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Do It Yourself Anvil
When Bill Pickens, Flagler, Colo., needed an anvil several years ago, he looked around for a commercial unit to buy. He couldn't find one he liked so he decided to build his own.
"The ones that are on the market are too expensive and don't work as well as the one I built at a cost of about 10 cents per pound for
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Do It Yourself Anvil FARM SHOP Tools 13-6-23 When Bill Pickens, Flagler, Colo., needed an anvil several years ago, he looked around for a commercial unit to buy. He couldn't find one he liked so he decided to build his own.
"The ones that are on the market are too expensive and don't work as well as the one I built at a cost of about 10 cents per pound for scrap iron plus the cost of welding rod," says Pickens, noting that the total weight of his home-built anvils is 75 to 100 lbs., depending on the height and width.
One of the unique features of Pickens' anvil is the use of a car spindle to make a tapered horn for curved metal work, such as on horseshoes. He grinds away the threads on the small end of a spindle and cuts it off at an angle on the other end to weld to the side of the anvil.
The top faceplate on the anvil is 5 by 12-in. plate of 3/4-in. thick carbon steel. At one end is a small ledge set below the level of the faceplace for offset work. At the faceplate's other end he drills round holes and cuts square holes of varying sizes for odd jobs. The base plate is made out of the same plate steel as the faceplate except that it's a few inches longer so you can turn the anvil upside down when needed and have a longer surface to work on.
The main body of the anvil is a box welded together with the same carbon steel. Pickens bevels all edges before welding and then welds extra heavy beads with deep penetration. "It's important to use hardened steel, especially on the faceplate. If made with care, they're as durable as any commercial unit you could buy," says Pickens, who spent a total of about $25 to build his anvil including steel, welding rod, acetylene and oxygen. He chains the anvil to a stand made with four angle iron legs. He has built several anvils for neighbors and says it would make a good high school shop project.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bill Pickens, 27805 Rd. 2, Flagler, Colo. 80815 (ph 719 765-4728).
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