Comparing American-made and German-made anvils - GIF

[Altair]

Comparing American and German anvils.




Previously:

If you like anvils watch this vid.
Farrier's swing-out hitch anvils - photos
Now this is an anvil
Antique giant anvils, vises, and other tools - GIF and photos
Quenching an anvil in a river, with an excavator - GIF

[Tooler2]

Is there an advantage of one over the other?

[tonyfoale]

My first reaction is that the US made anvil has more internal damping than the German one. I am not a blacksmith so I do not know whether that is an advantage or not. I would think that the use that anvils are put to would benefit from more damping because it would have less tendency for the work piece to bounce back. However, if you wanted to play ping pong on a large anvil the German one would be the one to choose.

The damping in the supporting structure will have an influence over the sound and the two anvils have different supports so it is an apples to oranges comparison anyway. Hardly a definitive test.

[Tooler2]

I have a 200 and a 400 lb Chinese anvil. they have no ring at all, just a thud. The first job I needed to do was open up a Ubolt a touch. To my shock these anvils have square top horns!