I bought myself an old anvil. With the invaluable help and guidance of my brother Steve and his well equipped workshop we set about making a stand for it. I'm sure there's many ways to go, but here's how we did it.

What you need:

Cardboard template of your anvil. This way you can make sure everything is a perfect fit without having to lug the anvil around.

Timber. The widths we used are 195mm x 45 and 145mm x 45. We needed 7 pieces of each cut to the required lengths (see how to get this measurement below)

2 pieces of 240mm angle iron for the top edges

4 lengths of M12 threaded rod

8 M12 nuts (I went for brass domed nuts because they look cool)

8 large washers (I went for square)

2 wire tensioner hooks

2 carriage screws and washers to fit tensioners

length of chain

4 lengths of decking wood or similar to fit the base

screws to fit

2 heavy duty casters (optional)

Off we go!

Step 1: Cut!

Decide on the best working height for your anvil. Some people say the height of your knuckles, some say the wrist. I am quite tall and liked the height of my kitchen worksurface so aimed for that.

Once you have this measurement, take away the height of your anvil (11" in my case). Cut your timber to this length.

Step 2: Drill

Put a wide piece and a narrow piece of timber next to each other and work out where the nuts and rods will go. You don't need to be exact, but it will look neater if you are. Mark and drill the first pieces to fit the threaded rod.

Step 3: Line Up

Use the 2 drilled pieces of timber as a drill template for the next piece, remembering that we stagger the timber each time; wide and thin, thin and wide, wide and thin. Use clamps or guides to make sure you get these drill holes lined up correctly.

Step 4: Poke!

Stack the timber in alternating widths and poke the threaded rods through. Put large washers on each end of each rod. Put the fancy domed nuts (if you're using them) on one side and temporarily use normal nuts on the other side to pull the whole structure together tightly. You can then cut the rods to the correct size. Replace the temp nuts with the fancy ones.

Step 5: Bottom!

Cut the decking or similar with a mitre to fit in the base. We used brass coach screws to match the brass nuts.

Step 6: Correction!

We were a little bit sloppy in our work and failed to line up the timber perfectly before drilling so had to level the top and base with a set square, hand saw and sander.

Step 7: Wheels!

Stick the casters on the back in a fairly low position. We drilled and screwed through the casters' bases to ensure they could not swivel. We also stuck ours on a raised board.

Step 8: Grind

Attach the angle iron to the top of the stand on the same side as the nuts. This ensures that the timber all stays put when you start whacking the anvil. We cut it in place for ease. We recessed the angle iron to keep the top level, but it's not necessary.

Step 9: Chain

Put the piece of chain around the base of the anvil and use the chain tensioners to attach it firmly.

To be honest, the base is so sturdy, the anvil so heavy and my hammer blows so weedy that there is no way the anvil needs chaining down. But I think it looks great and is therefore vital.

Step 10: Unnecessary Frippery

We had a large iron hinge laying about so we attached the female part to the base and the male part to a rod. We used these and a fine bit of leverage to wheel the base about. Utterly unnecessary, but there you go...