My anvil took me 4 hours to level and I almost gave up

I finally got a proper 150 pound anvil from an estate sale over in Dayton last month. Thought I could just plop it on the stump and go. Big mistake. The face was tilted maybe 3 degrees to the left and the stump wasnt level either. I spent a whole Saturday shaving down the top of the oak stump with a hatchet and a chisel. Then I had to pack shims under the base because the anvil itself had a slight warp in the stand. Took 4 straight hours of checking with a level and adjusting. Meanwhile my buddy said he leveled his in 20 minutes with a planer and some plywood. I felt like an idiot. Has anyone else fought with getting a used anvil truly flat on the stump?

3 comments

3 Comments

michaelgrant1mo ago

Swing that hatchet all day if you want... I leveled my 175 pounder in about 45 minutes by just wedging some scrap steel roofing shingles under the low side until it stopped wobbling. Doesn't need to be dead nuts perfect, it's an anvil not a machinist's surface plate. If you spend more than an hour you're overthinking it.

ivan7741mo ago

Wait @michaelgrant, did you have to re-tighten the shims after a few sessions or did they hold solid once you got the wobble out?

karencampbell1mo ago

You said "it's an anvil not a machinist's surface plate" and I totally agree. I actually read an article from an old farrier a while back who said the same thing, that a little wobble just means you need to adjust your hammer technique rather than the anvil. He mentioned that even old anvils with chipped edges still work fine for years if you know how to work around them. @michaelgrant, your shingle trick reminds me of how some guys use old brake pads or thin sheet metal for the same thing, which I guess is just as durable but maybe harder to find. I bet your wedging method held up fine since steel on steel wouldn't shift much from hammer blows, especially if you kept the shims tight against the base. The whole "perfect level" thing gets way too much hype online, honestly, so good on you for keeping it simple.