Getting the most out of my anvil

I

Ian Fifelski

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Oct 4, 2017
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528
Hey guys
I just picked up a 105 lb used anvil and I am wondering some methods to get the best performance out of it.

My shop has a dirt floor. What would be the best base for a dirt floor?

Are chains wrapped around the anvil very helpful? Adds weight and helps deaden ring?

Anything else that would help?

Thanks
 
Solid, heavy stand, bedded into the dirt. Strongly affix the anvil to the base (there are a bunch of ways to do this; Essential Craftsman has a good youtube video on one method). make sure you have good contact b/t the anvil and its stand. Chain will help dampen the ring, as may magnets, but won't make it perform like a heavier anvil.

Make sure your anvil's edges are radiused )I like a smoothly decreasing radius along the edge.

Your anvil will have a 'sweet zone,' probably under the fully supported bits. Forge there.

If this is your first anvil, I am guessing you don't have a lot of forging experience. Forge a bunch of leaves, hooks, gate latches, etc. It will make you a far better smith than jumping directly into making knives.

Learn to use a hammer well. Watch Alec Steele and Joey van der Steeg. Get a proper rounding hammer.
 
joedhiggins said:
Solid, heavy stand, bedded into the dirt. Strongly affix the anvil to the base (there are a bunch of ways to do this; Essential Craftsman has a good youtube video on one method). make sure you have good contact b/t the anvil and its stand. Chain will help dampen the ring, as may magnets, but won't make it perform like a heavier anvil.

Make sure your anvil's edges are radiused )I like a smoothly decreasing radius along the edge.

Your anvil will have a 'sweet zone,' probably under the fully supported bits. Forge there.

If this is your first anvil, I am guessing you don't have a lot of forging experience. Forge a bunch of leaves, hooks, gate latches, etc. It will make you a far better smith than jumping directly into making knives.

Learn to use a hammer well. Watch Alec Steele and Joey van der Steeg. Get a proper rounding hammer.
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This will be my first legit anvil, I had a large block of steel set into 100 lbs of concrete to start. Is a stump very effective? Thanks for the info. :thumbsup:

skillgannon said:
I4Marc posted some really nice pics of his setup. They look really secure and he says they don't ring much.
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Do you have a link? I looked at i4Marc i4Marc 's posts and couldn't find anything.
 
I like using 6x6s standing on their ends, bolted together with allthread or long bolts. Then when you put the anvil on the top, put a layer of silicone caulking underneath it. It will deaden the ring big time. Then you can put a loop bolt on either side. Then wrap a chain around the base and chain it to the loop bolts at the base of the stand and tighten them using double sided/hooked tightening connectors. When you tighten the connector bolts on the side it will pull the anvil down into the base and deaden it even more. Like this:

ETA I did my stand a long time ago and did mine with 4x4s on their sides. This was stupid and I should have use 6x6s cut to length and on end. That is the way to go.

y4iL838.jpg


27nC4iE.jpg
 
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As you know, the greater the mass of the anvil, the more effective. Because you have a dirt floor, if you could solidly attach the anvil to a post sunk 3-4' in the ground, you're in effect turning the planet into your anvil.
 
Read through this recent thread:

https://bladeforums.com/threads/anvil-stand-wooden-poll.1590593/#post-18167559

Everybody has their own method. It is better if you can bury the bottom of the base or bolt it to a floor but as long as you have good mass under the anvil and it doesn't walk or jump around when you're working you'll be fine. As far as reducing ringing of the anvil, just make sure it is mounted to your base securely so it doesn't hop or shift.


JG,
I wasn't aware that the San Andreas fault ran through your shop. ;)
 
i4Marc said:
JG,
I wasn't aware that the San Andreas fault ran through your shop. ;)
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Haha I know right. Although it would probably be the Humbolt fault line ;). Well, at least I won’t have to worry about ruining a nice garage floor if I end up getting a power hammer. :D
 
Go to your local lumber mill and see if they have an oak or other heavy, hardwood stump. They will probably cut it to size for you. Think I paid $20 for the last stump (white oak) I used, milled square, cut to size.
 
I use a stump on dirt or a cement floor and it works well. Not much ringing at all and it's solid, doesn't dance around.
 
I think I am going to do what J. Keeton J. Keeton did with the 2x12's on end and sink it in the ground. Would a foot be a good depth? What do you suggest for mounting? I have seen bolted chain as well as shaped metal 'bands'.

Now I really need to commit to a shop layout, if it is going to be a foot in the ground. Its tricky in a 7 x 12 ft shop. :eek::p
 
weo said:
Depends on how soft your ground is. Deeper is better.
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I am not sure this is meaningfully true. Sink it enough so that the stand doesn't walk on you, but as soon as that is done, all we are worried about is the compressibility of the underlying substrate. I can't see any reason that sinking it more than a foot would benefit you. If you were to sink the anvil itself, that would help with ring, but from an effectiveness standpoint, we are basically looking at how compressible (and over what time period) the underlying material is. Burying it deeper will only help with lateral expansion of the underlying material; it shouldn't matter.
 
For strictly solid mounting. Sinking is great but I would never want to loose workshop flexability being able to shift my anvils around the floor or even out the door if needed.

Often different size workpieces, or working with my partners as striker or just both us working the same side of the forge, Anvils need to be shifted to wherever they are best suited.
In all fairness, I do alot more than just knives & trinkets, but something as simple as for a given task the horn pointing one way or another is a real step saver.
 
Ok, I have the wood together, the parts and hardware ready and the hole dug. Just waiting for the shop to dry up. We have had a ton of rain and flooding so the hole filled with water and my shop floor is mud. I coated the part that is going to be in the ground and I am planning on oiling the rest. Would danish oil work? Should it be mixed with something else? Can't decide if I want to burn the wood (for looks) or not too.

dscn6849_1_orig.jpg


I put the anvil on the base just to measure everything up and noticed it wobbled. I looked closer and the base and feet of the anvil are somewhat rounded. Not sure if this is something that happened over time or what.

dscn6850_orig.jpg

dscn6851_orig.jpg


Should I sand a concave 'bowl' into the wood to fit to the anvil or is there another method? I was also told that a thin layer of silicon under the anvil helps deaden ring and it may also help minimize wobbling. Is this a good idea?

Thanks
 
That curved bottom is result of manufacture. If it bugs you, grind away the wood.
Fwiw, I bedded one anvil into urethane. Silicone is seriously disliked in my neighborhood... anyway, it will reduce some noise, but tightly clamping to wood will basically do the same thing. I think most ringing is result if horn & heel vibrating like a tuningfork. My Russian anvil what rang loud, I glued (thick glob) steel blocks under heel & horn to dampen oscillation. Yet they are out of the way for normal anvil use.
 
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