I wanted to share my discovery of “self drilling timber screws” (I discovered them while walking aimlessly through my “happy place”…Home Depot…after buying 4x4’s)
they come in many lengths, such as 5”, 6”, 8”, 10”.
I used them, along with wood glue, to make an anvil stand for my 70lb anvil.
4x4’s are actually 3.5x3.5”.
I used 8 pieces total, 14” long.
4 across for the top.
then 2 for the middle.
and 2 for the bottom.
it was 3.5" x 3 levels= 10.5" high.
then i added 3.5" locking casters, so the total height became 14".
14" is a perfect height for me to use the anvil while seated
the casters were rated for 100lbs.
each piece of wood was about 3lbs.
so it came to about 24lbs total.
first I glued and clamped the top (4 pieces).
then I glued and clamped 2 pieces under the top.
then I glued and clamped 2 more pieces to create the bottom.
(thankfully I had really loooong clamps!)
then I determined the screw positions, and counter sunk for the hex heads to sit in.
then used my drill to screw in the timber screws.
then I attached the casters to the bottom.
with the casters, i can easily pull the anvil out from under my second bench to use it, and push it back under the bench to store it when not in use.
It was previously located in an inconvenient spot, so I am super happy with the results.
Hi Julie, good stuff, thanks for sharing. I did something similar with my anvil (also about 70#). I used a tree stump I found in a parking lot and added a carpet dolly type caster plate from harbor freight. It was actually an accident, I was moving my studio across the hall and happened to put those items together and found them to be perfect and left it that way.
Now I’m in Croatia and setting up a new studio from scratch and might need the timber screws…
I have found that 4 x 4 timbers from Home Depot or Lowes are not normally square. Did you find that to be the case and if so how did you deal with it? Have you a jointer?
And Oh Yeah. Timber Screws are very often the best thing for the job. I like the looks of your anvil stand. I use those very casters often but never on something with that kind of weight or impact potential. Let us know how they stand up.
Hi Don,
I wish i had a jointer!…and a planer…and a band saw…and a drill press…and a belt sander…!!…(sigh)
i had home depot cut the pieces down for me to the desired length…i love that they have that service!…and then just sat on the floor at home stacking and flipping pieces until i got a good, relatively level fit, for each layer.
the original plan was 4 pieces per layer…i think using only 2 in the middle and 2 on the bottom helped to reduce the risk of miss matched surfaces…
the side edges are beveled too, so that hides visible ineven gaps somewhat.
the surfaces were flat enough, to get good glue contact, and with screws added i think i will be ok…i do not hammer that hard…yet😂
the casters are rates for 100lbs…(is that each?…for a total of 400lbs…?)
using only 8 pieces kept the weight to about 24lbs versus 36 lbs…plus my 70lb anvil…
julie
p.s. my anvil used to be on a plastic rubbermaid stool and one layer (2 pieces) of 4x4’s, so this is definitely a step up! and can be rolled out of the way!
i had set it up like that to determine the working height…and it seemed to work well, so i just left it that way until now:rofl:
Hi again,
as a point of reference, am able to forge down 3-4 oz ingots using a 1 or 2lb sledge hammer, with no issues related to the build of anvil stand…so far…it feels solid…
and i have more 4x4s…and the fit is such that i can still add
2 4x4s to the middle and bottom…it could happen!
julie
