anvil stand

I finished my version of the "chunk of wood" anvil stand today. I learned quite a lot. This anvil stand started with a walnut stump. The wood is roughly 12x12x22" and is bound on both top and bottom with 2x¼" steel flat bar. Since the wood is green, I sealed it to slow the drying process hoping to keep it from cracking. Of course, with the ends bound in steel (driven on tightly, the steel had to stretch 1/16" to fit on) I'm hoping it won't crack anyway.

The anvil isn't fastened down to the top - it's just secured from moving. I can "walk" the anvil/stand around my shop - portability is a must in my small shop - without the anvil coming loose, but if I need to put them in a truck and drive away I can just lift the anvil off and move them separately.

The ends of the block aren't quite flat. Either is my floor, so I'll be kicking a wedge under a corner. The anvil doesn't quite sit flat on the top but a piece of thin aluminum sheet metal as a shim works very well. With the shim and wedge it sits dead solid.

I used bullseye shellac. I'm sure the hot scale will tear it up but I felt I had to do something.

Next step is to get all the blue paint off the anvil, then start on the forge.

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Grant Erwin Kirkland, Washington

Reply to
Grant Erwin
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Grant,

I dooo like your stand!

Jim

Grant Erw> I finished my version of the "chunk of wood" anvil stand today. I

Reply to
James E. Baldock

Oh, that's nice, Grant. Makes my lashup look like its from the stone age.

Gary

Reply to
Gary Coffman

Ooooo, sweet.

Tim

Reply to
Tim Williams

I was just thinking "What a waste of walnut" until I saw the pictures. Very nice indeed !

Mine is just a chunk of an ash log.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Great looking stand ! You are probably going to have trouble with it cracking. The wood is going to shrink around the pith (center) of the log. The outside layers shrink more and faster than the internal wood and you get cracks. I do a lot of greenwood turning and this is coming from experience. Binding/Sealing just delays the cracking process. But then again you are going to be pounding hot metal in front of a forge so that wood is going to get beat up pretty quick anyway.

Scott Hogsten

Reply to
qedude

Yeah, I was thinking "Stump?" and didn't even look until others commented. VERY nice!

Reply to
Bob Engelhardt

This piece of wood was just the stump left over after an entire walnut tree was milled for lumber. We cut it to rectangular as best we could, but no side is truly flat and no angle is square. I felt the same way about wast > Great looking stand ! You are probably going to have trouble with it cracking. > The wood is going to shrink around the pith (center) of the log. The outside > layers shrink more and faster than the internal wood and you get cracks. I do a > lot of greenwood turning and this is coming from experience. Binding/Sealing > just delays the cracking process. But then again you are going to be pounding > hot metal in front of a forge so that wood is going to get beat up pretty quick > anyway.

I know it's going to crack. No way a green stump won't crack. I figure the iron bands will keep it usable, though. The guys who own the mill who came up with this block for me told me flat out it would split right in two if I didn't go to extreme lengths. We'll see how it holds up.

Grant Erwin Kirkland, Washington

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Reply to
Grant Erwin

I don't think you should mark up such a nice creation. You will have to buy another anvil for the shop and put this one in the living room. :') If you don't build your forge all out of stainless material you will not have a matched set. Randy

The anvil isn't fastened down to the top - it's just secured from moving. I can "walk" the anvil/stand around my shop - portability is a must in my small shop - without the anvil coming loose, but if I need to put them in a truck and drive away I can just lift the anvil off and move them separately.

The ends of the block aren't quite flat. Either is my floor, so I'll be kicking a wedge under a corner. The anvil doesn't quite sit flat on the top but a piece of thin aluminum sheet metal as a shim works very well. With the shim and wedge it sits dead solid.

I used bullseye shellac. I'm sure the hot scale will tear it up but I felt I had to do something.

Next step is to get all the blue paint off the anvil, then start on the forge.

Pix:

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Grant Erwin Kirkland, Washington

Reply to
R. Zimmerman

Grant, The Blue clashes with my sofa,but *That is a gorgeously functional piece of work!* Thanks for sharing

~Dave

Reply to
Dave

I nominate this, loosely, for "Project of the Year".

Is there a "Project of the year" anyway? There should be.

RCM, ACB.

Uhm,.........Glenn's boat, Nye's steamer model, Karl's apples would blow all contenders away. Nevermind.

"I'd love to ride a train, eating crispy apples to the coast. From there, aboard a true working sailer..ropes singing, all hands at appointed places,as port falls behind..."

~Dave

Grant Erw>

Reply to
Dave

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