Anvil questions

[Butts]

I found a piece of solid round stock that is 6" is diameter that I would like to use it as an anvil. Any sugestions on how to mount it? I saw on another site that the guy uses a piece of solid square stock mounted in a 5 gallon bucket with concrete, will this mothod work ok? Should I do anyhing with the end to harden it, or just grind it as smooth as possible and use it the way it is? How tall should I make it?
Thanks, Chris

[theunluckyhunter]

is it steel? any idea how much it weighs?

[Butts]

Yes it is steel. I'm not sure about the weight, but by the looks of it, it probably weighs at least 50 pounds a foot! Its heavy!!

[theunluckyhunter]

i think karl said you need 50 pounds of anvil for one pound of hammer, if yo got that then i'd say your golden!

[robtattoo]

I would either (depending on weight) mount it into a barrel of concrete or, if it's heavy enough, to a large lump of heavy wood ie; an oak stump. If you can, weld 4 right angle lugs to the bottom edge of the steel so you can bolt it to the wood.

Height wise, ideally you need to have the surface at 'knuckle' height. If you stand up straight, arms down by your sides & curl your right hand into a fist, your fist should touch the top surface of the anvil without you having to bend over, or flex your elbow. If you can get this height it will seriously reduce fatigue in your hammer arm, back & shoulders as you wont be stooped over whilst working. It also makes it easier to keep your hammer face level.

[Todd Robbins]

I've found that knuckle height is great for heavier forging, but a bit too low for me when doing more precise work, like forging profiles and bevels.  In a perfect world, I'd have one heavy anvil at knuckle height for heavy forging and a smaller anvil a little higher for finish work.  My back kills me when I do finish work on a lower anvil, because I tend to bend over and get my eyes closer to the work.

Oh, and I would mount it in a bucket of concrete if it's less than a hundred pounds or so.  Something heavy, for sure.

Todd