anvil and stump questions

S

sparrow75

Joined
Mar 22, 2009
Messages
328
Hello all
i reacently bought an anvil, a litlle damaged but for a very good price

P1010732.jpg


i found a stump for it,maybe could be a bit narrower, don`t know from wich wood but for now it should be ok i think
what do you guys think of an anvil, is it ok in you opinion?
what is the best way to join the two?
do you think it is necessary to put those metal bands around stump to prevent cracking?
the stump is fresh by the way
 
My anvil is sitting on a stump of pine and I just used 4 rail road spikes to secure it. I pre-drilled the 4 holes to hammer the spikes into just so it wouldn't split the wood. The spikes seem to hold it really well and it even deadens the noise very well. I like your anvil...it looks old like from the 1800's or something. It has a lot of character.
 
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Thank you Reichert
..unfortunately i don`t know how old the anvil is, or anything else about it ( exept that it`s mine :D ) i bought it for 40 euros (around 50 bucks) and it weighs around 167 lbs
it has these stamps on it?

P1010737.jpg


cheers
 
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That anvil is more likely from the early to mid 1700s than anything looking at it. It's central european 'church window' style and pre-pritchel hole. That's a nice anvil for a fantastic price. The anvil looks fine, dont do any grinding or welding on it, just use it as is, and work on the good spots. You dont need much good 'area' to have a very effective tool.

You want whatever base you put your anvil on to be stable, and not apt to wobble, or move around. IMO a great size relative to an anvil is similar to what I'm using with my anvil. This photo was taken before i put tiedowns over it.

anvil.jpg


What i do for tiedowns is I drive in a pair of bolts part way down the stump on either side to hold on a turnbuckle, and then place a chain around the anvil, caught by the hook on the top of each turnbuckle. Then i tighten the turnbuckles until the chain is taught across the feet of the anvil, holding it securely in place.


You can see what i'm talking about in this photo

hclvr340_1j_lg.jpg


That person is using a few nails to keep the anvil from sliding side to side, but if your chain is tight enough the anvil should not be able to move laterally.
 
Never would of thought it is that old.. i`m now affraid that it will brake if i hit it too hard... ;)
but seriously i am so happy about this, i would love to know it`s history. Can`t wait to start working on it, the man who sold it to me is a blacksmith but didn`t use it. Now it will get a little exercise...
Thank you very much for the answer and for the advice
 
good score i got several in my shop,the one i use the most is welded to a 4 inch steel post mounted outside in the ground..........
 
Looks like you scored a lovely old beauty! I don't think you need to worry about breaking it. The thing to worry about where I am in Northern New Mexico, USA, with an anvil like this or any anvil, or tool left outdoors these days is theft. Mine are all on 1/2-inch plywood bases atop sand packed into steel boxes for pedestals, and then strapped down tightly, the straps welded to the sides of the boxes. They could still be stolen, but not without an awful lot of work. I like the turnbuckle and chain idea.
 
you cant get rope properly taut and stiff like you can chain. You're best off with a heavy duty chain with fairly good size links.
 
Thank you guys for taking interest
Miles Undercut, i was only kidding about breaking the anvil.. if it lasted this long, it will probably outlast me too :) (although i am a little concerned about theft)
Justin, i think i`m gonna try different thing here due to the width of the stump. I will post some pictures tomorrow, let me know what you think of it. BTW i took a peek at your site, lovely knives and nice and well equipped shop
Alarion thanks for the link :thumbup:
Vladimir
 
I bought the stump yesterday and today i joined them together:

P1020423.jpg


it`s in my mothers backyard so this will be my view while forging :D

P1020422.jpg


he will be watching me. my anvil-guard. his name is Charlie :)

P1020424.jpg


i was thinking of something like this in terms of attaching the two together. Saw this somewhere on the net, but can`t find the picture so i tried to draw it. I plan to paint the top and bottom surface of the stump to decrease the spliting when drying, put a thin piece of leather between anvil and stump and screw all with L shape piece of metal with some big wood screws. What do you guys think, will it work like that?

P1020425.jpg
 
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That will work as well. I don't do it myself and prefer the chain method i mentioned because the lag-bolts that hold the angleiron down to the stump will get lose as the anvil gets use, but it takes a while.

Either way would work fine for you however.
 
To deaden the loud ring of an anvil, look into the little magnets that stick on the side. I love the sound, but not for hours on end.
 
Very nice piece and scenery. For what it is worth, I mounted mine by pouring a thick bed of concrete on a brick pedestal and sinking the anvil into it while wet. If I ever have to move it, I'll just have to chip away the concrete.
 
Justin.Mercier said:
the stump will get lose as the anvil gets use, but it takes a while.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply
I am going for this method because i don`t have chain and turnbuckels and think that my stump is too wide for chain thing... how long will it take to get loose? i don`t think i will use it as profesionals do.. not every day for hours.. ? not in start for sure
 
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A lot of that depends on the wood in the stump, but you can probably go a year or so without significant movement if its' not an every day use thing or if you dont move your anvil around by yanking / carring teh anvil and dragging the stump along =) I'm always shifting stuff in my shop and i usually just grab the anvil and pick it up stump and all when i move things, so the chain method works well for me =)
 
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