Shade Tree Anvil or The Portable Stump
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:31 pm
I frequently ask myself when working on the 'Cub, "how would Farmer Jones have done this, back in the day?" I sometimes need to pound the bejezuss out of something, and a 100 pound anvil would be just the ticket. But I don't have a 100 pound anvil.
During a consultation with Farmer Jones, he suggested a tree stump. Great idea! It is massive, anchored well, and can take a lot of pounding. While I have some stumps around, they are never very handy, and never in the right place.
So how 'bout a portable stump? It has to be stout enough to pound on, light enough to be portable, and stable enough to stand on its own while I pound. Aha!! The venerable 4x4 post! Fairly common, fairly cheap, easily transportable. I grabbed a piece of 4x4 about 30" long and stood it on end. I grabbed a hammer and started whacking. As long as the hammer was lined up on the center axis of the post, it worked well. But a little off center and the 4x4 falls over.
I think I'm getting close, but a 4x4 could do with a bit more stability. OK, so it needs feet. I had some cut-off L-iron about 4x6, 5/16" web, 12" to 14" long. I drilled some holes and welded 1/2" bolts, 2 to each piece, onto the angles. I'll get some pictures as soon as it stops raining.
Onto the L angles, I welded some 1 1/2" angle iron as feet. The big L irons add weight at the bottom and clamp the 4x4 in place. The small angle iron provides stability. The L iron and angles do not interfere with the bottom of the 4x4. This means that any force down on the 4x4 is transmitted directly to the ground. I now have a portable stump, that is adjustable in height. (keep 2 or 3 pieces of 4x4 in different lengths for different kinds of pounding.)
But I really wanted an anvil. So I got a piece of 1" steel plate that was a cut off and welded strips around the edges. This cap fits loosely over the top of the 4x4. Now I have both a portable stump and anvil. Is it as good as a 100# cast iron anvil? No, but it is real handy and does not take 2 men and a boy to move it.
At this point, you have to ask, "Where does he get these pieces of steel?" Believe it or not, the best place for me is at the scrapyard. I pay scrap metal prices for small pieces of steel that are very handy for building things. There is another Forum article about putting legs on my Cub to let me work on the front end. Yep, from the scrap yard.
Regards,
Rick (Hey! That's good stuff!) Dulas
During a consultation with Farmer Jones, he suggested a tree stump. Great idea! It is massive, anchored well, and can take a lot of pounding. While I have some stumps around, they are never very handy, and never in the right place.
So how 'bout a portable stump? It has to be stout enough to pound on, light enough to be portable, and stable enough to stand on its own while I pound. Aha!! The venerable 4x4 post! Fairly common, fairly cheap, easily transportable. I grabbed a piece of 4x4 about 30" long and stood it on end. I grabbed a hammer and started whacking. As long as the hammer was lined up on the center axis of the post, it worked well. But a little off center and the 4x4 falls over.
I think I'm getting close, but a 4x4 could do with a bit more stability. OK, so it needs feet. I had some cut-off L-iron about 4x6, 5/16" web, 12" to 14" long. I drilled some holes and welded 1/2" bolts, 2 to each piece, onto the angles. I'll get some pictures as soon as it stops raining.
Onto the L angles, I welded some 1 1/2" angle iron as feet. The big L irons add weight at the bottom and clamp the 4x4 in place. The small angle iron provides stability. The L iron and angles do not interfere with the bottom of the 4x4. This means that any force down on the 4x4 is transmitted directly to the ground. I now have a portable stump, that is adjustable in height. (keep 2 or 3 pieces of 4x4 in different lengths for different kinds of pounding.)
But I really wanted an anvil. So I got a piece of 1" steel plate that was a cut off and welded strips around the edges. This cap fits loosely over the top of the 4x4. Now I have both a portable stump and anvil. Is it as good as a 100# cast iron anvil? No, but it is real handy and does not take 2 men and a boy to move it.
At this point, you have to ask, "Where does he get these pieces of steel?" Believe it or not, the best place for me is at the scrapyard. I pay scrap metal prices for small pieces of steel that are very handy for building things. There is another Forum article about putting legs on my Cub to let me work on the front end. Yep, from the scrap yard.
Regards,
Rick (Hey! That's good stuff!) Dulas