As Mari Lwyd Cymru is based in Tonyrefail and our villages name literally translates in a dialect of Welsh used at the time to ‘Field of the Smithy’ possibly ‘Lay-Land of the Smithy’ and in a more modern Dialect ‘Sound of the Anvil’ the Anvil holds a lot of meaning to us.
The price to buy an old Anvil is pretty shocking and as a fan of 3D printing I thought I’d make my own. For those not into 3D printing this is going to get a bit nerdy, Sorry!
I found a few anvil designs, most to perfect, I wanted one that had some realistic looking age and wear to it so found a file on Thingyverse that was a 3D scan of a 150lb London Patern Anvil made by Hay-Budden in Brooklyn, New York over a hundred years ago. looking to print a larger Anvil, I resized the scan using stlscale.eu to the closest dimensions I could find to real size 180lb Hay-Budden which is around 720mm long and then split it into parts small enough for my printer (Creality K1 MAX) using printsplit.com.
As it will be going outside I wanted it substantial so printed with 6 outside layers and a 20% Gyroid infill, using almost 4KG of filament. Defiantly over the top but I felt worth it, down side was 104 hours on the printer!
Also wanting materials suitable for the weather (do not use PLA if its going outside!) I used PETG Filament and exterior grade epoxy glue to assemble, then finished with a Toughened Acrylic Primer and Paint, 4 or 5 coats of each.
I’ve been asked if I would make and sell these, easy answer is NO! sorry but with 120+ hours in print, assembly, finishing and painting I would have to charge way to much but if you have access to a 3D printer then I have linked a ZIP file below with all the files you will need. The files are free, all I ask is If you make one please send us some photos via our Contact Us page and I can share on here.
The 3D Scan of the Anvil I made is from the now closed Hay-Budden Manufacturing. Co. Brooklyn. New York.
