The Cone Anvil Helper

As I was moving some things around in the forge room I came across a custom tool I hadn’t used in quite a while.  I don’t remember the project on which I was working when the idea occurred to me. It is a depth stop base. Bars can fit into the square tube sockets and support work at a determined height.

As I rolled out the cone anvil with which it was used, so I could take a picture showing the tool in context, I recalled the day I got the cone.  A fellow contacted me and said he had one he wanted to sell or trade.  It had belonged to a relative who had been a farrier.  He kept it in his garage and never used it.  Now he was moving and wanted to be rid of it.

I already had my homemade one with concrete fill and another really nice antique cast one but I offered to take a look.  The size and condition were satisfactory and the price was right but the disappointing thing was it’s wall was only about 3/8” thick so it was rather light.  When making a small radius, like a horseshoe, it was adequate but it was’t heavy enough for larger work.

To make it useful, I filled it with dry white sand and welded on a circular base plate.  I has enough mass to work well now.  The larger diameter base also make the travel quicker when rolling it into place to work as well as improving stability.

Sand filled cone mandrel.

Cone anvil helper jig.

Mandrel helper jig in place.