Comparing American-made and German-made anvils - GIF

Comparing American and German anvils.

<video controls autoplay loop> <source src="https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net/comparing_american_german_anvils_ma24.mp4" type="video/mp4"> Your browser does not support the video tag. </video>


Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...417#post228155
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...529#post177959
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...272#post169247
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...796#post163731
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...213#post121319

Is there an advantage of one over the other?

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.

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!