post anvil weight

[Atlas Knife Company]

What's a good weight for a 6" round post anvil? It weighs 44 lbs. per foot. I used one at a hammer-in a couple weeks ago and loved it compared to my horn anvil. It will be supported by a 6x6 timber sunk in 4' of concrete, similar to a deck support. I plan to attach it via 1" bars welded to the post and bolted into the timber.

I know 100-150 is good for a normal anvil, but without the horns, how much weight is actually under the steel you're hammering?

 

[javand]

The bigger the better, especially in the case of a post anvil where the weight is so ideally located under your work. How much is enough? That's subjective, i'd say 100lbs is plenty, but if it was available i'd take as much length as needed to get from floor to work height.

The big concern is whether you're plannint to HT it or not. If so, mass can be a detractor because of difficulty of quench. If not, take as much mass as possible since you'll be dressing it often.

Just my opinion, YMMV on this highly subjective subject.

 

[Russ Andrews]

6" round stock is more like 96 lb/ft. Given that. once the working height
is established, the mass should be taken care of as well.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Russ saw the same error I did.
My 30" post anvil is 7" round and weighs about 300#. It was 36", but was to high, so I cut 6" off from the original piece to use as a small round cutlers anvil,.... and it weighs 50#.

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

Yep, 96 lbs. per foot, not 44. I had r × π × length, and forgot to square the radius. I thought it seemed a lot heavier when we tried moving the piece this morning. I was thinking 3' at 44lbs., but now I'm thinking 12" should be plenty for my small amount of forging, although Graham is getting pretty gung-ho into forging.

Thanks for the replies.