JLBSparks]

OUTSTANDING!!

   -Joe

[elkhorne]

David,
How high did you make the stand and how wide at the bottom? I have a small anvil, about 87 pounds, and have had a heck of a time finding an acceptable stump section for a stand. Yours looks very workable and portable unlike a 200# stump! Any dimensions you can share would be helpful. Thanks for sharing your ingenuity with us!
elkhorne

[g2608671@verizon.net]

Very nice indeed.  The rough surfaces are full of character and I hope you decide to let it age naturally. Just out of curiosity - how high off the floor is the face of this anvil when it is in the stand you made? 

[David R. Pennington]

Elkhorne, the stand measures about 12" x 14" at the bottom and about 9" x 10 1/2" at the top. The platform the anvil rests on is 14" x 9 3/4". The top of the anvil is 28" from the ground which is about my size. I tried it out Friday with demonstrations for school classes. Works OK.
Sorry polecat, I gave it a coat of green milk paint. Maybe good thing I did, got a good steady rain that afternoon. I just got everything unloaded this morning and oiled down the anvil.

[heelerau]

That is a really nice stand !  my smithy has a cracker dust floor where the forge and anvil are so I use a jarrah log for an anvil stand. Not as nice as your stand but more stable on the softer surface.

[David R. Pennington]

Well that one is for carting about for demonstrations. My shop anvil is on a big poplar stump block as well. Currently working on getting set up with a brick forge. What is cracker dust?

[heelerau]

Cracker dust is the fines generated when crushing rock to make  road metal for or blue gravel for concreting. It is cheap and works well for shed and arena pads. If it is wet down an compacted sets almost like cement. Cheaper than cement and not so hard on the feet. I have just about finished my pretty typical farm/station  type blacksmith shop, still need to put up the front stoop and hitching rail for tying up horses to be shod.

[David R. Pennington]

Here they call that crush and run. I may need to do that on my floor as I can see the dust is going to be a problem. I am going to work on wetting down and packing once I get the brick work done. I hope my chimney drafts well.
What is the angled piece of iron agaist the anvil? Looks like you have a good working set up. What are you using for fuel?  I have a couple old post drills, I am going to try and get one working.
My next project is restoring my bellows and hanging it overhead.

[heelerau]

David, I leave my tongs and hammer crossed over the anvil in honour of Weyland Smith ! that is a pritchel sitting in the pritchell hole on the left side of the anvil. In the for ground there is my little riveting forge which will be ideal for making springs.  I have coke, coal, and charcoal. Coke is hard to get I may have to get a bulky bag shipped over from Queensland, which is the far side of the country, that will cost about $1200 Australian but would last me for a number of years. At this stage I will be doing small projects, like hoof picks,  hooks, fire tools , sharpening picks and crowbars , not to mention  shoeing the odd horse.I can make shoes but it is cheaper to buy the keg ones. 
 I got the forge 30 years ago with a bunch of tools, post vice on original post and picked up the post drill from a mates's farm tip !! The anvil is only about 130 lbs but big enough for what I want to That is a ver nice brick  forge you have built. Mine is a Buffalo forge mod 600. What do you mostly do in your shop? do

[David R. Pennington]

I see now, that is your apron on the anvil. I have a rivet forge like yours. It is good for small projects and demos. That was my only forge before. Not enough depth in fire to build good welding heats. I have a good deep Champion 'whirlwind blast' tuyre set in the brickwork and loose bricks on either end so I can accommodate long stock. I got interested in forging primarily to make gun parts, but it has grown into its own. Besides but plates, triggergaurds and the like, I like making hatchets, knives, and tools. Made a bunch of hardware, hinges, shelf brackets, etc.,. With another smith I have been working on welding up a couple of gun barrels out of wagon tires. I find making nails relaxing. I need to make a new header, I gave my best one to a kid I taught to make nails at a festival I smithed at last fall.